truemagellen

Well after trying to drum up some responses from South African RX-8 owners to find an RX-8 in Cape Town I'm sitting at a wharf restraunt for a traditional RSA breakfast in Hout Bay and I look out the window and blurt out 'holy ****'...an RX-8 is gleaming on the waterfront

It is a 6speed, as South Africa was a British colony the drive is right side...and lets say after the mountains I saw today...he was very very lucky

RX-8s fully loaded cost R480000 Rand after all costs...so an RX-8 costs $80,000 US dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!! more than a BMW Z4 here!

Well enjoy the pics...I'll upload a few of the drive up the mountain (in my trust Opel Microvan :p) to the peak...where I came across a Ford GT-40 flying along...I'll post that pic later

I have these and many other pics in full 5megapixel jpegs uncompressed if anyone is interested...once I get back in the states I could email them whatever

enjoy...

HiTMaNN

Wow 80k for a rx-8 now thats a die hard rotor head

truemagellen

here is some more and one from the mountain drive

the scenery shot is the back of the mountain...I am not at sea level taking this shot so the drive up the mountain on the otherside is almost double the altitude change from Hout Bay in the valley to the peak

yellowRX

I have family in Thailand, and my cuz. bf is the owners son of a mazda dealer over there. She said that the 8 is almost 100k I thought I paid a lot for mine.

HiTMaNN

100k in what currency?

truemagellen

I'm going to the Mazda dealership here in downtown Cape Town see if I can take a test drive, and keep going up for a few hours

I'll just have to figure out a left hand shifter...yikes

the pic of the ships in the bay...that peak in the background is the pinnacle of the drive....:D

VelociRedBeast

Wow, now I know where to send my Rx-8 when I wanrt a new car.

truemagellen

I found the Mazda dealership driving to Table Mountain, also an insane drive

dealership is closed today but I'll go later in the week.

now I fully understand the beauty of our car...

Rhawb

Did you find the owner so you could let them know they spent $80k on a slow car? :p

truemagellen

yes, in fact the owner went to school with a cousin of mine and lived on the same street as my grandmother when she lived in South Africa during the 50s

prior to the 8 he owned a Chrysler Crossfire and a 350Zed, now has the 8 and loves it

if you drove mountain roads everyday and I mean MOUNTAIN cliff driving, no guard rail (this is South Africa for heaven's sake)...there is no need for a car that can pull 0-60 in a couple of seconds....only in a America does there exist this unsophisticated muscle car attitude of drag stripping from light to light....it is a Pre-ejaculative state of mind that is focused on cheap thrills...

now having a car that can handle is the difference between flying off a peak at 100kph with your straighline quartermile queen versus hugging 20 consecutive turns in a quarter mile

I saw a silver miata nearby that I'm sure was having a blast! Perfect for the conditions...

I FOR SURE would rather spend 80K on a Miata than 80K on a 350z or a BMW Z4 or similar for driving anywhere in South Africa...the HP dyno queens become dynosaurs on dynamic terrain

80K includes ALL fees including tax, but u have to understand ALL cars are ridiculously expensive here...and u have to be insanely wealthy to own a Japanese import sportscar....so u see few

Mercedes are still considered classy but BMW is higher end....but to have a unique car is rare and the RX-8 falls inline with Porsche in the area (ahead of 350z, BWM Z4. M3s) which I find fascinating

Rhawb

Haha, I was kidding. With all the people making fun of how "slow and crappy" our car is, I figured I'd join in. :p Clearly I bought mine because it was the biggest waste of money out there. :D

Next time you talk to him, tell him to get an SRT4, it r teh fastar. :p

yellowRX

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