As an owner of an 04 RX-8 that's used as a daily driver and seeing so many people beat on it, I figure I better weigh in here already.
If you like driver involvement and want to have your car make you unexpectedly smile because you realize you're having so much gosh darn fun, then you owe it to yourself to try an RX-8 out. My favorite word to describe the RX-8's drivability is
effortless. It feels very effortless to toss it around corners and curves, and the engine also feels very effortless as it climbs to redline. For that matter, it also feels effortless sustaining high RPMs for extended periods of time. There is a lot to be said for having a true 50/50 weight distribution; I can feel the difference it makes every time I enter a 90 degree turn. My best friend owns a 350z; I've never driven it, but I can feel the difference in our cars every time he takes a sharp turn. All the weight feels like it's concentrated in the front. It does NOT feel effortless, it feels like a pig about to give out (even if it isn't about to). Incidentally my friend always comments how incredibly stable my car
feels around corners and curves, and often tells me "I think you could've taken that one even faster". I sure don't feel like it's safe telling him the same thing in his Z because it quickly feels like the car's at its limits.
The smoothness of a rotary and the wide linear powerband, combined with the 50/50 weight distribution, makes for a car that has very few peers out there when it comes to pure driving emotion and feeling. After driving mine as a daily for almost 4 years, I can't imagine having to drive any other car again as a daily.
I also live in the most rainy city in the entire U.S.; it rains here literally every single day. And I don't really drive my car that much slower than I do on a dry day, because I don't need to. I can still take curves and turns at speeds in full on rain that would have a lot of other cars kissing the guardrails. However, I do also have Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3s as my tires; combined with the car's balance, wet handling is just as effortless as dry handling. And dry handling is just very, very sick.
Let's talk reliability. Aside from squealing brakes and an engine that'll hard start if you don't know the trick around it, I really haven't had a single major issue with my RX-8 to date. The oil consumption is COMPLETELY overrated; and even if it did eat oil, so what? Is it really so hard to check on the oil level yourself? And oil is dirt cheap. On average I only need to check and add oil every two months, once I realized the car hardly eats any oil at all!
I'm careful how I drive my car, but neither do I baby it. Babying a rotary is one of the worst things you could do to it. Because it runs so fuel rich, if you don't bring up the RPMs and combustion chamber heat often, you'll quickly end up with carbon build up that WILL kill the rotor's apex seals down the line. The rotary is not like a piston engine at all; you WANT to drive it at high RPMs often. This is one of the best parts of owning a naturally aspirated rotary; guilt free high RPMs. I regularly hit 6000 RPMs and more a few times every drive.
Now let's talk lifestyle. On my first year of ownership, I regularly saw 14 MPG. Now I'm regularly getting 15-16 MPG. My friend with the 350z regularly gets 13 MPG. With the cars you're looking at, I think any gas mileage consideration should just go out the window. Bottom line, you gotta pay to play.
Because the rotary is so dependant on engine oil to be able to function properly, it's VERY important to get the oil changed on a consistent, timely basis. Other than that, all other maintenance has been no different than any other car.
Insurance absolutely rules for the RX-8, because 1. with my insurance company, it's classified as a "four door sedan" (har har) and 2. it's "only" got a 1.3 liter engine that couldn't possibly make any dangerously fast power (har har again).
As for everyday ride quality, I'm more than happy with it. As long as you don't attempt any pothole ridden roads, because then it will hurt. The suspension is stiffer than average I would say; I certainly feel bumps much harder than I do in my friend's 350z, and we're both on stock suspensions.
And as far as I'm concerned, it's one of the most beautifully styled cars made; it constantly amazes me to no end when I see my car every morning in the garage that I got such an exotically styled car for under $30k.
In any event, go find one and drive one. I've always loved Mazda for keeping the rotary alive; it's an engine that just personifies the spirit of driving for fun. And I completely love my RX-8, it's soooooo ridiculously fun to drive. There's never a boring moment in it.
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Originally Posted by catscratch /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I like responsiveness and driver involvement more than anything else, really. The car needs to communicate, and driving it needs to feel like a dynamic process rather than just turning some knobs and watching the scenery go by. I do put more priority on handling than straight-line speed. Power off the line isn't that important to me, but rolling power in the 40-120mph range IS pretty important, and so is being able to put power down effectively out of a turn. So, things like front wheel drive, live rear axles, and poor weight distribution are definitely a big no. High top speed helps as well since it translates into being able to comfortably cruise at triple-digit speeds all day long. I also do want a lot of stability at the limit as well as past the limit. I do a lot of stupid stuff, and having a car that tries to kill me every time I take liberties with it is not going to end well. I'm not a bad driver per se, but I am completely inexperienced when it comes to track driving and handling the car at the limit, so something that's twitchy and unpredictable is not what I'm looking for. For that matter, crash safety is also pretty important, and that's my main concern with the S2000 and other smaller, lighter cars. I would trade some of that light weight and tossability for stability and control at the limit.
I don't have much of an engine preference as long as it gets the job done. But, a nasty engine note will drive me up the wall in the long run. I don't really have an engine note preference save for a fondness for Honda VTEC engines. The V6 in the CL is definitely one of the better-sounding V6s I've heard, especially once it's in VTEC range.
In terms of daily livability, I'm pretty flexible. It has to be reliable, but fuel economy isn't important as long as it's not completely terrible, and seeing that I'm over 25 and have clean records, insurance shouldn't be through the roof even on dedicated sports cars (though of course the records won't stay clean for long if I get something flashy). I do need good all-weather handling; snow is pretty rare here but rain is very frequent and weather changes rapidly and unpredictably. Seating capacity and luggage capacity are not necessities, but they are a nice bonus. I tend to go on a lot of long-distance road trips, and it would be nice to be able to use my car for the purpose every once in a while.
Based on all that, I now think that the STI or an Evo would be ideal for me, but it will be hard to find one in the price range. If I decide to not step it down and settle for something else, I will probably end up waiting for a year or so until STI prices drop, or until my financial situation changes. Or, maybe I'll get lucky and get a good deal on one. In any case, I do have a lot to think about, and I very much do appreciate the advice and ownership experience.
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