Thanks for the advice. We also experienced that a lot of (slow) Dutch tourists and unexperienced drivers, change lanes just in front of you, because they are not used to recognize drivers at high speed. I.m.o. they cause the highest risk to an accident!

And you're right about letting young drivers drive a RX-8. Driving at high speeds in such a powerful car, requires a lot of experience and knowledge about what other people might do and how you and your car should react on that.
I wouldn't let my children drive this car, until they really know how to drive.

 

Caecil - what a COOL picture. Irrefutable proof of speed. Great example of safe handling and conscious driving (both hands on the steering wheel - you young 'uns reading this).

I would have to take a picture like this, too. The only thing, though, it would have only my left hand at 11:00 'cause I always keep my right hand on the shift - been doing that since all the cars I've ever driven have been standard transmissions - over 28 years now.

Now the drawback of that would be that my wife would be taking the picture capturing that moment so you'd be missing the audio portion of her screaming:

"SLOW DOWN! SLOW THE *#@! DOWN!" :D

Tall.......................

 

When you drive at (very) high speed, you should drive with both hands on the steering wheel! No need to shift anymore and it's you can correct yourself much quicker in case of sliding.

I'm so lucky, my husband didn't scream while taking this picture, he actually encouraged me to go faster!!!!

 

172 mph, in the RX7 (have a few mods) at kansas motor speedway. Can't wait till they come out with turbo kits for the 8, though with the higher compression on the RX8 I don't know how they'll achieve boost higher than 4-8 psi. Maybe I'll ditch the FD when they do come out with a kit for the 8. Happy Boosting
Jeff

 

Hey - Didja happen to see the last issue of RX Tuner? Being in the backyard - so to speak - of Sunflower Mazda in KC. They have a supercharger for the 8 that is factory warranted. The guy to talk to up there is Larry Miller. I spoke to him last week when I went through there, and if I had the cash... I think I'd probably lose my license... :D

 

Was able to hit 124pmh, but topped that the following week 139mph. could have probably hit 145 but saw some cars heading my way. fuzz fear. :D Even got evidence! as you can see by the RPM could have gone even faster.

 

Gee, you're my hero...

 

Looks like you were in 6th gear.
You might try 5th next time, you get up to speed faster.

 

Gotta love it how people stare at you when you shift at 205 km/h. :D

 

My brother is OKC police officer, and has attended their 'pursuit driving' school. I picked him up last week and we spent the afternoon driving around a local lake (deserted, S-curves, fresh pavement = great!) at 40 - 70 mph.

We finished it off with a 122mph sprint on the Interstate. Only in 5th gear, never felt like we were stressing the car. Very stable, a bit unnerving as we blew by slower cars (I was in the passenger seat).

I think I enjoyed the runs around the lake more.

 

i did 146mph

 

Who took the pic at 146MPH? I hope your passenger did it.

 

I did 140 in a test drive....It was actually the second sports car I had test driven in my life..... (first was an RSX-type S which was boring as hell but that was due mostly to the dealer I was with who was very strict about not letting me go above 5,000 rpm).....

I called up Millenium Mazda in Durham and made an appointment and it turns out the guy I scheduled a test drive with knew me from my high school days at CHHS........I knew it was going to be "interesting" when right out of the dealership he said "punch it" and I basically floored it up to 120........At 120 it suddenly cut and I was like "WTF, does this thing have a rev limiter??"...Turns our we were out of gas and he said we had to take it back....I then offered to put 10 dollars in if we could continue the test drive and WOW Im glad I did!!!!! The dealer and I switched places as he showed me all the features and then he took it up to 135 to show how stable it was at high speed.....We then took the exit to Duke University (blah) and I was allowed to turn around and drive back to the dealership and it was here that I made my 140 run..........The RX8 was VERY stable at high speed.........It worries me now to think that I was doing 140.....jeez I would have been so fucked if I had been stopped by the po po's.......

Anyway, since then I have test driven a Suburu WRX Sti, BMW M-3(both at the Performance of Durham dealership on the same day hehehe), Nissan 350z and Infi-G-35, Honda S2k, the last car I just test drove was the Lancer Evo.....which I had been trying to test drive FOREVER!!!!!

Of all the cars I drove (keep in mind each test drive was only about 30 minutes each so I am no expert), the BMW M3 struck me as the most refined......(it was 55K after all).......I test drove the WRX Sti 5 minutes before I jumped into the M3 and it was such a HUGE difference......The M3 was the first car that was as smooth as the Rx8 yet had the torque and power I wanted.....It was also VERY stable at high speed corners (as in 100 mph ++)...

To make a long story short, I couldnt drop 55K for the BMW M-3, the WRX Sti and Lancer didnt appeal to me in the "looks" department as they were a little to "boy racer fartbox" for me, the Honda S2k was just too small for me, the RSX was just boring compaired to the others, and the Rx8 didnt have the torque I wanted and I was nervous about buying into the Rotary engine.......so I ended up buying a 350z and I have mixed feelings about my decision...........(I liked the Infinit G35 very much but I felt the 350z looked much better.....the G35 just looks strange to me although not bad or anything...just...not....."right")

Ever since I drove the Rx-8 I loved it to death.....My test car was amazing......I like to describe the color as "ferrari red", it had almost every option available on it, and the really nice red and black interior........ah man, that interior was SOOOO nice!!!!

My current Z car has been a bit of a dissapointment.......While it is fast and has the power I want, it feels heavy.....it is not nearly as easy or enjoyable to drive as the Rx8 was...the great thing about the Z though is its great engine......Luckily, mine has had no issues yet but many 350z, especially 03 models, have had BAD quality control issues and it makes me nervous...........The 350Z is also too damn heavy.......

Anyway, lately I have been considering selling my Z and going back to the Rx8 which is why I cruise this forum all the time reading stuff people are saying......Every time I come here I move a millimeter towards selling my z.......

Only one thing remains to stop me: The Rx-8 needs more power.........That thing alone is what stopped me buying it in the first place and it is whats stopping me now.......If the Rx-8 had about 100 more hp than I think it would truly be the "perfect" sports car if it were to also remian under 35K.............I have heard rumors about Mazdaspeed creating a supercharger kit for the 8 but nothing concrete so far.......I think Im going to waite until people figure out the new Renisis engine and start building reliable and time tested supercharger or turbo kits......

 

Either that or Im going to save for about 2 years, sell my 350z, and buy myself a nice BMW M-3 (E46) with the 6 SMG gearbox......a nice white one like the test car.......Jeez.....In fact, now that I think about it the M3 IS the Rx 8 with more horsepower hehehehe.....I swear to you guys, the M3 and the Rx 8 feel so alike in terms of driving character but the M3 has the right amount of torque and power (and a redline nearly as high as the 8)

Ok that does it, I have talked myself into an M3.....sorry guys...I will always love the Rx8.....but the M3 also has a comfortable and roomy enough back seat (I know because I sat back there for about 10 minutes and I had enough room)

 

I love the Rx8 back seat as well, but the M3 doesnt look as if its been stretched to accomidate its rear seat from the outside as the Rx-8 does which is another of the few things I dont like about the Rx8 is that it looks "wrong" from certain angles........

But anyway, I saw a black 8 cruising Franklin Street a couple nights ago while I was chilling out in front of Starbucks after watching F- 9/11 (go see that movie!!!!!)......and that 8 looked KILLER at night....EVERYONE turned to look at it......jeez......Thats one thing I noticed....the 8 looks 10 million times more sleek and sexy at night then during the day.......not all cars can have that said about them.....

 

yea my friend took the picture.

 

140 racing a Mercedes, think it was a 500 SL not sure, waved at him at 135 asI I passed bye, was beautiful. Slowed down as soon as I passed him. Stupid, yes I know but I hate getting tried.

 

So it's ok to talk about going 150 mph on a public highway but I can't post a story of beating an Integra that challenged me in a street race to 80 mph.........I see

 

i hit a good 140 sorry no pic..mebbe next time i knew it coulda pulled more

 

I went up to about 130 in the 8 (have been to 140 before getting the 8). The 8 felt very stable at that speed but the road was basically a straight stretch of road.

On a side note, all this talk of max speed gets me wondering if they could have geared the 8 for quicker acceleration instead of being geared for over 170mph. Just a thought!

 

Hit 152 on the highway next to a ZO6 and He couldn't believe that I was right there with him.

 

6th is geared to get you better milage at cruising speed (I even think it needs to be geared taller, so that 60MPH=2K rpms not 3K).

 

It already has 4.44 rear end !
Rotaries have always been great on the highway