TALAN7

Regarding the early supercharged and turbocharged RX8 variants being developed I think they're deficient power wise. 300 hp is not that competitive. Mazda needs to shoot for M3 power (330hp and up) to make the 8 really competitive. The supercharged version that everyone talks about is only as fast as a Z car. Mazda needs to make the stock 8 as fast. The Mazdaspeed RX8 should be in the 350 range. I'd even take awd if it had say 350 hp. The new M5 has 500hp, the vette 400, crossfire has 330, even the Mustang GT has 300 or more hp. Come on, how does Mazda hope to compete with such weak gains. There 25% increase in Mazdaspeed versions philosophy isn't going to cut it in todays world of high performance econoboxes like the WRX, Lancer, Neon etc. I mean 275 hp just brings the 8 up on par with a base TL and even lower than a base Z, G35. Lower weight isn't an excuse cause for sure the Mazdaspeed 8 is going to weigh more. Mazda needs to enlarge the engine to say 1.5 liters to give the stock 8 about 270 hp, then turbo/supercharge it to mid 300s, minimum! Do this and you will get respect. IMHO, any Mazdaspeed 8 with less than 310hp isn't worth it.

Fanman

Honestly this will probably never happen. If you look at the aftermarket factory tuners their upgrades are always rather mild. From the Mazda Speed Miata 178 hp vs. 138) or the TRD superchargers for their workhorse 3.0 L engines (about 40-50 hp) the aftermarket factory tuners have to be conservative because many times there is a warranty factor that has to be factored in. If you get an SC from Blitz, or a Turbo from Greddy and damage the engine, many times these tuners are not liable. If Mazda sells a MS RX8 and the engines start blowing left and right they would be obligated to honor the warranty & perform very expensive engine replacements. If we got to 300 hp I think this is realistic. That is a 62 hp increase (I actually think the RX8 is probably closer to the European 228 hp rating though). Do you want more, of course that would be great but I'm not holding my breath.

Dark8

I would settle for another 70 HP. How much power do you need to drive a car on the street? 90% of the time I already have more power then I need.

therm8

300hp when you have the area under a 9000rpm curve is more than enough to compete in my opinion. as long as it's actually 300 hp :D . The 8 can already beat/hang with all of those listed above on the track(depends on the track for M3 and Z probably) or in autox with the exception of the Vette (the M5 shouldn't even be on the list). I can't imagine it with 300 hp.

BaronVonBigmeat

M3 2DR Coupe L6: $47,300
3415 lbs.
333 HP
(10.25 lbs./HP)

C6 Corvette Coupe: $45,000~$50,000 or so
3179 lbs.
400 HP
(7.95 lbs./HP)
No back seat

Acura TL: $32,650 - $34,850
front wheel drive, 60/40 weight distribution
0-60 mph time of 6.4 seconds
3579 lbs.
270 HP
(13.25 lbs./HP)

Chrysler Crossfire
lol

G35 Coupe: $33,000
3512 lbs.
53/47 weight distribution
298 HP
(11.79 lbs./HP)

350Z $26,000-$34,000
3200 lbs.
52/48 weight distribution
287 HP
(11.15 lbs./HP)
No back seat

Neon, Mitsu
who cares

===========================

For the base model RX-8, just improve the fuel maps, make high temp/high flow cats standard, and reduce the flywheel weight. If possible, tweak the exhaust port design. Also, they should offer an optional handling package from the factory--stiffer sways, lower & stiffer springs, better tires. Minimal cost to Mazda, big improvements in the already great handling.

For the Mazdaspeed RX-8, which is completely theoretical and doesn't exist yet...having "only" 300 HP in a 3100 lb. car would yield 10.3 lbs./HP, which could be pretty competitive, depending on how much it costs.

Personally I wish they'd just release a new RX-7 to shut people up. 250HP N/A renesis w/ light flywheel in a 2500 lbs. (or hopefully less) hardtop next-gen Miata chassis would do the trick, and would sell in the high $20k range, I'd imagine. Give it a more aggressive bodykit, of course.

Light weight > turbo

sup3rbad

Lotus elise supposedly dynos at 160whp, but it still has faster 0-60 times than the 8. It's not always about HP.

Fanman

With 4 seats, and "regular" safety/structural equipment I seriously doubt this car is going to get lighter. As a matter of fact most cars are getting heavier these days because of increasing safety standards. All the side/side curtain/front airbags/steel structure beams add weight. Bigger bodykits/fenders, larger wheels, etc. will add weight. The only way I could see them cutting weight would be to chop off the back 2 seats, and the structure around it, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was around 2800 lbs.

I seriously doubt anything greater than about 60 hp would come out from Mazda Speed. The Blitz & Petit (high boost unit) are touted to be around a 50-60 hp increase. Until they modify the fuel system & engine durability we are not going to see more hp on this car with a supercharger.

foxman

300 hp at the crank should be fine with a price a bit below $40k

shelleys_man_06

I'm going with the Baron, since he is an alum.

Power isn't an issue, it's weight. That was the main reason I bought my Base 6MT. There's nothing lighter than it. I'm sure even shedding 40 lbs can drastically improve acceleration times. Every little bit helps.

Don't look at a car based on how much power the engine produces. It's not producing peak power throughout the entire powerband. Otherwise, the car wouldn't accelerate.

DreRX8

The FD has 255HP and goes 0-60 in 4.9 seconds (R1/R2) and tops out at 168mph. The light weight is where this car excels; besides the upcoming RX7 (if it sees production) is the one that needs the so called M3 level power you speak of. Keep in mind what price point we are here--the RX8 is a $26K-$33K car not a $50,000 M3. A 300HP RX8 will already have low 0-60mph numbers--it will be closer in acceleration to Mustang GTs (05). Horsepower is only half of the story here--'275HP brings it up to a TL'--so what? By this illlogic the Z, TL, RX8, G35, M3 are all not up to Escalade standards with its 345HP. There are so many errors in your post to even begin to address.

Genom

No man. it's about having a huge HP number so you get respect!

PLEASE. respect from who? other weenies street racing? Who cares? The 8 already has major respect most everywhere since it DID win the Grand AM cup it's first year out, has gotten on multiple 10 best lists (and now some of them for the second year in a row), and has sold above expectations. I dont know who's respect your looking for, but they sound pretty lame to me. There will ALWAYS be a faster car out there. Live with it.

Also, A lotus Elise is 190HP crank. Are you saying it gets no respect? It will demolish all the cars you listed on a track BTW. So much for lightweight not being a valid argument.

djgiron

So then by your reasoning, a Neon SRT-4 is better than an 8, it has more hp (2), heck it even weighs less! The fact is, the 8 is successful for reasons other than its HP. The same went for the Rx7's that were 255hp in a 300+ hp world of 3000gt's, 300zx's, and Supra's. This is the same argument from the Rx7 days, if you want a drag car, dont get an Rx8, get something else. If you want an agile car the will outrun most anything in the twisties and carry 4 adults, get the Rx8!

Richard Paul

iTrader: (5)

So then the obvious winner with power, respect, $value, handling, power to weight, lux interior, fit n finish, best AC, engineering, parts availablity and looks is the Corvette C6!!!!!
You guys sold me. I'm going to look at Vetts today.

shelleys_man_06

Axial-flow supercharged C6?

TALAN7

The reason I compared a Mazdaspeed 8 to the M3 was because it was Mazda who said they wanted the Mazdaspeed moniker to have the same prestige as the M cars from BMW. My belief is that if they want that they need to be aiming higher performance wise. Case in point, take a look at the new Mazdaspeed6. We all just knew it was going to be serious competition to the Evo and STI but it looks like it won't. Competition? yeah, Serious? no. Will it be an all around better car? probably. I'm not talking about well roundedness, I'm talking about power. The kind of power that gets you down the street faster than the other guy. Let's face it the street is not the track. My 8 probably will never see the track. It's about getting from 1 stoplight to the other faster, or even competitively. Don't get me wrong I love my car but is there anyone on here who doesn't believe that the RX8 needs a little more power, and that Mazda needs to get the base 8 performing better first. Based on the size of the engine and emmisions concerns I don't think they'll ever get a tremendous amount of power out of the Renesis. I think their best route is to go the RX7 route with a lighter vehicle that can take advantage of the power it has. If they did make an RX7, RX8 sales would drop. Why, cause as much as you people don't want to admit it you do want better straight line performance.

NoTears316

It's also the size of a large go-kart... roughly 1100 lbs lighter than the RX8.

Richard Paul

iTrader: (5)

Well that thought lasted a few hours until my partner took the wind out of my sails. Say's we have to buy an RX8 and SC it first. Oh well at least you guys will be happier this way. True the 8 needs the help a lot more but the thought of something as quick as that SC vett would be gets me high. :D

There's always next years project. I'm still looking for an RX 8 to buy for this project.

Charles R. Hill

iTrader: (7)

Allow me to share my experience on this thread, if I may. I have found the RX-8 to be very responsive to even minor upgrades. To get even a 10 h.p. increase seems to have more impact on the acceleration than it would on other cars. I am only at something like 225 whp and I am turning in 13.7's @ 103 mph. To get to the 12.7-12.8 range will only require another 50 h.p. and many of you already know how I do that! Adding the very affordable Racing Beat suspension kit firmed up the feel and lowered the body roll tremendously. So, I paid $32K, added about 4K in upgrades, and now have a solid 12-second car that covers all the bases quite well and still runs good in 20 degree weather. Does it get any better than this?

Charles

Icemastr

Running solid 11's without nitrous

Stop whining about 300HP not being enough. Its plenty. The corvette was only 350HP not too long ago (a year) and weighed 300lbs more than the RX-8.

Charles R. Hill

iTrader: (7)

I don't want to argue about nitrous, but one nice thing about having it is that it allows the engine to have two personalities. As long as the internals are strong enough I have a smooth-running engine for every day driving and loads of power on tap for when I think I need it.

Ice, is that solid 11-second car you're thinking of running a turbo? 300 h.p. is more than enough power to get anyone in trouble.

Charles

canaryrx8

iTrader: (3)

really if you think about it. the first vette only had a v6 anyway and look how far it has come now. The 8 can only get better

Richard Paul

iTrader: (5)

It was an I6. And I hope we don't have to wait 50 years for an LS6- RX8

Tim Benton

I might get kicked in the ***** about this, but I'd rather have the upcoming Mazdaspeed 6. I've debated buying the 8 for about a year now. I've got 1 fd, 89TII, and a 91 base and the wife has a 2000 Protege. My reasoning would be to get something sporty (nice performance numbers and styling), seat 4, nice trunk space, of those the mazdaspeed 6 currently beats the 8 hands down. I don't under stand Mazda sometimes. They want the 8 to be their current flagship model in performance and image but the 6 will be better in every objective way (subjective will vary from person to person). It will be turbo'd and make 270ish hp, all wheel drive, 6 speed, cost about the same as the higher end 8's (30K), bigger trunk, more passenger room (although the rims are ugly as hell). Other than having a rotary, why would you choose it over the 6 (besides people personal styling choice which will vary)? i think I'll pick the mazdaspeed 6 when it comes out and leave the 8 alone unless they do something to make up the performance difference.

Tim

downshift

Sorry to break the news, but you might want to read this article first before making your choice the final answer...
http://www.autoweek.com/article.cms?articleId=101394

Tim Benton

Wow, it's a portly car, weighing in at 3630 lbs (8 is 2930..ouch 700 lbs). 0-62 in 6.2 seconds (claimed). The 8 in does 0-60 in 6.3 (according to car and driver). It's still a toss up since the 6 will more than likely get better gas mileage. Plus the turbo is making 15 psi, so how long will the engine last at that boost? damn it, back to square one. That winning blue does like damn sexy.

Tim