I dont understand? i see a lot of threads.. where its the colbalt SS vs the 8
Civic Si vs the 8

then i ponder over to the Chevy website, and the honda Website.. and find out that both cars dont equal it at all.. in power... i mean.. looks. handling everything else is a given.. but the ss only has 200 hp and 200 lb.ft of torque. and the Si only has 197 hp, and what not.. so why does everyone comapre those kinda cars to the rx8? the way i look at it.. the rx8 is almsot putting to the wheels, what the civic SI makes at the engine... its better
my two cents

 

except the Civic SI will likely dyno above 180whp, which is within range of the typical RX8.

 

right the civic SI will put the same power at the ground as the RX8 sure it will have a bit less tq, maby 20ft/lbs but that is made up for with the close to 200lb weight advantage for the civic (its curb is around 2800lbs) That with the gearing of the engine and it is a pretty close car to the RX8, in terms of straight line speed.

the cobalt ss pretty much has the same power as the civic si, but casue of the super charger and the almost 60ft/lb tq advantage over the civic (and near 50ft/lb tq advantage over the rx8) it also is a very close car in terms of speed.

I agree that the vs threads are stupid, IMO, its just a pissing contest......

People will fire back with "The rx8 handles better", or "it has way more luxury/refinment" ect......well thats great and all, but its just making people feel better cause the rx8 isnt the strongest straight line performer.

Dont get my wrong, I love the car, thats why I got one.....I think its decent fast, fun to drive, comfortable to ride in and I love the looks of it. Its also a great jumping off point/platform for a good daily driver/weekend racer. I love this car.

People dont want to admit that a civic or a cobal is as fast/can be faster than the rx8....cause they spend 30k on a car, and the other cars are 20k...

look at the numbers, the new civic SI can be had, almost loaded (including SAT NAV) for 22k, thats an amazing deal. You put a I/H/E and chip it....and your car is running low 14s in the 1/4 mile, and accelerating faster than the rx8..... you spend a little more and you get some suspension mods and your handling on par with an rx8. So for 25k you can have a car that is as fast/faster than the rx8 that someone paid 32k for....similarly equipt.

anyway....who cars, buy the car you want, and enjoy it.

 

Comparing the Cobalt SS to the RX8, at least in straight-line performance, isn't a stretch at all... They're very nearly neck-and-neck.

 

You do realize that the weight of a vehicle is important eh? Why do you think a 50hp motorcycle is faster than a Corvette?

 

The only comparison that should be made is base model automatic/manual 4 door. Cobalt xzII, or civic CSI, or whatever these cars are called are not base models. When mazda develops a RX-8 Q2F then we can compare.

 

I think VS. threads are people trying to justify their purchase, or they feel that because the RX8 is a more expensive car that it should be WAY faster than their ~20k car, and they are amazed that their car is faster in a strait line, because lets face it 90% of car comparisons people make are based on how fast they go in a strait line.

I mean seriously there are a lot of other cars I could have bought for what I paid for my RX8. Most of them where faster, some of the where visually appealing, I think all of the got better MPG.

 

civic = fwd

 

For 2006 there are 23 versions of the Honda Civic (4 are SI). One day there will be 23 versions of the RX-8 (and 4 super 8's). I can't wait to start waiving to more people.

 

I agree. I test drove quite a few cars, but as soon as I drove the 8 I had to have it.

 

Most of the vs. threads try to boil down a very broad experience (driving) to a simple test (1/4 mile or 0-60 times). There will always be a faster, more powerful car than ours. The funniest thing about it is folks who ask this question regarding vehicles with marginally superior times... If you care that much about straight line speed then beating an RX-8 by a quarter second seems like a pretty measly goal, doesn't it?

 

I think the reason these vs threads always go on for so long is that people love an argument.

When you're comparing apples and oranges there's no easy resolution to such an argument.

No car is 'better' in absolute terms. It's just a matter of finding the car that best suits your particular budget, requirements and tastes.

 

Numbers on paper don't really mean jack when compared to real world everyday driving. How much of anybody's actual driving time is really spent racing timed quarter miles? 1%? How fast is a couple of tenths of a second? A blink? Who gives a ****. This ain't the fast & the furious. LOL Enjoy the ride and spend less time reading BS vs. threads.

Out.

 

RX8 vs....... Looks like at least one of my predictions may come true.

 

Other than the Cobalt is a freaking shitbox ... other than that they are nearly neck and neck.

 

I stopped reading at post 8. And I've yet to ever say this, but here's my thoughts

rx-8 vs. just about every other car out there in APPEARANCE - Rx-8 hands down for me. That's about 75% of the reason I bought the car is I just LOVE the way it looks. Cheesy sure. I geuss I'm the guy that takes the dumb blonde with big ***** over the chick with personality. Seriously, just having a little Honda logo would be depressing for me (with the exception of a S2K, they are kinda nice on the eyes) Flame me all you want for saying all that, I don't care, I still think my car is pretty!

 

Because most people on car forums are enthusiasts of one sort or another. And enthusiasts compare cars. It's no different than popping over to the S2ki forums and seeing 911/Cayman/Elise/etc comparos. Or to the Solstice forums and seeing S2k comparos. It's what people with sports/"sports" cars do. What I don't understand is why people take offense to it.

 

Power to weight ratio measures the car's accelerative force at just one point on the RPM curve. The dyno charts I've seen for the RX-8 hold the true key to this car's "sneaky speed"; the flat torque curve! The Germans have known for FOREVER that if you want to accelerate a car hard off corners, you need a fairly flat torque curve over a broad range. The E46 M3 with its VANOS system is the king of this theory, pulling hard in every gear from 2000 to 7000 RPM. They are heavy, yet they are still blisteringly fast (almost brutal) in how they accelerate. They don't launch hard, like an American V8 would though, because they, like the RX-8, don't make great torque down low.

The RX-8 has a terrific spread of torque, even in spite of its low numbers. It almost seems like an electric motor, which makes nearly the same torque at all RPM.

 

Did I claim anything else other than their straight-line performance being roughly equal? Nope, I didn't. But since you decided to leap aboard the annoying "Cobalts are pieces of ****" bandwagon, I will point out that which you conveniently ignore. The Cobalt SS is an extremely capable handler, too. It's also equipped with good brakes, has decent styling (aside from the ridiculous wing), and has a much nicer interior than any compact GM car ever has... Close to the Japanese, even.

I don't understand your attitude. This snotty, "hayta" mentality is an extremely unflattering character trait. I wouldn't buy a Cobalt, but I'm not going to fly off the handle and call it a "shitbox", either. It's a decent car, especially as far as the performance per dollar ratio goes.

Let me guess... It's an American car, and worse than that a SMALL American car, so it MUST be *****, correct?

 

For what its worth on nasioc they were comparing the wrx to the rx8... initially the wrx "smashed it in all aspects" but after about 2 pages the consensus was the rx8 was untouchable with suspension mods and was in the end a much faster car (people compared the 0-120mph times) But not a 1/4 performer.

 

I don't street race or go to the drag strip. They way I see it, can getting to 60 mph 1 second sooner really be that much more fun?? I only ask because the 8 is the fastest car ive ever actually driven. Also, I cant remember the last time I actually drove the car as hard as I could, so why would it make sense to get another car that would accelerate faster, when I don't even push the 8's to its limits?? Obviously for those of you who street race or go to the drag strip this does not apply, but that's just my two cents worth.

(Why doesn't someone make a VS thread that compares looks. If we are going to keep comparing ourselves to other cars, let's compare things that we win!!)

 

The Cobalt SS is teh fastar! They often dyno higher than what Chevy claims they have at the crank, just like the SRT-4...

 

If it was just limited to a comparison of respective mechanical ability, great. Agree with you all the way. Car enthusiasts love to see what each car can do. A mature, sensible debate about the relative pros and cons of models that compete in the same general market segment can add a lot of perspective when it's time to update.

However, these vs threads always seem to degenerate into simplistic "mine is better, yours is ****" pissing contests. People seem to feel the need to defend their purchase and lose all sense of balance. And of course some can get downright offensive.

BTW, by mechanical ability, I mean, in simple terms, how it goes, stops and turns. Things like styling, etc are so subjective that comparison is relatively useless. Once you know what it's mechanical ability is, you can then decide whether you want to compromise on looks or how many cupholders it has (e.g. some guys don't care too much what their Evo or Sti looks like because they love the way they perform).