I know i'm taking a huge flame risk here, but I didn't see this posted anywhere else. The 2009 RX-8 is now included in the "upcoming models" section on the Mazdausa website. Not sure if anyone cares, but it has pics and info.

http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/disp...=upcomingRX8SE

 

nice find!!!

 

its icky

 

I think it will look great lowered w/o the tail. In fact I love it.

 

anyone know when these are coming out to dealerships? can it be ordered already?

 

terrible. a cartoon of its former self.

 

Glad I own a 1st gen, I think resale for all of us will be better once this thing comes out.

 

Wow, that is terrible.

 

+1
Railton

 

Mazda executive during planning stages of new RX-8.

"I want you to f*ck this car up." "Everything nice about the present RX-8, f*ck it up. I want you to take a good looking car and make it look like crap. Also, lots of plastic in the front, I love cheap looking plastic."

"Oh horsepower? Decrease that by say 6HP. No, I did not say increase HP by 60HP like some sane executive trying to boost sales would. Advertise a HP decrease, along with making the car look ugly."

Well at least the resale value of the old RX-8s should go up. Will be interesting to see what they did with the intake as it's advertised as 30% more.

 

No offense, but the original 8 is full of cheap looking plastic gimmicky styling itself. For instance, the gray strake things in the rear tail lights. I would have bought one years ago were it not for those lights. So to an outsider this one, though not a huge improvement, doesn't really look dramatically worse.

If somebody is not a die-hard rx-8 fan they probably wouldn't even notice the difference, so I seriously doubt it will hurt sales. And in a couple years everybody will have adjusted to the new look just like every new model car that comes out.

I've hated every new Jetta model, but in hindsight the older ones always look worse. Its true of ferrari, porsche, even corvettes and audis. I can't remember the last time a new version of a car was released, and I thought, "wow, thats brilliant".

 

And so it goes. Analogy - the 240Z was sweet, the 260Z was less so and down the hill it went. Never recovered as far as I'm concerned.

"Value Engineering" is seldom of value to the buyer!

 

nice find.
It's not hideous, might just take time to grow on me. The rear end does look like crap though...

This cant be 2nd Generation, I think we should call it the 1.5

 

^^^Agreed. Not nearly enough changes/additions to be considered 2nd Gen. Just a tweaked version of the 1st Gen is all. I think it has potential to look pretty good...but straight from the dealer in base trim it FAILS IMO. Take away some little things here, addsome things there, lower it, tint the windows, maybe a cool lip/appearance package and i believe i would like the exterior.......but then you have the interior, oh boy they fu@#$d up there. Looks cheap.

 

i like the guages

 

I asked a lot of "non car enthusiasts" and they prefer the new rx8 more. *shrug*. I personally hate how tall and narrow the rear looks, other than that, it's nice.

 

It's not bad. Still hate the steering wheel.

 

steering wheel is hedious, but the guages are nice, the rear looks like it is sticking up in the back and i just cant get over the front. i wonder how many they will sell?

 

thanks for the link

but meh on the looks of the 2009...

 

Wheels are nice, Steering wheel is horrible, should have left it alone instead of taking from another vehicle

 

I concur on the steering wheel...but I think in time the car will grow on a lot of people....

 

i love the new seats!

 

The biggest killer is that plastic across the front bumper grille, on the standard model. If they offer an alternative grille than maybe....

Then the plastic around the fog lights and the design of the fog lights should have been done where they flowed better. An aftermarket replacement is definitely needed there too.

Lastly, Mazda could have scored points on the automatic by coming out with a semi-automatic or automatic twin clutch transmission.

Then they could have boosted the power rating of the automatic up to near 232 like the manual.

Somebody has to pop some of these Mazda executives upside their heads.

Standard front... which the plastic and fog light weirdness makes me want to puke a bit...







In terms of looks however, the Mazdaspeed variant is acceptable, if this is what comes out. Though the excess of plastic around the top of the fog lights, not the fog lights (which look cool) themselves, cause a slight twinge.




A face you can live with....

 

When is this due in the states?

 

Other than the adding (2) more oil injectors that may be a blessing depending on one's personal opinion, the exterior and interior styling changes are not significant enough to make me jump to buying one. The steering column controls now look like a 350Z, I personally like the current styling better.