zthang

I was pretty surprised about that too.

zerobanger

there are factory freaks and there are great drivers. Kevini T. Wyum on the rx7 forum got a 13.3 from his bone stock 1993 rx-7 shortly after he purchased it. He documented all the timeslips, etc. I know there is no way in hell I could do that. So looking at the best time a car does is not as accurate as looking at the average.

zthang

I realized that this time was not the average, that's why I was....surprised

bcRX-8*TRI

well.. i have to say... the rx-8 has most potential... you can modify it quite a bit so.. i think it wins in that matter

EXA4DRIVER

In what way does it have more "potential" tuning wise than the other 2? With the technology available, every car has pretty the same "potential" tuning wise.

Hanzo

Most potential? I guess you haven't heard of the Top Secret 350Z:



"More Nissan goodness ends our Part II report on the 2004 TAS. Courtesy of Top Secret, the Top Secret GT Z33 Wide pounds the pavement with 700ps (690 hp) from one very busy HKS GT RS turbo. The stunner also wears Top Secret’s wide body kit and plenty of graphics to make sure you’re looking when it breaks through the sound barrier. Its cousin, the V35 Skyline coupe (G35 coupe) also gets the Top Secret turbo treatment, but at a less frenetic pace from a HKSGT30 turbo. Now, the secret is out.

Look for continued TAS2004 coverage"

zthang

Wow, I actually hadn't seen that yet. The graphics and hood are a bit too much. But the wide body kit is very nice.

Hanzo

That's Top Secret for ya, they paint all their cars gold once it is to the standard. I think their prototype cars are white.

If you never heard of them look them up, they make some of the fastest GTR and Supras in Japan.

SHOWOFF

I absolutely loved the Z it wasn't practical enough for my use.

read this

JimW

Anyway I think the point of the M.T. comparo is that the 8 is comparable to the other sports cars in performance yet has a great ride, is comfortable and civil and has the practicality of a sedan, how many other cars out there are like the 8? Answer: None! So the focus isn't that the RX8 is a better performance car than the Z or S2000 and maybe shouldn't be be compared with them, but then again what are you going to compare the 8 with! The fact is it's a really great sports car with excellent ride, comfort, handling,balance,braking,weight distribution,quietness,smoothness,interior, and build quality characteristics when compared to other sedans and other n/a coupes. So it is exciting for Motor Trend to write about. I dont need to read about it or have car of the year award to be happy with my 8, I just have to drive and that's what reminds me on a daily basis what a truely wonderful sport car like sedan car something or another I have!

zthang

Exactly, I don't see why there's so much comparison of the 8 with the Z and s2000 when they're completely different species. If there was any car that I would compare the 8 to, it would be the g35 coupe. It has a lot more in common with the 8 than the Z does, and its in essence a 2+2 Z. I give acceleration and straight line performance to the G there, and handling and weight characteristics to the 8.

lynx

i may be completely wrong on this, but i thought the Z & the G35 were similar? both are even built on the same (FM) platform (granted with variance in engine placement & body design). i just seem to remember that they only weighed ~200lbs different & they were really close on torque & hp? anyway, assuming that i remembered any of that correctly, i can see why the 8 gets compared to the Z, but i agree with you that the G35 might not be a bad comparison if your gonna try to make one at all. but remember, although Mazda engineers did compromise a little on the 8's performance to give it other unique benefits for its class, they are marketing the 8 as a sports car. as such, i'm sure they'd much rather the comparisons be made with cars like the Z & the S2000. the 35 is very sporty, but is often classed with sedans as a more family oriented car.

i think the real problem is what several of you have already said--each of these cars is unique, it's just hard to compare them at all, especially the RX-8 (Z & 2000 folks don't take this the wrong way). with the rotary engine, the unique exterior body shape, and the kick *** reverse doors, the 8 is simply something new & different. i looked at the Z, the 35, the 2000, and the 8 when i was shopping around. they are ALL great cars! be nice to have one of each! i picked the 8 because of the unique look, innovative engineering, & the simple fact that it had a rotary engine in a package with more than descent performance.

btw, really nice to have some folks on the forum that own or have owned some of the other cars (Z, S2000, RX-7, etc.). it's great to hear the different viewpoints!!!

-Lynx

murix

I think everyone should just be happy that Japan is able to produce affordable and fun rwd sports cars again. Not only that, they were a lot smarter about it.

It was looking pretty bleak in the late 90's. In the end I would have been happy with just about any one of them. I do not think there is a bad one in the lot.

NickG

Agreed re the competition. What's kind of surprising to me is that no magazine has yet attempted to compare the 8 with the OTHER end of the scale - the sport sedans like 325i/330i and IS300. I reckon the 8 significantly diminishes the case for some of these cars, if your priority is towards the side of pure driving enjoyment, but you still need some practicality. I should know - I traded my 325i for one! Here in Australia anecdotal evidence from dealers suggests that this is one of the more common sales routes...

bagman

From RotaryNews.com:

"Rumors: Supercharged MazdaSpeed RX-8 in MotorTrend
Motor Trend
Posted: Feb 13, 2004







Motor Trend is exactly a year behind the times. But thanks to all those who wrote in about the article. In MT's March 2004 issue, they report that there will be a supercharged RENESIS in the Mazdaspeed version of the RX-8. We, at RotaryNews.com first speculated about a boosted version of the RX-8 a year ago... exactly, In our popular "Predictions and Speculation" story!

We also revisited the issue again just before the Tokyo Autoshow... Giving the idea of a Supercharged Mazdaspeed RX-8 a 3 out of 5 star chance of appearing at the show. We wonder if Motor Trend reads this site?

But, what it means when it is printed in Motor Trend is that the program is fairly far along, far enough along that they allowed them to print it... Given past history as a guide, I'd say we are looking for it a debut in 8-12 months (SEMA?), and 14-18 months from now before it is available at your local Mazdaspeed dealer."

I'm assuming this didn't end up being in the March '04 MotorTrend?

racerdave

I agree with zthang and murix on this page... and especially with Nick from Oz.

I was considering the 325i *very* strongly. But the 8 is far more fun, and if you look at the numbers, the interior volume is almost identical. The only place the 8 is deficient is in trunk space.

But the 8 is keeping me out of the 325i/IS300 because it's really the most creative packaging of a sports car perhaps ever. To use the 90's buzz-phrase and cliches, it's a paradigm shift. They broke the mold.

For me, it's not competing with the S2k and Z... it's competing with, and beating, the IS300 and 325.

RodsterinFL

Exactly Racerdave.

I ran out and bought the magazine and crtically read the article. It seems that they were hesitant to say anything negative about the Z. Yet each of the cars were so different. Their goal, as stated, was to define the modern sports car. They also addressed the level of compromise each test car exhibited. Actually it was like reading about 3 sporting choices rather than competitiors.

I wrote them to correct a few statements made on the RX8:

-All 6 spd models come standard with
limited slip differential (they were correct on this regarding stability control but failed to mention that electronic DSC on the RX8 is available for $1100 more from base car in the sports pkg.-still under both other cars' prices.)

-ALL RX8 models come standard with:
ABS brakes with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution
(they said only Z had this in test group)

- All 6 spd models come standard with sport suspension

And you are right, the RX8 is actually more like a 4 seat coupe - G35, BMW 3 series, IS300. Yet note how the RX is competitive with even the all-out sports cars as the article shows. It is one cool car.

rx-7~rx-8

The rx-7 actually had less horsepower... it wasn't 255 mazda overrated it, but back then not alot of people cared... it actually had 238 HP... and it still tied SUPRA TT 320 HP... 300ZX TT 300 HP... damn imagine if RX-7 had 300 HP... man viper and corvette killer ....stock...

scorp76

Automobile Magazine tested/compared the 8 against the 330i and that Z thing last year.

zerobanger

excuse me, mazda did NOT overrate the rx-7's HP. The rx7 had 255 HP. They dyno in stock form from 217-220 rwhp which is around 255. The only ones that had 238 were the European versions which had around 237 for emissions reason.

NickG

Interesting. What was the result? I've never seen Automobile mag down here in Oz...

zerobanger

there was no real result. They basically concluded that the rx8 was part BMW and part 350Z, the best of both worlds.

corsa59

now, let me tell you, my lada would eat an RX 8 for breakfast..... lol just kidding.... it would eat it anytime of the day........ lmao still kidding.

Just sold my s2k, needed 4 seats, flying down to melbourne monday to pick up a new rx8 and drive it back to brisbane 1700kms, let you know which one is better soon......