Michael

I had a similar experience at a DE event at TWS with a Carrera GT. :-)

Niro

Nobody said I wasn't happy with my purchase. I'm happy with it, I bought it knowing what the car can and can't do. All I'm saying is that it's not a fast car...I don't even understand how people disagree with me, It's not a very debatle point...it's just not a fast car compared to others in its price range.

cas2themoe

You must be smoking something? I know less than a hand full of cars in our price range that can out run an RX8. Maybe you can't drive. Obviously someone with the same skill can post the same exact time as an M3 and a 350Z. Proof if here ----> http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/powerlaps/page_2.shtml

I'm sure you can come up with other tracks with the same cars beating the 8 but not with the same driver racing all those cars! I'm not going to say the RX8 is fast but its fast enough! But if you call an M3 and 350Z fast, then after seeing those laps times, I would hope you reconsider your statement!

Ike

Great Cas, all you did was reconfirm what he's been saying... Thanks for the longer version of we can take them in the twisties. FYI, Topgear is hardly proof of anything. Love the show but their times don't mean much.

DARKMAZ8

r u coocoo? That top gear show proves that the 8 rules all. I have that episode on dvd next to my bible. :p

NoTears316

Since this has turned into a slam fest and is in no way an aftermarket topic, can this please be moved to the discussion forum?

cas2themoe

I'm just a bit confused. I think if its anything in the 8's favor you dont want any part of it. Have you seen the map of the Top Gear Track? http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/powerlaps/map.html

Why do their times not mean much? You might as well say every TV show, Magazine, Timeslips and etc are no good. Lets just throw them all out the window! All I'm saying and I've said it before that its one skilled driver(Dont even say hes not skill because he does as you can see from the videos) driving many cars around a single track SEVERAL time to get the fastest time. I would perfer to have his times then two different drivers on the same track.

Sigma

What times to you suggest do mean much? You have the same professional driver driving all the cars around the track numerous times and taking the best out of all of those. You entirely remove driver skill from the equation and leave the comparison down to the cars, which is precisely how it should be.

Niro

Please...why don't you share all those sport cars in the 25k-35k that CAN'T beat an rx8? I'd love to see the list...a comparison maybe of the cars that can and can't beat it...95% of the list will be in the "beat rx8" column....if not 100%. Oh...maybe if you do a 7k clutch bomb you'll be able to keep up with a few of those cars...for maybe 3 runs before your car ends up in the shop getting its tranny and clutch replaced.

And can you get your head out of your exhaust...apparently your brain is somehow locked in the track...how many times can I say this?

We're comparing 0-60 and 1/4 times...NOT TRACK TIMES! Thanks...

Ike

1.) They don't do several laps and take the best, they often take dirty laps with pretty big mistakes as you can see in the videos. They seem to simply take the first lap where there is no spin or huge mistake.

2.) The conditions they do these laps in vary greatly with anywhere from cold and rainy to hot and sunny and everything in between.

I don't have a problem with the RX-8 and Z times being similar but the RX-8 in no way is going to keep up with an M3 9 times out of 10 on a real track. Keep in mind the M3 CSL they tested did a 1 min 28 second lap in the damp and there's no way the CSL is that much faster than the regular M3 MT. They also did a 1 min 37.4 in the S2K, so do you think the RX-8 is nearly 6 seconds faster than the S2k around one lap of a track???

The mags that test the cars same day in their comparisons are far more acurate IMO, but they aren't nearly as fun. Topgear is more a fun show than it is proof of anything.

Ike

There are plenty of cars that the RX-8 will beat, but most of them just aren't sportscars... I agree with your points to a degree but lets not go overboard and lets get rid of the cheapshots and keep this discussion civil.

Niro

yup I agree...as soon as I saw that the M3 times are identical to rx8 I lost all respect as far as accuracy goes for that show. It's definetly a more fun show to watch...its just entertainment, I don't consider it very accurate.

Niro

I meant sports cars...left out that key word.

Omicron

Speaking from experience: Racing Beat Intake, aftermarket exhaust (Borla, Racing Beat, etc), and custom tuned CanZoomer/Greddy eManage PCM/ECU "chip" mod. And if you and/or your wife can live with the NOISE (!!!), catless midpipe or high flow cat. All told you can get all this in for less than $2K if you shop carefully, and it'll get your car into the 210-220 WHP range. This is good to get your car into the 0-60 in 5.4ish range.

belkjz

cant we all just love our cars and get along

Omicron

It is possible to have this discussion folks without personally attacking one another. You can disagree with someone without calling them a moron. When you do get personal, all it does is make YOU look stupid. So lay off the personal attacks or this thread gets closed. Clear enough?

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

from my personal experience a well driven stock/CZ tuned RX8 can beat: pre 2005 Mustang GT, WRX, RSX-S, Eclipse GTS, Celica GTS, Lightening Pickup.... and whatever else pissed me off in the last couple years

cas2themoe

I dont care how you get to 60, even if its with a clutch drop, the RX8 still gets there in 5.9. Do you even own an 8? As far as I know, many if not all "car test drives" have clutch drops when testing straight line performance if its a manual trans! Would you like me to prove it? So your statement about clutch dropping is irrelevant in trying to prove your point!

Sorry for any anger coming out. I'm just tired of people not respecting the 8's performance. I do agree it is slower than alot of Sports Cars in a Straight Line but its also pretty even and sometimes out runs other sports cars in the straight Line. Alot of it has to do with driver. I consider myself a good driver and have had my share of run in's with some of out main competitors and I either won or kept up with them. Lets not talk about curves because we know where it is on that list! :D

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

This discussion with never end. Mines bigger than yours, mines faster than yours, mines etc than yours. Who cares! I'm having fun!
olddragger

Sigma

Jesus, will you quit making such a big deal out of a "7K Clutch Bomb". EVERY decent time on any car is from a clutch drop. It just so happens that you have to do it at a higher rev in the RX-8 to get the same effect.


Does that mean that it's worse? No. An RX-8 is generating far less torque at 7,000 RPMs than a 350Z is doing at a standard launch RPM of 3500 RPM. So the 350Z is actually probably doing more harm to its' transmission and clutch than an RX-8 is if you really want to get picky about it. But the fact of the matter is that anyone worrying about getting the best possible 0-60 or 1/4-mile times shouldn't give a damn about having to do a clutch drop to do it.

And when are you going to get it through your head that the measure of a sports-car isn't 0-60 to 1/4-mile times -- those are the measures of muscle cars, an entirely different category. If you want to compare the RX-8 to other sports cars, do it in something that sports car have mutually in common that they should excel at -- track times.

Comparing 0-60 and 1/4-mile times in a sportscar is about as relevant as proclaiming the RX-8 the best sportscar there is because it has 4 doors. Yeah, it's a nice added feature, but it has nothing to do with its' standing as a sportscar.

Niro

What exactly does freedom of choise have to do with performance comparisons of sport cars?

You sure you reading thru the right forum?

BaronVonBigmeat

Let's see what it would cost to boost the 8's straightline performance to 350Z levels.

Now let's look at what it would cost to give the 350Z a backseat, lower CG, and smoother ride while maintaining it's handling.

Who cares. Everybody has a different list of priorities. The 8 does just about everything you'd want a sports coupe to do really well, except acceleration. You can't have the best of everything at this price. If you want a coupe with better acceleration, you buy a Mustang GT or GTO but give up handling. If you want something in between and don't give a damn about a back seat, get a 350Z, etc.

Niro

I think I'm beginning to understand what's going on here...

Any kind of test that the rx8 performs poorly in is irrelevent...my apologies then, we'll discuss nothing but twisties from now on...

Sigma

I understand what's going on too...

When faced with any sort of a decent, logical point you ignore it and go on.

I would expect the same argument to be made if someone was on the 350Z Forum ranting and raving about it was such a bad sports-car because it had no backseat so the RX-8 must the best sportcar in the world because it does. The lack of a backseat has zero relevance to it being a sports-car, so it's stupid to base an argument on that -- just as it's stupid to base an argument on 0-60 times.

A Pontiac GTO will post a faster 0-60 and 1/4-mile time than a Lotus Elise -- guess it must be a better sportscar.

This has nothing to do with finding a test the RX-8 will excel at, I don't particularly know if the RX-8 would fare any better in a comparison of Track Times or Slalom speeds than it does in a 0-60 test when compared to others in its' range, though I'm willing to bet it at least narrows the margin.

But that's not the point. The point is that your argument is entirely flawed to begin with. You claim we want to discuss nothing more than the twisties, but you want to discuss nothing more than 0-60 times. What makes that a better argument? You're doing precisely the same thing and basing your argument on a quality that is most certainly not universal across all sportscars nor a defining characteristic.

Niro

RX8 isn't a coupe...but anyway.

even tho' everything is irrelevent since we're not talking about track times according to sigma, lets tackle some of your points.

When you're talking about sports cars there's really only two things you want it to do well, handling and acccelration (well and breaking of course). If the sports car doesn't do acceleration well then that's 50% of what a sports car should be....you kinda shot yourself in the foot with that statement I think.

Back seats...even tho' this thread is completely about performance...ok, you got me there...there's no way a z can get back seats. GT can get handling upgrades...almost no amount of upgrades will get an rx8 to keep up with a GT, and if you manage to do it somehow then the GT can spend 1k and beat you again.

WRX STi...no amount of money put into the RX8 will make it keep up with an STi in any category (it may be ugly, but that's completely subjective).

Again, I'm not regretting my purchase...I'm just trying to get you guys to admit the fact that the rx8 is just not a fast car compared to other sport cars in its price range.