can't decide if this is the right car for me

Cmike2780

As a former RX-8 owner, I can honestly tell you that it was a great car with a lot of flaws. It was really fun to drive around the bends, a lot more balanced than the Z. You could throw that thing into a hairpin turn with confidence. Reving that engine was fun. The only downside of course, was the very lacking amount of torque. A minivan could smoke you off the line. The rotary has power, but not until you reach 4500 rpm's. I also had a lot of mechanical issues with the car. After 40K miles I had to replace the ignition coils, engine mounts and a few other parts I can't remember at the moment. I also had coolant issues, hard starting, flooding engine....the list goes on.
There have been quite a few RX-8 owners that have had their engines replaced due to lost of compression and out of warranty. The Mazda service dealerships near me didn't help matters. I once contacted Mazda's US corporate office to try and replace a defective SSV and they were just as rude and dismisive as the dealership. Really bad customer service. It took me like 6 visits to finally have them replace the part.
The Renesis engine also doesn't handle FI very well and very limited in terms of aftermaket performance mods. Top it off with having to add oil every 1500 miles or so and it becomes a headache after a while. The manual gearbox on the RX-8 is much smoother than Z though. If you've ever driven a manual Z, you'd know what I mean.

The 370z is very much more refined than the 350z. The 350z needed a lot of growing up. The interior really turned me off when I was cross shopping with the RX-8. The 370 interior on the other hand, fits the personality of the car nicely. There's plenty of power and the handling is top notch. The steering feels heavier than the RX-8, but you get use to it. I guess you could describe it as the best all around performer.

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Hambone1

I have a close friend with an RX-8, and I have owned my Z for awhile now, so while this isn't a balanced comparison, I still have some decent experience in the RX. Echoing what a lot of people said, the Mazda is completely dead down low in the powerband, I mean DEAD. If you get caught short geared, it's embarrassingly slow to pull out of the hole. As far as the backseats go, they are pretty much child or emergency carpool use only, I wouldn't subject anyone of decent size to more than a few minutes back there. The tranny and gearbox on the 8 are actually very smooth, although you get to the point where you're working so much that it gets kind of tiresome, not a knock on the gearbox itself, more the entire package.

cossie1600

from 20-45 in 2nd gear. My Prius does it in 4.0 sec. If you leave the RX-8 in 2nd and just punch it, it takes 3.9.....

Dark Sarcasm

im baffled by this. Why would you need to change the spark plugs? i thought they were rated for 100k miles. Doesn't the Z have a coil rail not "coils"?

As far as maintenanc ecost I am not sure, but try finding a mechanic to work on a rotary besides the dealer. Not alot of Wenkel experts out there.

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wilsonp

My boss has an RX-8 that I drove once, but ridden a lot. His is an automatic, though, like my 370Z.

Power is lacking but it isn't terrible if you give it gas, but he is on his second engine (replaced under warranty) and has had to have it towed to the dealership a few times when it wouldn't start. Moving it a few feet in your driveway tends to make it flood and towing is the recovery. He also has to keep oil in the car to add every few weeks.

While some early 370Z had oil problems, mine is perfect, and newer ones appear to be fixed. Probably the most common problem is the hatch not popping open on the first press of the release and you have to pull it up and press the release again.

If you need four seats, the RX-8 is probably one of the best sporty compromises, but if you don't, I would get something else. He won't buy another Mazda after his experience with the RX-8.

Car and Driver rated it third in its search for best handling cars, but the 370Z wasn't tested.

From reading a lot of posts here, it seems like most people would say the 370Z automatic transmission is very advanced, and the 370Z manual transmission is at best average. If you want a better handling, nicer transmission sports car, I think you'd need to get a Cayman S.

Otherwise I think the 370Z is the best all around sports car, considering price, performance, quality, technology and even luxury.

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cfweber

Really a test drive is the only way you'll know, but

what I did was searched on the internet

I bought the Z as the best bang for the buck car that I could afford at the time

the Mazda wasn't in the mix for whatever that's worth...

You can search and find the answer

the Z handles great by the way-.99g on the skidpad translates to

lots of fun in every day driving

maintenance and changing spark plugs?

what?

good luck and keep us posted

Fastfatdude

get the S2000.
- convertible definitely has more style than the RX8
- most prob handle better
- engine is a screamer
- sips gas
- minimal maintenance (compared to regular engine oil topups in the RX8)

1slow370

all i know about s2000's is that i was carving with one and all i heard from him was "wait till i get a supercharger" he was behind me the whole time sometimes two turns or more back and yes thats corners marginally better handling doesn't have crap on massive breaks and 100 more horspower to accelerate out of the corner.

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ImportConvert

http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezfl...0b704c7a33.pdf

^Acceleration is pure crap, about like a crown vic, and handling isn't very good either imo. considering all the other compromises this car embodies.

http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezfl...65b5481d51.pdf

^Acceleration is actually better than most family cars/crown vics, stops the same as the RX8, and in THIS test it gives up 1mph on the lane-change which is probably more a result of the 370Z's 3" greater width than any ability to change lanes/corner better on the RX8's part. The much higher skid-pad rating indicates that long, sweeping corners would put the 370Z FAR ahead of the RX8.


To be fair, the 370Z body style has not changed that much from the '03 350Z. It has gotten more rigid and a few changes to the motor and other tweaks here and there, but all in all, the Z is overdue for a more competitive drive line and maybe some styling changes.

Then again, I like older designs. It takes a while to work the kinks out of things, and that is why I would rather have a last production-run car of an older style than a first production run car of a new style.

FromG2Z

having owned an RX7, I also know several folks with 8's. The engines not only return terrible mileage and are low on power and torque, engines on these suckers blow at around 50k miles. I kid you not, 2 of 6 people with 8's here in my small/medium sized town have gotten 2 new engines under warranty. All failed from apex seal deterioration.

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ImportConvert

The longest I ever heard of an FD lasting was around 110K miles, and everyone was stunned that it lasted that long. It wasn't pushing a ton of boost, pretty mild, running 13's.

cossie1600

The funny thing about the rx-8 is that it actually uses less gas at the track (8-10mpg) compare to the Z (6-8mpg)

If you are used to the RSX, forget about the handling and all the other stuff. One thing you will miss is the room!

abecus

Thanks for the input everyone, it's really making the decision easier...I see a lot of negativity towards the rx-8 so just to clear things up:

1: I'm sorry for those who had flooding issues etc. but those issues were mainly on the 04-05 models due to last minute changes on Mazda's part. 06-08 isn't as bad, and 09+ (Series 2 aka 2nd gen) is a whole new car (reliability wise) the changed everything, I haven't heard a single flooding issue for the S2 models so far...they even changed the gear ratio so it feels a lot tourquier in 1st and 2nd (remember, I said feels)

2: The rotary engine itself isn't bad, it's hard for people to adjust to it after using pistions..rotary engines are meant to be kept at high revs not only to keep the engine healthy, but it's also reported that you get better gas mileage if you shift at 5k. You also need to redline it often to clear out the carbon, hence the popular saying "a redline a day keeps the carbon away" as for the oil, they use about a quart every 3k miles when isn't all that bad

3: Rotary engines are not low on torque. It's just that torque is pretty much dependant on displacement size..I garauntee you that a 1.3L NA pisiton engine will give you a lot less torque than the Renesis in the rx8. A 5.0L rotary engine will kill the Mustang and both HP and torque. They may not be effecient in mileage, but they are very effecient in size-power. I have to agree though that they do have a short life-span if you don't maintain it. A well maintained rx8's have lasted over 200k miles on the stock engine...they're not like piston engines where you can just "forget about it", they need to be taken care of. And Mazda did up the powetrain warranty to 100k/8 years standard

I did a lot of test driving in the 8 and I can't explain the feeling, it's just so smooth. If you closed your eyes and plugged your ears, you would not be able to tell if you were on 2k or 9k RPM, it's just that smooth.

Anyway I'm pretty sure the 370z is the way to go. I'll drop 1k (will that be enough?) on some decent coil-overs and that should be enough to at least match the rx8. And yea I guess I can't expect a perfect car until I move up to the Cayman's price point, but the Z does seem like a better overall package.
About the spark plugs and everything, I was just quoting what I read at rx8club, they change their plugs every 20k miles, I had no idea they lasted 100k in the Z.

1 last thing, anyone here ever drive a MT gen coupe? Maybe I can get a comparison of the gearboxes

EDIT: RX-9 FTW! They may have the electric motor, but it's for gas mileage, not power. The rotary will still suppy a large majority of the power. Anyway I don't mind it being a hybrid if it can still get the rumored 300hp, ~280tq and 30mpg highway while still remaining NA.

EDIT 2: Holy s**t did I really just type all that =O

FromG2Z

True, but your question was about the RX8, which is a 1.3L if I remember correctly... same as my FD. Besides, you can't GET a 5.0L Rotary commercially...maybe if you build one. So yes, the 1.3L Rotary is VERY low on torque compared to a 3.7L V6 in the Z.

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cossie1600

Most RX-8s sold were 2004 and 2005, that's how they got the bad rep. I had a 2004 and a 2006, the 2004 had way more problems.