BuckJohnson

Happy to join the forum!!!!

Traded in my Altima 3.5 two days ago for the Rx-8.

I have a few short questions and some comments.

First: My 3.5 manual Altima was not even a sports car, it was listed as a sedan. The Stock 0-60 speed was 5.8-6.1 from various car magazines, Car & Driver, MoterTrend, Auto Week. I added a CAI, Race pipe, and speed chip. The Modification were easy and worthy.


Now, My New rx-8 seems to handle like an NSX ,but 'Good God' off the line the car doesn't even pull until 4000 RPM. I have read the forum for the last few days. The explanation for this has said to be due to the rotory engines lack of torque. The Stock 0-60 speed is between 5.9-6.4 for the same magazines. The lower times were produced by a 7000 Rpm stagger drop, and powershifting.

When I drove my altima it amazed everyone, but when i come up to the line with my '8' its almost embarressing. I think alot of people know exactly what I'm talking about. Please do not say " The rx-8 is not a drag car," because i heard it before. Come on a 2004 sports car needs to do better than that. Sure my altima was horrible around turns and the '8' is flawless.

Ok, I said enough. what can be done.?Basic Mods? I didn't but a non turbo or supercharge to put one it. Just the ones that have been proven to produce. We all have a rx-8, what do you like about the car? what do you say to the critics? What can be improved.
My first post.
Thanks Buck

NoVa

I just feel that you are in the wrong car. Sure there are mods, but really none are a godsend....the rx-8's power curve is linear and doesnt have a lot of torque off the line. So, you have to do a high launch to get a good start and if you aren't willing to do this I would suggest a cobra for all your torque needs.

-Rich

robertdot

Yeah. The '8 is just not a drag car. If you are into autocross, this car will be your best friend. Hence, the power is in the upper RPMs and it handles like a dream. A drag car wouldn't care how it handled and it would be tourqued to hell in the lower RPMs. If you want to drag and have a great looking car, try the 350Z. It's a bit better suited for that. If you want to hit twisties, keep your '8 and have a really great looking car.

Sorry for blatantly ignoring your request, but it's the simple truth.

I mostly want to attribute it to the different focus in Japan. American seem to always be good drag cars. For some reason we are fixated in going as fast as we can in a straight line. It's thrilling and doesn't take that much skill. In Japan the emphasis is on drifting and autocross / road racing, which doesn't always get you up to 100 MPH, but takes tons of technical skill.

Though I could be wrong about the inspiration for making the '8 a great autocross car and a poor drag car.

So, anyway, that is my $00.02 all the way around.

BuckJohnson

Nova, You may be right. I had a cobra 6 years ago, but I think over time I wll appreciate this car better from what everyone is saying.

Hard 8

Yeah; you just have to suck it up. This car will never have the feel of a V8, no matter what you do. Even a turbo will simply enlarge the peaky feeling. A supercharger would help, but it's a pretty big mod for a new car. Just enjoy the car for what it is and keep an eye on the aftermarket. In two years or so, if you're still unhappy, sell the car or (maybe) get a supercharger.

-8-

So wait, you traded your 3.5 245HP Altima for an RX8 without knowing that it had low end torque???? Did you not test drive one? I think you should try to get your old car back and get back to your friends at altimas.net if you feel embarassed pulling up in an RX8.

Great first post.

Hard 8

Good point. I try not to buy cars without actually knowing how they drive, first. :D

robertdot

That is the good thing about driving a 3 cyl Geo Metro before getting the '8. I have NOTHING to complain about except lack of visibility out of my (smaller) windows

Hard 8

I went into my 8 from a 250 horsepower turbo Miata (12 psi on 100 octane) with 240 ft lbs of torque; weighed 2,340 pounds. Zero to sixty in about 5 seconds flat. Awesome car.

The 8 feels almost as quick to me. It's not, but it really feels damn quick; you just need to downshift in traffic and it goes like a slingshot.

It's largely a matter of how you drive. If you roll into the throttle at low RPMs from a dead stop, nothing much happens for awhile. But at higher RPMs it really does sing.

murix

I came from a turbo eclipse that was way faster, but I am finding the RX8 to be much more fun. You just have to accept the character of the engine and change your driving style. Keep the revs high and you will have a lot of fun with the car. Do not be afraid to hit redline consistently. It was made for it.

Find some corners and you will forget about everything else.

BuckJohnson

no, my point about coming up to the line was if another sports car came up to the line next to me in my rx-8 they are expecting at least something, but in my altima it was a sleeper. And yes, of course , I did test drive my car. Do you know what I mean? It is common on south Florida for people to want to jump the line at a light for a quick 50-75 yards or untill the next light. I read plenty about the car from magazines and this forum. I am now an '8' owner and will be for sometime. Like I said before, I think I will enjoy this car, for the long run, more than a quick start off the line, than I did from any of my other cars.

Hard 8

As you know, right off the line you're kinda hosed, because the 8 is geared a little taller and has less torque down low. That's gonna be hard to change. Real hard. I don't try to drag other cars for this reason (among others). Better just to smile, kick back, and let them act like jerks. (If I really need to make a hole shot, I wait until no one's expecting it, then make my move.)

Leave 'em guessing. I have tons of ricers who would just LOVE to mix it up with me, and I just let them get all excited, then putter away from the line. If I want to go fast, I do it when I have more of the road to myself, and in the curves.

Gord96BRG

Attitude adjustment. Yeah, a Maybach limousine will do 0-60 in 5 seconds, but it's no more a sports car than your Altima was. A Miata does 0-60 in 7.5 seconds, and it's a 100%, full-strength, pure sports car. A sports car is not simply about straight line, off the lights acceleration. 0-60 does not make or break a sports car.

I you want to amaze people - try second gear from 5000 rpm to 9000 rpm. That's pretty impressive! Then brake hard for the upcoming corner and amaze them with the cornering.

Regards,
Gordon

psionic1

there is a fix for that. Simply rev it to 4000rpm, or 3000 for that matter will do, and let go of the clutch. Works quite well for me

hiball

Well that's the reason why I still have my Awd Dsm. When I'm driving my 8 I'm always looking forward on the turns, but when I'm rolling with my dsm I'm always hunting for V8's.

I'm just waiting for greddy so I can boost this baby.

Hard 8

Aren't you worried about ruining your clutch or diff? I know that some cars (like Mustangs) are made for this kind of treatment, but I hear the RX-8 has a lot of wheel hop, which I hear kills diffs. (I'd be delighted to learn I'm wrong, but until then I'll hold off, I think.)

HeelnToe

Why?

I mean, it's just not what the car is about. IMHO anyway.

I don't get why people buy an 8... then make apologies and excuses of "just wait till I get a turbo, THEN it'll REALLY be something."

Hello! It's a FANTASTIC car right now, as it is, without changing a dang thing. At least it is to me. It's cool to see people modding it as a hobby, for fun... but it's sad to see people modding it out of a feeling of dissappointment caused by a misunderstanding of the car's intent and focus.

True, it doesn't slam you into the rear seats when you drag race it. What it DOES do, and does exceptionally well, is maintain speed from corner to corner - which is exactly what the car is meant for. The power is linear and progressive, making it predictable and easy to use when carving up twisties.

Which, incidentally, is what a "sports car" is all about. IMHO.

pret

drove brother-in-law's vehicle today, nissan something type-r, i think sentra. it has slightly tuned and more torque then our 8. definately pulls harder , BUT, it was load, sounded like crap (rough and airy), did not like the fwd, didn't like the handling at all, definately couldn't take a 90 degree turn at 47+mph like in the 8! lol. hp and torque numbers are definately not everything.

bam_bam_39

Hmmmm. so your telling me that Dodge screwed up when they turboed the Neon??? And then came the Evo out of a crappy Lancer. So these people should have just enjoyed as what they started as, cheap *** four door family cars?? They both drive fairly well even the Neon handles ok. Nowhere near my -8- but still pretty good. That makes no sense. If a civic handles like a dream It will still get beaten by a cobra with less handling ability on any course. Power does help, so does a little torque. I would like a ton more power.
Yeah ok the engine isn't made for that blah blah blha. then what is it made for. If Mazda didnt see something in the engine like the fact that it has great power to weight ratio and the ability to be improved why would they produce it? Especially in thier flagship car. I mean do you really think they would take our RX-8 and make it only handle great, but god forbid make it faster becuz that isnt what its made for. If that is true why Mazdaspeed or talk of a factory turbo or a supercharger? Maybe someine should go tell Mazda there engine isnt made for that kinda stuff. They prolly didnt get the memo. You people seem to be in denile. Or at least the senior members are and the "groupies" who just repeat what everyone else has said.
What happens when a better handling more powerful car in the same price range comes out? Will you just have another excuse for the car. You people make me ashamed to have the damn thing.
Its like when the dorky kid gets his *** beat, do you just tell him "well fighting isnt what your made for, your supposed to just be smart," Hell no, he learns to fight and beats the other dudes ***. same thing applies hear, faster GREAT handling cars beat justt fast, or just good handling cars. Turbo it, supercharge it, nos it, whatever. You paid 30 grand for it do what you want wiht it, its made for what ever you want it to be.
hell half the jerks in this forum dont even OWN an 8.

BAMBAM

REXNdBst

HeelnToe I'm not one of those people making excuses about my 8. Im not hiball by the way, for some reason his/her screen name showed as mine.

Well anyway, Im not dissappointed of this 8, I've always wanted a rotary, but the one I wanted only had two seats (Rx-7) and I like having passengers once and a while. So the 8 is perfect for me and I can't wait to be modding this car just like my previous cars.

robertdot

I feel the need to address what is an excuse and what is a fact. bam_bam_39's rant accuses some of us for making excuses and I want to address that.

Lets pretend I have two motorcycles. One is a competition dirt bike and the other is a competition road bike. How effective will the dirt bike be at road racing? Not as effective as the road bike. How effective will the road bike be at dirt racing? Not as effective as the dirt bike. Sure they could both be used in the other application, but they are only going to shine where they were intended to be used.

The '8 was not designed to be a drag car. Period. End of story. If it were, they would have put tons of low end torque instead of giving it great handling and high end power that revs up to 9000 RPM. Just like if ford wanted their Cobra to be an autocross car, it would end up looking alot more like the S2000.

You could put street tires on a dirt bike and tune it to work better on street, or you could put dirt tires on a road bike and tune it to work better on dirt. I'm not saying you CAN'T make the Renesis a drag car, just that it isn't out of the box. Hell, people turn Civics into drag cars. That should be enough of an example to tell you that you can do damn near anything.

So, yeah, put NOS or a turbo or supercharger. But, BuckJohnson (the guy who started the thread) said he didn't want a turbo or super on it. Basic mods have done little for the '8. You can replace the intake / exhaust for about 20-30 HP (or less, depending on who you ask) and get the Canzoomer Piggyback ECU fuel maps for another 20-30 HP. That, theoretically, should put you up to ~260-280 HP. But the power band is still too high to be as effective off the line as a Mustang, etc. But you can always dump the clutch at 4000 RPM like everyone else does and that seems to work fine.

Anyway, my point is that these are not excuses. They are design considerations taken by Mazda.

So, sorry if looking at a situation realistically makes you "ashamed to have the damn thing."

I want to make note that I never said you couldn't or shouldn't do whatever you want to give the Renesis more power, only that out-of-the-box the '8 is not a drag car. This doesn't make me sad or angry. If I wanted a drag car, I would have waited for the 2006 Mustangs. But, I didn't. I got an '8 and I'm 100% happy with it.

HeelnToe

True. Nothing wrong with modding a car. It's a fun hobby for some people.

But it's kinda like picking a wife/GF. There's nothing wrong with a girl using makeup, hair color, clothes, etc. to make herself prettier. But if you pick your wife *solely* on her "modding potential," then you never really loved HER in the first place.

Somehow, adding NOS or FI to the 8 just seems like slapping silicone double-Ds, lip implants and bleached hair onto a girl who's already very pretty in her own, natural, balanced way.

murix

I know the problem. Some of you people need to move where it is not so flat. :D

BuckJohnson

Murix, I think you hit it perfectly. I would like to live where there was some type of rolling terrian. South Florida is filled with traffic lights, traffic jams, and no elevation what-so-ever. Everyone who enjoys there '8's' performance lives or can find places to hit the higer gears. I believe what is needed for everyone is a winding hill or mountian to show case what thier '8' can do.

Rotarian_SC

Yeah, I don't know what I would do if there weren't those curvy roads, probably just spend my time on those curved highway entrance/exit ramps :p. The suspension geometry that gives it NSX handling also gives it wheel hop, simple compromise.