Comments on: 2008 Mazda RX-8 pricing and specs

By: Fenno

Fenno — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:35:12 +0000

Tom,
Actually, it’s a very good arguement.
Not all cars are easy to drive fast.
Cars like WRX’s, Evo’s and Skylines can make a relatively slow driver look fast. These are vehicles that are quick from point to point and rely on huge power figures and short gearing to achieve their reputation. Every body complains that the RX-8 is under-powered, or under-torqued, but a fast car is not just about acceleration. It’s the whole package and that is what I base my FACTS upon. In relation to the power…I can put every one of the 177kw (that my spec has) onto the road a lot earlier and a lot cleaner than cars with twice the capacity, similar weights and/or turbos.
Dont believe me?
Try launching an MPS 3, hammering one in the wet or pushing past 8/10ths and you will see where they become to unglue. The drive then becomes more about controlling the power delivery than controlling the car itself.
These days many ‘performance’ cars tend to hide chassis deficiencies by either a; a well tuned ESP, or b:great rubber and tricky AWD/AYC/VDC systems.
The RX8’s DSC and E-diff controls are an on-road safety feature, not a driving aid and when removed from the equation (at the push of a switch) reveals the vehicle to be pure motoring and that’s what i based my OPINION on in my first post.
But, in all essence (for those of you still reading) we are entitled to have our opinion and I finally have had a chance to defend MY preference after listening to the completely repetetive FORD/TOYOTA/HOLDEN arguement that seems to seems to stir up in every forum on this site.

By: Frugal One

Frugal One — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:11:12 +0000

WOW

HUGE price drop

Dream on sellers on Carsales/Drive etc etc

Cheers

F-0

By: Richo

Richo — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:08:28 +0000

sorry Tom, i meant CapnCrunch

By: Richo

Richo — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:07:46 +0000

Tom – it has to do with the design mate, as i said anyone with a proper understand of rotaries will understand what i’m on about. Ever wondered why rotaries burn sooo much oil even when brand new? Ever wondered why they pop and crackle so much more then a normal engine on overrun (mainly noticable when a sports exhaust is fitted). It’s due to the fact that rotaries don’t have an entirely complete combustion cycle like a piston engine does, and as such it tends to dump an aweful lot of crap through the exhaust. See a piston engine, has a full rotation of the engine to burn the fuel and dump the exhaust, whereas a rotary has barely half a turn to do the same thing, as such it isn’t usually completely finnished its burn cycle before the exhaust cycle begins, hence it dumps more unburnt fuel through the exhaust then a piston engine does.

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:02:19 +0000

Fenno, i don’t think thats a very good argument that if your not going fast in it its the car’s fault

A decent sports car it is, but i mean, 170kw is 170kw..

Often poise can be made up by brute force, on both the racetrack and the road.

Bring back the RX7 engine.

By: John

John — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:49:57 +0000

They would sell a lot more if they just had more power. 184Kw (250Hp) should be the minimum for this car. Drop the weight a little also, say down to around the 1250Kg mark and this would definitely be the best sports car under $150K.

By: Fenno

Fenno — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:02:14 +0000

Tom,
Having driven ALL of the Mazda performance cars around Sandown, Willowbank, Oran Park, Mallala and a private training track in Perth I can prove to you that the MPS3 is faster than the RX-8 only during the in-gear roll-ons. Other than that RX-8 wins every time. The lack of torque means you can apply the power much earlier than in (pretty much) anything else (bar a 911).
It is a much better balanced car, and outbrakes the rest of the Mazda stable on every track mentioned above, on every corner.
Unfortunately the car does not reward ham-fisted drivers very well. So if you find yourself not going quickly in a RX-8. Look at yourself….not the car

By: Trump

Trump — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:20:28 +0000

The price needed to come down inline with the $AUD appreciation. The other importers should be doing the same.
I don’t buy protecting resale values. Until now its all been about lining their pockets.

By: CapnCrunch

CapnCrunch — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:49:51 +0000

Richo I don’t understand that argument re emissions – how can they make twin turbo v10’s (eg RS6) pass Euro 4 for example?

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:25:36 +0000

The fact that the 3 MPS is much faster is a bit of a joke to mazda.

At least they have dropped the price significantly.

By: Richo

Richo — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:19:42 +0000

IF it had a turbo, it would be the most brilliant car for the price no doubt. This was proven by Mazda’s own australian skunk works (the blokes who did the 3 MPS extreem concept) when they did a turbo version of the RX8 and it was completely brilliant.

Unfortunately tho Mazda have chosen not to do this, i believe because it would be too hard to make a turbo rotary to pass emissions standards, those with a proper understanding of how rotaries work would understand why, and as such it is not the best car under 100k, sorry

By: CapnCrunch

CapnCrunch — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:29:30 +0000

Still not enough power to get me excited – that’s the main reason I sold mine and won’t be going back. Other than that, great car.

By: Mitch Impey

Mitch Impey — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:14:49 +0000

bring out an MPS/Turbo version

By: Supercujo

Supercujo — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:13:59 +0000

I have always found the RX-8 to be a completely unsatisfying drive. Not enough torque.

By: VW_Freak

VW_Freak — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:12:44 +0000

Won’t make much difference here, in the time the RX-8 has been on the market we’ve only sold 2 of ‘em. Best car under 100K? Nah, it’s good, but there’s better!

By: Fenno

Fenno — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:54:48 +0000

I thought the rotors placed around the car was a special touch.

Opinion: Best car under $100k

Wont be trading my ‘04 on one until they bring out some decent colours though.
And for the knockers who base their opinion on what they’ve read somewhere.
Drive one and you’ll be hooked.

By: Mitch Impey

Mitch Impey — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 03:45:13 +0000

They seem to have gone away from using triangles everywhere