Why People Think 8s are Slow
 

So on my way home from work I wind it up in 2nd to be kind to my engine, then come to a red light and stop. The light turns green, so I take off, wind it up a bit in 1st and shift to 2nd.

Then I notice that someone in a Pontiac SUV is in the other lane, revving it for all it's worth and staying even with me.

Now, I didn't even have the throttle halfway in. But this asshat in a Pontiac SUV obviously thought he was racing me. I don't race, I don't do hard launches on the street, etc., but now some guy thinks his SUV is as fast as my 8.

So there you go. We all know that the 8 is a bit underpowered (for a sports car) and that it is at a disadvantage in straight line acceleration because of the lack of low-down torque. But the 8 isn't slow, and it has always mystified my why any teen in a fartcan Civic thinks their car is fast and an 8 is slow.

Now I know why. Anyone else have someone "race" you like this?

all they see is 1.3L and assume... HELL, my 4.0 V6 has gotta be like...umm....4 times faster!

people are stupid.

This happens to me all the time. I'll be cruising along doing my daily redline in 1st or 2nd only to have some dumbass in a Mustang fly around me like I'm racing him. WTF people!?

I have people who feel the need to keep up with me driving around town.

Until I start taking turns...

Then they are too busy trying to keep themselves off the wall than following me. Those HOV onramps have high walls and narrow driving spaces.

i feel you...mustangs try to challenge me all the time. i never play along though. no reason to...we ALL know they are the best. LOL

K I don't want to turn this into a race thread. But stock for stock... Can an rx8 beat a GTI in a straight line?
From a Dig.
Like the M5board style thing.
On a proper track of course :)

But you did. It's kinda supposed to be about *not* racing.

lol yea i have mustangs always trying to fuck with me ... but when you get to the exits that merge freeways etc they dont even try anymore

I have a nice smooth twisty road near my house. One time while "taking the long way home" a dumpy old Chevy work pick-up truck loaded down with ladders, etc decides he is going to stay right up my ass. This road is about 2 miles long and I am pushing it hard. Freakin hillbilly is hanging no more than a few car lengths back the whole way. I'm like WTF. I'm sure he's telling his boyz how his POS truck handles just as good as one of them there fancy sports cars lol. Stupid hillbillies...

We are in South Carolina....Hillbillies with trucks seems to be ALL there is around here. AND they all drive like they are Dale Jr. in the Daytona 500.... Sometimes I am actually embarrassed to claim SC as my home as a result.

There's about a 15 mile stretch of the I-17 north of Phoenix that, going downhill, is just a blast to drive! The best part is the DPS (sort of our state police) call it quits around 1:30am so the drive is pretty worry free.

What is scary are the pickup trucks that do some rather serious speeds through that part and honestly I cannot imagine anything less than these people pissing themselves the whole time. The drivers push these trucks and my god the body lean that I see. I would be freaking out thinking I was going to flip or fly off the mountain.

Thanks for the tip Flashwing, I'll have to try that spot out. Where does begin, up past Ben Avery? So is the DPS the same thing as our Highway Patrol?

*slaps face lol i completely understand what you are talking about!

plenty of people think the rx8 is really fast too, though :).

I find those people are almost always the ones that see it parked... and the womenfolk :lol:. To the South Carolinian's I feel your pain, not a day goes by that some Dale Jr. wanna-be doesn't try to draft me in the middle lane.

Most SUV will try to take off as fast as possible, in order to get a few vehicle places ahead on their way to whatever. They are not racing you or anyone and could care less whether you drive this or that or an rx8. It is a mistake that many rx8 drivers make. They are overly self-conscious, and full of themselves in believing that other drivers are "racing" them. Spend time in a normal, slow, rental vehicle and you will see the same behavior.

I've learned, it is important to stay in 1st gear as long as necessary until it is safe to shift. Sometimes, in the 10-25 mph range, you might have to shift from 2nd down to 1st for an instant burst of power. Just make sure to rev the tach totally, to ensure a successful downshift into 1st.

Sometimes, you even have to risk your life to block somebody who tries to exit! Or, maybe that is just those neon underbody yellow pickup/cattle box.

I get the same thing here.

Had a prius tailgating me earlier this evening on the way back from the girlfriends house, then I went onto an onramp, and, yea, i didn't see him for a good 10-15 seconds..

hahaha, marklar, i just put a quote from your post in my sig. stupid little hondas try to "race" me like this all the time. i just laugh.

I hear you there, on the last days of a 16day road trip I was leaving California through Tahoe. Ahead of me was a older (note I'm 39) guy and lady in a newer Porsche. I was having a little fun while trying to not get my passenger car sick (coming down a mountain at 35-40 on a rated 15mph road earlier in the week taught me better) and got next to him in the left of 3 lanes downward (he was in the far right). We were coming down the moutain at around 75, which was fun but not dangerous (yet well over recommended speeds)...when all of a sudden a few lifted 4x4's decided we were too slow and ripped between us doing at least 15mph faster than us. I can still remember the driver of the Porsche’s face as he looked at me. It was kinda like a "We're made for this and these idiots are trying to impress us?" look. I halfway expected to see a head on or broken guardrail ahead but I guess they were lucky (or skilled but betting more on luck).

Even in little town Iowa we get this mentality. I worked at the same place for 18 years and drove the same car with the same people around for 17 of those years. If I had that car and was doing 60mph in a 55 they would be going by me like Amish people in carts. However, as soon as I started driving the RX-8 they would fly by me at least 70 then slow down to 50. If I should pass they'd do it again. The next day I'd drive my Escort again and fly by them all at 60 once more...who knows what they're thinking or trying to prove.

i dont think they know its a 1.3l but everyone ask me if its a v6 or v8 lol and try to take off fast at the light

There not slow there just not "fast" either...in the corners and turns yes its pretty good...straight aways not so great

Keep the revs above 5k and the 8 is far from slow.

It'll chirp the wheels in 3rd gear on WOT at freeway speeds for that matter.

happens all the time...i try to get my daily redline in and the person next to me thinks it's on.

i just ignore it. whats the point in racing? :dunno:
whatever though.

da twisties...hahaha

rx8 are QUICK sports cars, not fast. hey i beat gti in racing events all the time, even 6 cyl. mustands , i like to race but not in the streets where im cruising and showing off the car. People wanna race me everywhere thats stupid

You don't assume people know you're redlining your car to de-carb the engine, do you guys?

I mean, if I was a ricer, and a car next to me gunned it, I'd prob gun it too.

I would like to know what street with traffic lights on you can safely redline in 2nd gear with other cars on the road? I redline 2nd gear to de-carb on highway onramps and country road, that's it, because it does get up to almost 70 mph...

Don't think that was the question. The question was straightline, not racing events (tracks I'm assuming).

The answer is of course you can beat a GTi in a straightline, on paper.
They have low end power that's forgiving, while the rx-8 have a get the launch right, shift at 9,500 rpm without bouncing off the limiter. While the GTi can shortshift and the time wouldn't be all that much worse than perfect shiftpoints.

There is a trend though, I have never been challenged by a car that would surely smoke me (Porche, STi, 335i, RS4 etc, C55AMG). I always get challenged by insecure cars (350Z, Crossfire, ST, Renaultsport, JCW, Gti). Of all though, I have a lot more respect for the Mk6 Gti, not fast, but wow, what a flipin'ride.

My Fav... guy is tailgating me despite me being in the far right lane (I've had a few speeding tickets, so the left lane is like an invitation to the cops)

My exit is coming up, so I just leave the cruise set at 70, and exit the freeway, guy tailgating happens to follow me, keeping the same distance, until he feels his body start to roll, the steering gets firm...

Next, I see his nose drop about 7 inches as he slams on the brakes while my 8 is planted on the road like one of those tree frogs with sticky toes.

He catches up to me at the light after the exit ramp and parks it 5 inches off my bumper... then i pretend to drop something as soon as the light turns green... and I sit there for about 3-4 seconds while the guy behind me is going nuts.

Then its time for a 1st gear redline and pop a little flame before he flies by me and gives me the finger. :wiggle:

Little flame, my god, mine are huge when I get it. Coming back from MA there was a car going about ten miles under the speed limit and it was about 2 in the morning and as a start to pass the prick floored it, needless to say that when I passed him and shifted into forth everything behind me lite up, especially his car:yelrotflm.

Momentum cars are hard to drive fast.

I don't race in my 8, I use the Sky.

Slow is relative...

Yep. So is fast. My boss has a Fast C63 and CL65 but he would probably get beat by minivan on a road course. Ever see that video of Sabine Schmidt running a stock delivery van around the ring? Her lap time was crazy.

Coming from owning trucks for the past 12 years I can say this is not true on so many parts. First off, it's not partial to SUV's, but ANY vehicle in general will try to get a few vehicle places ahead if that's the type of driver behind the wheel regardless.

Full of ourselves believing other drivers are racing us? You serious? I sure as hell didn't have M5 coupes, Subies, Evo's and many other sport cars driving aggressively not to mention some BMW and Audi sedans trying to keep up with me or peel out in drag racing attempts to belittle me when I owned a truck; only when I've owned an Rx8 in less than 3 months has such amusement occurred. Must be a coincidence huh?

Right, people think we're racing and don't know we're just doing it for the engine, that's kind of the point.

I said I wound it up, not that I redlined it. I was doing about 50 or 55 in a 45, with a clear road ahead of me. Speeding, yes, reckless insanity, no. Redline in 2nd is not 70, IIRR I get the beep somewhere around 63.

rx8 is not slow. my AT can keep up with 350z's no problem. Most people dont consider the 350Z slow.

[QUOTE=Vlaze;3203589]Coming from owning trucks for the past 12 years I can say this is not true on so many parts. First off, it's not partial to SUV's, but ANY vehicle in general will try to get a few vehicle places ahead if that's the type of driver behind the wheel regardless.
True,I do try to get like a 2 car range just to keep it chill while driving....

yesssir ......

I race all the time. It's in my blood. You rev.. I go..

My Camry gets better MPG, more torque and whp than the RX-8. :yesnod:

you're a tool :cwm27:

I love that episode, although not she's not so hot, her attitude and skills turn me on.

I don't race because I'm tired of the constant reminders of just how slow the 8 is. If it's a race around a cloverleaf, sure ... but stop light racing I've been beaten by way to many Altimas, Accord Coupes, Cobalt SS's, even a Dodge Ram. I just keep my eyes forward, then once they take off slow I gun it and tell myself that I won.

Auto-cross it , you won't worry about anything reminding you about how slow your 8 is.

Or just build a 450 rwhp FD ...

I've done plenty of autocrossing and hate it. I'm no good at puzzles, and when I autocross all I see is a maze of cones. I end up just trying to amuse myself by taking out as many cones as possible with a powerslide. As far as racing it goes, it's a road course or nothing for me.

I hope that Ram was the SRT10

Change your coils :)

I hate that too it seems like every red light i have some dumb kid starring at me and wants to race... no matter what the car is. They give it hell while i laugh. Whats funny is i live in the mountains so when he about wrecks into the mountain bc he cant control his civic then i laugh harder. ha ha

No, it wasn't ... he launched, I didn't. But to the top of 3rd was only able to pull back even. That was embarrassing.

It has fresh coils, plugs, wires plus and K&N drop-in and a AP pulley. It just doesn't matter, it is what it is.

There was this mustang following me today, i was heading down this short road to a light that had a green arrow to go left. By time i got to the light it turned yellow. Well i took the turn keeping my cruising speed of 35mph this road, well the mustang thought he could do it too!!
i look behind me and he was all over the road! the rear end kicked out on him! LMAO then he was pissed and took off after me, got next to me and downshifted to take off again, then a car cut in front of him he had to slam on the brakes!! what a douche...
All i wanted to do was get home from work.. and i get nonsense drivers thinking im racing them...

so i was in da rx8 and street racing this dude, i was losing big time at every stop light but once we hit "da twisties" it was all over..


LOL!!!!