You guessed it, the RX-8 wins again.

"But the thing is this: the smart money stills says Mazda RX-8. Point Blank. It's got the best and purist chassis here. And, in spite of the R32's all-wheel drive, it still gets its power down better and carries more mid-corner speed, while the Alfa is nowwhere near the picture on either cirteria."

"But you can buy all the RX-8s you like. And Mazda deserves to sell every one that it can land here. It's the best of both worlds, and proves that properly engineered rear-wheel drive is still exquiste and fast and can carry people fairly effectively."

From Australia's Motor magazine July '04. (Old news down under, but relatively new in US book stores.)

The issue also has an interesting 4 page spread on a Turbo RX-8. Rotor Master, an Aussie Tuner, has used a Garrett T28 turbo to increase the power of the Renesis by 11%. It's a mild application, so the rest of the car remains stock.

 

Chalk up another win for teh RX-8! :D

264.18 hp is what you're looking for in terms of making 11% more power than stock. Not bad, but luckily, turbochargers can be tuned. Now, if only someone can help me fund and build my GT35R-powered RENESIS.

 

but for a vw the r32 is pretty nice...

 

Are you serious ? The rx-8 won this shoot out ? The R32 is one hell of a car! It beat the Evo MR in the last test by car and driver or motortrend because of its refineness and handling.

Are you telling me since its the chain rule , our cars beat the evo MR (definitely not for speed or maybe handling) but for refineness ?

 

I suppose you could use the chain rule to say it beats the EVO MR if the same magazine had rated the RX-8 better than the R32. A little bit of a stretch though, as it was a different magazine. BTW, EVO magazine also picked the RX-8 over the R32 in one of their past issues as well.

Perhaps due to a power/torque inferiority complex that some of us seem to have, we under estimate what a great car the RX-8 really is.

 

It's the overall ability, and potential the RX-8 has that makes it so appealing to the media. I think only in the United States is where we are so concerned about making more power. Japan seems content with 247 hp, so why do we have to bitch over 238 hp? Of course, I'd be hypocritical in saying that; I long for making more power, but my level is insane.

 

I think its the fact that we were first promised 247hp, then 238hp. I would kill for a good turbo setup, to help my 225hp.......oops 238hp baby.

 

Even after I was informed the car was only 238 hp, I wasn't deterred at all. It's a damn good car, and I have yet to see any new car win more awards than the RX-8 in a little over a year.

 

Where have you been? In the August 2003 issue (more than a year ago), the UK magazine EVO did a comparison test of the RX-8 vs. the R32, and picked the RX-8 as the winner then already! (I've posted that link here at least a dozen times in the past year! )

Regards,
Gordon

 

I posted the original Motor Mag article here several months back. R32 has also been up against the Rx-8 with UK Car mag, and in that instance the R32 was in front. Interestingly, whilst the R32 is quite highly regarded in Europe, it has been largely panned here downunder. The main criticism is the suspension, which simply isn't up to dealing with anything less than billiard table smooth roads. That's a disaster here in Australia where the tarmac is often..er..demanding, and more often freakin' awful.
R32 is still a huge leap forward from the old Golf 2.8 VR6 - which I owned - but no match for the RX8 in really demanding road conditions.

 

wasn't there a best motoring vid on this where the ms rx8 totally left the r32 behind?

 

Yes, I believe it was the Mazdaspeed RX8 with a R32, Alfa something, Type R Integra (RSX), and S2000. I could be totally off but that is what I remember. I think the R took very last or next to last in the comparo while the 8 came out on top.

 

sure wish someone would post that, or is this the "revenge battle" that everyone talks about?

 

I thought I had the vid on my work comp but I don't. If someone doesn't I will post it when I get home (IF I have it).

 

sure it was the MR? i just read an autoweek where it barely squeaked by the Evo RS and that was because of its interior.

ive driven the R32, it feels like its made of lead.

 

I think someone did post up the link for the vid. Just do a search for best motoring.

 

i thought the R32 was super heavy. that would kill it in any track test. on the street more weight will make the car ride smoother though.

james

 

I think the R32 weight is like 3400lbs or around there.

I thought I could host the vid but I don't have enough space for that on my site. It's 64mb if anyone wants it.

 

thanks, last time i did that all I could find was stuff I'd already seen, (ie revenge batlle etc.) maybe some have been added since then. a while back I found a site that had all kinda of freebie best motoring stuff (including a full rip of drift king) just wish I could find it again as it probably has this on there by now

 

One site is http://www.racingflix.com/. They have lots of vids.

 

I think this is what I was thinking about, lots o' stuff! (argh memory loss, must be gettin' old)

http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=41626

 

I searched that thread and found this link... I am downloading it myself and have not watched it yet, but it sounds like the video you are looking for.

http://64.246.54.65/rf_videos/road_r...uba_Battle.avi

 

just got through watching it, holy crap is that one sick 8, I can't believe how bad the r32 did, I thought they were much faster than that, must not be a good track car.

 

Yup, that's the "Revenge Battle" alright. The Mazdaspeed RX-8 A-spec still has a JDM-spec stock engine rated at around 250 ps. The suspension bits and MS flywheel, make the most difference. Yeah, the R32 did about as bad as the RX-8 did in its Best Motoring debut battle.

 

wow im pretty surprised...... i HATE vw's, hate em, but the r32 seemed pretty good.... ive seen 1 with intake/exhaust jump 4 cars on a EVO ! and also a 450hp to the ground r32. pretty impressive