Finally got my MX5 sorted for CS. So of course I'm thinking about selling it and picking up an 05 RX 8. Questions. Anyone else had a similiar situation. The mx5 is a blast to drive. Is the RX 8 as fun? I know the RX 8 is competitive in BS, but like my mx5, this would be a street car as well. Can't get a straight answer on 05 RX 8 options. Does the base have the same suspension as the others? If it has 18" wheels, does it have the upgraded suspension and limited slip? Thanks for your help.

 

I went from a 91 Miata on coilovers to a bone stock RX-8, and I love the 8. The base manual trans. RX-8 has all the performance goodies, and is preferrable over the higher-end models because of a small weight advantage. The base has the 18" wheels, big brakes, and the LSD of the other models.

As a street car, the RX-8 is worlds better than a Miata, IMHO. Much more comfortable, darn roomy for a sports car, and plenty of fun to drive. It does get abysmal gas mileage as a daily driver, however.

 

I went from a 90 Turbo Miata "track ready" to a '04 RX8 Grand Touring Package (top of the line) and if I had the opportunity I could go back and keep the Miata and buy a "nice" commuter.

Don't take me wrong, the RX8 is a nice car, well balanced handles great (I installed all the MS goodies) but it'll never be a Miata.

I had more fun with the Miata and I miss it a lot. Even with the turbo (12 psi ~ 217 RWHP) I was getting ~ 16 MPG... The RX8 on the other hand, if I drive it the way it's supposed to be driven I get like 14 MPG!! If I baby it I get around 18 MPG... not your typical commuter.

At the track the Miata was more tossable ad more fun to drive but as daily driver the RX8 is waaay better.

My 2 cents,
Carlos

 

I agree, the RX-8 is fun with more go than the Miata, but not nearly as tossable. That's why I keep both. When I drive the 8 I feel like im in a car. You wear a miata, it's part of you. Get the RX-8, then buy a '94 Miata as a second car. 2 race cars are better than one! Who needs a tow vehicle.

 

I sold a '99 Sport to buy my RX-8. While there are days that I miss the Miata (especially when the weather is nice and I've got time to just go for a drive), I still prefer the RX-8 hands down. As a daily driver there is no comparison, and as a freeway car there is no comparison.

I prefer driving the RX-8 on bigger, faster courses, but I prefer the Miata on small, tight courses.

As an autocrosser it's also nice to have a car that can haul a full set of tires and gear without the need for a Tiretail or a trailer.

 

so the miata is easier to drive at speed than 8? One of the things I like most about the miata is it's predictability and how forgiving it is. However, we are talking about 12 days a year of severe tossing. The rest of the time it is a street car. If I could afford two cars, I'd probably get something other than an 8 for the second car, but for a compromise autox/street car, the 8 seems to be a better bet.

 

A well setup Miata is so responsive that it's very difficult for the car to get behind on course. The driver can get behind, but the car reacts just about as quick as you can turn the wheel. RX-8 requires you to stay further ahead on stearing inputs. Things also tend to happen alot faster in the 8. So overall, yes an RX-8 is harder to drive, but nothing dramatic. It's still alot easier than most cars and nothing sticks like an 8 in the sweepers.

 

The RX8 is just generally a LOT faster. And more comfortable...however, my miata (VERY slow 1.6L) was more 'fun'.

 

I occasionally miss being able to put the top down on nice days, but on the whole I like the RX-8. It is harder to drive the RX-8 because it has so much more power and things just happen faster. I haven't driven the MX-5, but it seems like it has pretty good power and it handles really well. I needed more horsepower for mountain driving, that's why I moved up to the RX-8. They're both great cars, though. Unless you gun the car all over in regular street driving, you can expect to get 18-22mpg in the RX-8. I'm guessing you can easily get 26-30mpg in the MX-5.

 

Having both, I'll agree with altiain that the RX-8 is funner on faster courses and the Miata is the better tool for tighter courses. I really don't think the Miata is easier to drive than the RX-8, however. If you ask me, it's actually quite the opposite.

And, the RX-8 has the advantage of being class competitive at the national level (if that's important to you).

 

Also, the only cars that had the non-sport suspension are cars with automatic transmissions, and even then most have the sport suspension as an upgrade. All 6 speed cars have the sport suspension & diff. For autocross, look for a base car, or a "Sport" package car, which adds stability control & Xenon headlilghts.

 

Thanks for everyones help. I'm out shopping now for an 05. Then I'll be asking about shocks and wheels for BS

 

I still wish I never sold my '91 miata. It was one of the most fun cars I've ever had w/ very little maintenance. It was definitely easier to drive since it had almost no power, what power it had was very linear, and its light weight made it very easy to toss around...

But if competitiveness at national autox is important, its pretty clear that the solstice is the new CS king. On the other hand, the RX-8 is the car to get for BS and its practical to boot.

 

You can probably find a decent deal on a new one if you shop around. Look at the mazdausa website for its vehicle locator.

 

Someone needs to let Brian Johns know he's not competitive.

 

Brian is in ES in a '95. I thought this discussion was about the NCs in CS, which is to say, the new MX-5, as opposed to the NBs (which appear to still be competitive in CS, third place by Darin DiSimo) and the NAs in ES, of which the '94-97 R packages are hanging in there, even though the MR2s seem to dominate the top spots.

The NCs - the new MX-5 - doesn't seem to competitive in CS, although this is still the first year so you never know. The NCs are very softly sprung. I watched CSL run, and the difference in body roll between the NCs and the Solstices was huge, with the NBs (99 sport Miatas) somewhere in between.

 

Sorry, you're right. You wrote Miata and I lost track of the subject. I have'nt driven an NC so I really don't know how they compare to an RX8.

 

the problem is they are stuck on 17" wheels which forces them to run large OD tires = high ride height and makes the overall gearing too high for the engine output

 

Yup, thats another problem. Then there's the fact that you can't get the optimum combination of gearing, a limited slip, and weight spec in the same package.

 

Mazda was too busy engineering that cool hardtop to consider a model more specifically aimed at motorsports. If there was anything that the MX5 needed, it was a roof that makes the car weigh two hundred more pounds. I really like the MX5, and I was considering one before I got the RX8. It would be nice if they considered a 1000 car run of a true decontented (i.e., light) club sport model with, I think, 16-inch rims, 5-speed, limited slip, and improved spring rates.

 

If they made that car, 1000 wouldn't be enough.

 

Two things - while the power folding hard top isn't my cuppa tea, it does only add ~80 pounds to the car, not 200.

As for hardcore decontented sports models, Mazda tried that in '03 with the Club Sport. They made 50 of them - 25 soft top and 25 hard top (with soft top delete), no radio, no a/c, etc. They couldn't give them away - there were still new ones on the lot 18 months after introduction.

The R Package was never overwhelmingly successful from a sales POV, neither was the standalone Sport Package in '99, when it couldn't be combined with other packages (mine sat on the lot for over seven months before the original owner bought it). The truth is, while Mazda probably does more to market to our audience than most manufacturers, the reason they haven't released a real NC Sport is because there just isn't a business case for one.

 

The last time they produced a Club Sport model, they couldn't sell the 50 that they made, so I imagine they're pretty gunshy about repeating that debacle.

 

The Club Sport weighed more than a '99 Sport so there was no technical reason to buy one. It's hard to make a business case when physics are smacking you in the face. Now a stripped NC with limited slip and performance suspension would do well IMO.

 

All true, but if all they did was allow you to check a "Torsen" box on the base model (instead of forcing you to buy a package with 17" wheels and/or the 6 speed to get the Torsen) they'd be 90% of the way there. That would give the NC a fighting chance. Still an open question about the spring rates, though.