Car and Driver Best Handling Car Under $100K
 

Cannot find the comparo review online, but it's the cover feature of the newest C&D issue I received at home.

Will post the article if I can find it, or if someone else with more internet savy can find it before me, please post.

I enjoyed it very much, the 8 did fairly well IMO against the competition it was up against.

If I remember correctly, without having the issue with me, it's RX-8 R3 vs VW GTI vs BMW M3 vs Porsche Boxter Spyder vs Chevy Corvette Z06 vs Nissan GT-R vs Lotus (not sure elise or evora).

RX-8 finished 3rd.

Tough choice. They're obviously not talking about pure performance numbers. Is anyone else but me tired of seeing a GT-R in EVERY single review that has to do with an automobile? Didn't MotorTrend vote it Car of the Year by comparing it to cars like the Honda Fit and Hyundai Genesis for 09? And somehow it found its way on "affordable track cars" in another magazine I read a while ago. Such an over-hyped car.

Go M3 and Z06!

Here's the vid

http://www.caranddriver.com/features..._100_000-video

Kinda figured the Porsche would win. They've been on a roll lately, especially the 2010 911 Turbo. 500 bhp and its faster in the quarter mile than a ZR1? Dayum. Oddly enough its slower around a race track than a ZR1 too.

people still read C/D? they destroyed the look of the mag 8 months ago. And that video link is blank.

Hm,

Given the parts of the C/D web site that worked....

Wonder what the best under $50K would have been...

^ The RX-8 would have won best under $50k. Only cars that beat it were Porshce and Lotus.

Needless to say I was stoked when I got home and saw MY car (blue R3) on the cover. Albeit it was very tiny (but at the head of the pack neverthless). Rankings were mostly subjective from what I've read, great handling is hard to prove with just numbers. Here's the breakdown:

7) VW GTI
6) Corvette Z06
5) Nissan GTR
4) BMW M3
3) RX-8 R3
2) Lotus Elise SC
1) Porsche Boxster Spyder

My favorite quote: "Add in excellent steering, and the RX-8 was easily the best front-engine, rear-drive entrant, serving up a scalpel-like demeanor on both road and track". As you can see it was only beat by two mid-engine cars, both a lot more expensive. Its good to see our car still getting some good press despite its age.

Oh and no 370Z? Seems most people here have already declared the new Z a better handling car.

This is exactly why I am waiting, waiting, waiting for the next rx ?

nicely done mazda.

now...if we could only get a lil' upgrade in power...

<_<'

Lots of people blinded by "OOOOOh new SHINY!" and of course the one thing everyone claims they dont care about but then go and disprove it with their purchases..

HORSEPOWER. Most/all of the derp-brigade puts HP over handling..

I prefer horsepower WITH handling ;)

I have both an '07 RX-8 and a '10 370Z. They are both fantastic cars for the money. The driving experience in each is entirely different. I feel much more in tune with the RX-8...the 370Z is also a great drive but frankly it "feels" a little more like a muscle car...despite its great handling characteristics.

lol i see you have never driven one.

over hyped - no

its an 80k car that performs like a 200k car on a v6 platform


oh and its got four seats.....the z06 sucks balls in comparison

And R3 handles better than an 07 RX-8 :)

Sorry, but all Series II 8's have updated front and rear suspension over S1.

i love my rx8 no matter what :)

Before this degrades into a pissing match about other attributes ...undertand that this comparo was PURELY subjective, PURELY on the car's INTANGIBLE ability to provide that feeling of confidence and sublime handling that numbers can only hint at, but not define. In fact they used $80,000 worth of testing instruments installed in each car one after the other to try and deive and graph 'the holy grail' attributes of handling, but of course, they didn't succeed.

I think it's reasonable to make some rough analogy between defining 'handling' in a car and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. This principle states that certain pairs of physical properties, such as position and momentum, cannot be simultaneously known to arbitrarily high precision. That is, the more precisely one property is measured, the less precisely the other can be measured.

Moreover, this principle is not a statement about the limitations of the ability to measure particular quantities of a system, but it is a statement about the nature of the system itself as described by the equations of quantum mechanics ......or something like that.

More simply put, the superior handling ability of the RX-8 is right up there with the best cars available - but it cannot be directly measured, however the butt-o-meter realizes that, :rock: "DAMMMNN ... it's something special!"

Who cares about the GTR; its broken from the factory what with the lack of pedal #3. No clutch pedal means I might as well go play Forza or GT instead of trying to have a lovely man-machine connection...

Just as you assumed I've never driven a GT-R I'm going to assume you've never driven a Z06. It definitely does not "suck balls" when compared to the GT-R and at least the Corvette's transmission isn't made of glass and cost $20K to replace using a feature that the company denies ever putting on the car :lol:

It is over hyped. Everyone thinks its amazing that a car that costs $80K outruns Ferrari's and Lambo's, but the Corvette has been doing it for a lot longer. 250+ mph? Uhhh the Corvette did that back in the 80's. And if you want to talk about shitty interior quality look no further than the GT-R. Hard plastic and random gauges and knobs and air vents everywhere. The passenger air vents and driver vents aren't even close to being level. Who thought that would look nice?

Anyway enough trolling. Glad the M3 placed as high as it did and the Z06 is starting to need an update as far as performance goes. Don't think GM has touched the car's chassis since it came out in 2006.

Not uprated over a Shinka. ;)

That is the most insane comparison C&D can do. Really? Best handling car under $100K? WOW! This is ground-breaking sh!t. How about the best handling car under $500K? Idiots. Once you hit the $50K mark, there is a change in perspective. I may be taking a leap here, but a majority of people are purchasing cars under $50K. I know there's a place and market for over that amount, but $50K is a good benchmark. This seems like a lame, unrealistic comparison to me. Maybe next month, they'll put the new Civic Si up against the GT-R and term it "Best 4+ seater car for under $100K." Idiots.

Sadly the Chassis/platform as a whole is just a modified version of what was originally created in 1984. That being said, many suspension overhauls have happened along with new materials and the such. The car is due for a complete redesign though.

All in all the GT-R is overhyped, IMO. Its not pretty, it basically drives itself, and if you are going to tell me that those seats actually fit people, im going to guess that you life is filled with amputees because those seats are useless. Having driven AWD cars, although not particularly the GT-R and driven Vettes, i would take the feel/sound/looks of the vette everyday of the week. I would rather look like im going through a mid-life crisis than look like a ricer on steroids.

Actually the Vette chassis was completely redesigned for the C5 version(starting in 97). This is also when the transmission was moved to the back of the car.
The C6 vette (starting in 2005), made only slight tweaks to the chassis and added newer LS engines for more power.

So the vette chassis hasnt changed much in ~13 years. Doesnt stop it from spanking most comers though :D:

^ Of course the ZR1 chassis is in a league of its own.

Well, the chassis itself is no different than the Z06. They both use the same aluminum chassis parts in place of some of the steel used in the regular C6. The Zr1 just uses a good bit of carbon fiber for body parts and a really high tech suspension :)

I never cease to be impressed with that very high tech (and very expensive) magnetic-activated fluid used in the ZR1 suspension.

The C6 shares a lot in common with the C5 (which was a COMPLETE over-haul from the old C4). GM retained it in the C6 because, well, it works. The C5 chassis was insanely future-proof when it came out. Thats why even an old C5 Z06 still rapes 98% of anything you'll find on the street today and holds its own against cars much newer on the track. The aftermarket is insane for a Corvette and its disgusting how easy and cheap it is to get them to go faster. GM really is IMO the top pioneer for street car performance. The suspension is so good that Ferrari bought the magnetic ride control feature from GM. Take a C6 Z around a long bend and prepare to be amazed. Other car companies say their sports cars have "unmatched handling", but the fact that GM had to install a dry sump oil system on the Z speaks for itself. The C7 is going to have some big shoes to fill.

Hm,

What if you took the $32K 8, spent $35K on upgrades, then went after the Boxster or Lotus....

Problem will being figuring out how to spend $35K. Supercharger, suspension, still got to figure out how to spend $15K.... Rocket launcher? Laser Beams? A separate track car?

^ good one! Take the $, turn as many body panels into CF, loose as much weight as possible, and any power upgrades with the leftover $$ would just be icing on the cake. Weight rules for handling and speed, even NA.

Sorry again, Yes it is...

S2 has larger Rear Suspension Link Rods with a slight change in geometry, different Differential Mount, Shocks, Springs and Top Mounts, diff rear stabilizer, plus more welding in body joins.

Front has different Shocks,Springs and Top mounts, different strut brace, stabilizers, steering knuckles...

^^pwnd

Video Link (page 1) is down..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPik0UKVCkI

you can find that in 20k suv's now btw

A cheap knock-off version maybe. And even then you realize that its a lot easier and cheaper to reverse-engineer someone else's technology?

I like the shorts in that video with the racing loves.

Just the right touch.

And a S1 with correct setup kicks ass over any S2.

It out brakes it and out accerates it srock let alone any mods.......

at Rotorstock in the UK. The fastest 2 Rx8s on the sprint track were series 1.

However I was supercharged and the other one had slicks on!
Then it was 2 R3s.
Then more series 1. So it seems the R3 set up does help it in the bends.

On the drag strip, stock series1 cars pwned the R3s. I would have thought the other way round but maybe the different gear box setup wasn't that helpful, or the series 1 cars were happier thrashing them down the strip!

Folks who spent money on a R3 NEED the R3 to be "better".

And this is different for S1 people how? Good lord :wallbash:

My new R3 was cheaper than your new S1 :p:

As if the 8 fanbois don't get enough flack for debating comparisons against other cars, now the different series owners gotta flack each other..too funny :rofl:

First off - the fact you differentiate between "series" of rx8s is silly.


Secondly - you have no idea how much I paid.

AND....you can't install strakes. :p

:D

And, strakes are good for 3 HP each....

http://captionsearch.com/pix/t1gb4klq3.jpg

I love my R3... and it cost me a LOT less than my new S1 did.

http://knowyourmeme.com/i/000/065/05...gif?1281548464

AND redirect air to the oil coolers resulting in a 20 degree drop in oil temp :SHOCKED:

we rock! :)

You like to penis-measure.

It's surprising to see the RX8 do so well, especially due to the fact Mazda never? advertises the car.

You are a very strange person.. assumptions from the start, and a very pleasant attitude.

/ignore

I may be a huge corvette fan so I may seem biased, but for you to say that the corvette 'sucks balls' in comparison you lose a lot of credibility with that one statement. Even IF the gt-r did outperform the z06 it wouldn't be by much, so to say it sucks balls is just stupid.

S2's are sexy as hell... although the only reason I wouldn't buy one is the lack of an aftermarket turbo setup and the AP

Nürburgring lap times(wiki):
7:25.7-------Ferrari Enzo
7:26.4-------Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1
7:26.7-------Nissan GT-R
7:42.99------Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z06
7:55----------Ferrari F430 F1
7:56----------Chevrolet Corvette C5 Z06
7:56----------Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale f1
7:59----------Chevrolet Corvette C6 Z51
8:11----------Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
8:26----------Nissan 350Z
8:39----------Mazda MAZDASPEED3 (Mazda3 MPS)
8:40----------Chevrolet Corvette C5


My 7 year old Z06 sits pretty well in there :)

Just for reference ... I found the RX-8 here http://www.strikeengine.com/car-stat...ockenheim.html

at 8:39:28

Thanks, I was looking for that :) Thats cool, puts it right there with the regular c5 vette. Thats impressive considering the HP difference! :ylsuper: