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(bump) Mazda RX8 farewell...
I took delivery of the long-awaited RX8 this morning. It's a 6speed, Black, with Black and Red leather interior, GT Pack, Bose stereo, and a few other amenities I'm no doubt forgetting. I took a few pics, but there will be more to come :-)
First, the requisite custom shot... http://img169.exs.cx/img169/7331/10025310fn.th.jpg Interior, with one of my roomies in the front seat... http://img169.exs.cx/img169/3197/10025327ud.th.jpg Rear seat...roommate moved into it too fast for me to get it without him hehe... http://img169.exs.cx/img169/7345/10025341pa.th.jpg Slightly less attractive custom shot, those are my nostrils in the rearview mirror LOL http://img169.exs.cx/img169/7712/10025375pn.th.jpg http://img169.exs.cx/img169/47/10025364cl.th.jpg Edit: Well...after a year of blissful driving experiences, hindered only very occasionally by defective catalytic converters, the RX8 is about to bid my family farewell. Tomorrow at some point during the day, I have to return the car to Ford and take delivery of our new lease car, a 2006 Mercury Milan I-4 Manual, definitely a few pegs down the ladder. For those of you who don't know, the Milan is in essence a rebodied, slightly retuned version of the Mazda 6, so the platform is reasonably good to start with, and it will handle reasonably well, but it won't have the rear-drive chassis, the light weight, the 6-speed transmission, the power, nor many of the other excellent aspects of the RX8. I'll try and take the 8 out for one last drive tomorrow morning if the weather is clear, but in the meantime, I've taken a few new pictures of it during it's last hand-wash, and a short video of me having a bit of fun on a backcountry road. Enjoy! The video: http://www.webfilehost.com/?mode=viewupload&id=3213819 (You'll have to wait a bit and then the link will appear at the bottom right of the page.) |
Thank god for the custom shot :D
I am sure you probably already talked about it, but my memory isn't helping. What was your previous car? or is this your first one? |
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That's great!
Congrats!!! Can't wait for the first impressions! I drove the same thing! Same colour, same interior and ofcorse the same,sweet high reving engine! http://www.motorworld.net/forum/showthread.php?t=20381 Enjoy the car dude, it's a great machine!! |
Congrats on a great car, they look awesome in black and red IMO :D I guess you can't rev the bollocks off it for a while till its run in, but hell still fun i bet! :P. Though judging by the pics the weather at the mo might stop you giveing it a full run out :D
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great car... I want one... but here they are too expensive :( something like usd40000 the 6-speed
looks awesome, but I still don't like that 2 color steering wheel. Can you have a normal one? |
congratulation is nice, which version you got? that faster?
BTW wankel is specific engine, how much is fuel consumtion |
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bmwmpower...I haven't run the car through its first full tank of fuel yet so I don't actually know how the gas mileage is going to be. I got the faster version, i.e. the 6-speed manual with the 237bhp engine. I'm expecting mileage to be around 16mpg if I drive reasonably aggressively. We'll see, I'll update this more as I learn the car's quirks :-D |
nice car and good choice of colour too :D I look forward to an update and some driving impressions :)
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congrats...this is one sweet car...does it have 237 or 231hp(as the european version has 231)? And do not hesitate to post some vids. :twisted:
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Try to look a couple of posts above yours and you might find the answer ;)
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Nice man! Have fun with it!
Def my choice over its rivals, good choice. :P |
I gotta say that car looks great! That GT kit, and the fact that its black make it look really tough, and i bet its a great drive too!
I hope its first outing wasnt in the snow! For your sake! (237bhp RWD) :shock: And as has been said already, i cant wait for some nice vids once she's run in. :D |
Congrats with your new car. You've chosen a great colour combo. I really like a black car with a red interior. Enjoy your new machine!!
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Great car vansquish. I really like the RX8, and rotaries in general. I've done quite a bit of driving in an old school gen 1 RX7, and there's just something about the way those rotaries rev that makes these types of cars so appealing. Enjoy it man!
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Congrates!!!
Nice I love the rotary engine note of the RX8! But make sure you read up on how to take care of the paint! Black is a biatche to take care of and scracthes easily. You'll have to spend a bit on wax and learn the proper way to clean and wax a car without scratching it, unless you already know of course. Did you get paint protection?! |
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Fortunately the first outing was not in the snow, it was about 17degrees Fahrenheit, but dry as much of the snow had melted during the week. I've got about 200miles on it already, and I'm just aching to get beyond the break-in period and actually rev it out a bit. :-D |
are there any modifications planned for this beast?
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^^ah fuck! it would have been nice to see a good modded car on JW. well cept for Jabba and Evo and a few other "select" people
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Congratulations! I'm sure you'll have plenty of fun with it. When the weather's getting warmer of course.
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wow i love your car, in fact now im studing wankel motor in my fluid-mechanic engineering class as a rotative motor !!
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congrats dude ... i love this car ... especially in black ... very nice choice in color ....
how dose it handle ... 50/50 weight disterbution must be easy to handle ... post more pics of the interior and sucide doors :D :mrgreen: |
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Other than that, the car's been great. I know some good roads in the Ann Arbor area, so I took it out for about 2 hours last night, blasted along (keeping under 6000 rpm, still trying to be somewhat conservative). It was wonderful. Beautifully balanced, lots of steering feel, solid brake pedal, slick gearchange. I'm still getting used to having a 6th ratio, I keep leaving it in 5th by accident hehe. Great headlights too thank goodness...saw a few deer which might've made the night a bad one otherwise hehe :-P |
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beautiful. in black the RX8 is just plain sexy, great choice, and 6sp manual... mmm....
can't wait to see more pics and hear some detailed insights into the new car vansquish. good stuff |
Nice car man!
That was my dream car all of last year! I've actually taken 2 test drives in em', and man is that a fun car! I used to frequent a great forum for the 8 at: www.rx8club.com Just wait till you hear that redline chime at 9000 rpm's... good stuff |
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bummer.......it would look killer with a mazdaspeed ppackage, suspension, etc.
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nice car. great colourcombination
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the RX-8 looks great, and sounds awsome!
looks like you were driving around pinkney/hamburg area, right? i used to drive those roads often back when i had my Saab.... and unfortunately, a lot of the roads i used to drive are in a lot of disrepare. thanks for sharing, vansquish |
yup...that's where I was, that particular bit of road is about 20 minutes from me...easy enough to get to, but rural enough to be relatively free of other traffic.
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Beautiful Rx-8 Vansquish! 8)
The black exterior and red inserts on the inside looks sooo right. Thanks for the fantastic pics and vid. Got any mods planned for it? :P |
Bautiful can Vanquish :P Thanx for pics and vid :wink:
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Hey ARMAN, are you trying to say you like my ass? ;-) |
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well i have to say this again .. yer car is awsome ... and the color combination is soo right ..... the only color i like except black is metallic grey ... it looks amazing in it thx fer the pics ..i really wanned to see htis car up close 8) |
Well apparently they don't like vids being hosted that way, soo....if anyone wants the vids (there are a couple) PM me and I'll be happy to work something out.
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congrats man ! finally u got it !!!
i love it ! the color and interir are amazing |
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It was late one night in the basement of East Quadrangle at the University of Michigan; my hands were covered with clay, a lump of which was beginning to take the form of a pot. Outside it snowed softly under the yellowish glare of the security lights in the courtyard. As is wont to happen at such peaceful, introspective moments, my phone rang. Spewing mild oaths about the goo covering my hands I picked it up and answered. It was my dad, a thousand miles away, enjoying his ski vacation.
“I’ve got some good news,” he said, “the car’s in.” I did my best to contain my elation. “That’s cool, glad to hear it. Wow…they’re even a bit ahead of schedule.” We chatted for another twenty minutes or so before I could hang up and express myself properly. Shortly thereafter I went home to catch some sleep before hauling myself to Dearborn to pick up the new “toy”. Bleary-eyed, but ecstatic, after only 4 hours of sleep, I threw on clothes, checked the map, and hit the road. The service center was just as I had remembered it, and there, sitting all by itself, under some trees at the corner of the lot sat the car. Gleaming in its glossy black paint was our new, rotary-powered, baby. Attempting to wipe the smile off my face and regain some pretext of professionalism, I went to turn in the old car and get my hands on the new keys for the first time. Paperwork aside, the real work began. The manual states that no drive-in period is required, but recommends something on the order of 500 miles. The agreement between my father and me was for more than a thousand. A thousand miles of break-in time are hard for anyone, much less an avid driver and enthusiast. What with a full load of physics classes at U of M, a variety of extracurriculars, aggressive summer-biased rolling stock, and recent snowfall, one might imagine that my time to drive was limited. I made the best of it though, putting on more than 500 miles in the first 3 days of ownership. My favorite stretches of road lie just outside of Ann Arbor and provide me with an excellent means to leave the stresses of school and social life behind. It was there, and in that car that I was able to experience the true joys of a well-balanced, if somewhat soft, rear-drive chassis for the first time. I had driven Mustangs, Thunderbirds, and even the odd Mercedes, but for the most part, my experience had hitherto been confined to front-drive vehicles ranging from the Volvo C70 T5 to the Ford Focus ZX3 that had been my high school transportation. Communicative if slightly over-assisted steering writhing gently in my hands, short-throw shifts sliding smoothly between ratios, engine whirring, turbine-like towards our fun-stopping 5000rpm self-imposed redline, in those first few days I was able to form only a half-pleased view of the car. Since the car it replaced had been a 3.0L V6 Mazda 6, the low-rev urge of the RX8 was a bit, well, disappointing. It will pull from idle in everything but 6th gear, but isn’t that willing to do so. As a result, first gear starts are more of an imperative than an option. At idle there is a rather impressive amount of vibration which translates through the chassis into the passenger compartment, especially through the gearlever. The red electro-luminescent instruments look good and are easy to read except when subject to direct sunlight in which case they wash out. Fortunately the color of the instruments can be changed to white and this rids the car of that particular foible. Visibility is good with the exception of rear ¾ views, due to the thick C-pillars, and out the back window, some of which is blocked by the optional spoiler. There is a reasonable amount of trunk room, enough for 4 bags of fencing gear (two sets of golf clubs or so), but the opening is small, and that space is only available if the optional fix-a-flat kit is ordered instead of the spare tire. With the optional body-cladding added, the front splitter is easily scraped when parking, and the paint, being somewhat brittle, flakes off easily after such grinding halts. The passenger compartment looks special. Our car has the optional two-tone red and black leather interior, the only somewhat questionable part of which is the steering wheel, which would be better off in black alone. The rotary styling theme is ever-present, from the boss on the steering wheel to the shift-knob, to the headrests of the front seats. A stylish and functional beam runs through the center of the cabin, from the dash all the way to the rear seatbacks. It contains the driveshaft as well as a reasonable amount of storage. The “suicide” rear doors open wide and give good access to the reasonably roomy (for a coupe) rear seats. Headroom is at a premium for both front and rear passengers, though this can be avoided by using a somewhat reclined driving position for taller drivers. The optional Bose stereo system is distortion free and provides full, rich sound to every part of the interior, though a bit more bass would be welcome. The car is extremely easy to place on the road due to its relatively small footprint and the sexy front wings which are, thankfully, visible from inside car as well. Shod with aggressive 225 x 45 x 18” Bridgestone Potenzas, grip is almost never an issue. That being said, in the wet, even with the optional limited slip diff, and TCS/ASM on, it’s still possible to get into a bit of trouble. With the electronic aids off, the neutral chassis makes the car a very tossable and benign toy. Much of the glee which the RX8 inspires is due to the way it goes around turns. Even with the limited driving of the break-period, the amount of grip available in the dry was far beyond what I had expected. The British auto magazine “Top Gear” has its own test track and on it, the RX8 posted precisely the same time as the E46 BMW M3. Before driving it, I would never have thought that such a feat possible. Despite its track credentials, the RX8 is suspended in such a way that the ride is well-damped and has a BWM-esque vault-like feel over most road imperfections, while maintaining good feel through the steering and seats. Handling aside, it’s the engine that really forms the heart and soul of the RX8. The rotary in its naturally-aspirated form has never been notable for its torque characteristics, but rather for its turbine-like smoothness, flat torque curve and linear delivery. At low revs it sounds a bit like a Hoover, but once above 1500 rpm the engine-note turns into a smooth growl which really opens up once past 5500rpm. At 6500 it really begins to snarl with a final rip up to the 9000rpm redline where a beep reminds you to shift. Stopping is not an issue either. The brake and accelerator are well placed for heel-and-toe downshifts and brake-feel is quite good. Large disks at all four corners stop the car with authority though there is a bit of nose-dive in harder stops. Fuel economy is never going to be a high-point with a small-displacement, high-output engine, even in the case of a rotary. With reasonably spirited driving a 16 mpg average is a reasonable expectation, though up to around 21mpg is possible with serious attempts at restraint. Keeping in mind that this is a 1.3L engine making 230 + bhp without forced induction, those figures seem more reasonable. Starting below $30k it’s hard to avoid the RX8 as an excellent performance bargain. The Mustang may well be cheaper and faster in a straight line, but no matter how good the Panhard rod-assisted live axle is, an independently suspended, limited-slip equipped lightweight will always handle better and as a result, be faster around nearly any track. If you can live without the V8 soundtrack of the Mustang or the torquey V6 of the 350Z, then the RX8 is definitely the car for you. In many ways it is the faster, more aggressive, but less compromised sibling to the Miata that Mazda has needed for so long. Needless to say, my time with the RX8 has been more of a joy than anything else I’ve driven. From the looks it gets on the street to the look on my face after a drive in the country, the car is worth every penny. Unfortunately I had to tender the keys to my dad when he got back from skiing, but from what I gather, he has been enjoying the car nearly as much as I have. Now if only it can help the two of us find girlfriends who are as car crazy as we are… http://img224.echo.cx/img224/5843/10027588et.th.jpg http://img224.echo.cx/img224/2681/10027613ee.th.jpg http://img224.echo.cx/img224/5403/10027626sk.th.jpg http://img224.echo.cx/img224/5387/10027635kf.th.jpg http://img224.echo.cx/img224/705/10027642et.th.jpg http://img224.echo.cx/img224/1734/10027653ky.th.jpg http://img224.echo.cx/img224/623/10027668wa.th.jpg http://img224.echo.cx/img224/783/10027678nv.th.jpg http://img224.echo.cx/img224/9578/10027689jj.th.jpg http://img224.echo.cx/img224/882/10029442ws.th.jpg |
awesome car! i rented an RX-8 6 speed when I was in hawaii about a month ago.. had it for 3 days.. didnt want to let it go!
its quite the practicle car for the amount of sportiness you get. Handles like a dream, a little stiff on bumpy roads, but i'd rather have it that way. The engine is absolutly amazing.. sounds so nice.. revs so smoothly.. only thing is that it eats gas and oil.. I had the car for 3 days and filled up 3 times.. but then again, i made about 3 or 4 trips around the whole island of Oahu.. enjoy the car you lucky bastard! if i had $30,000 I'd definately pick up one for myself |
I drove the RX8 with a friend last year. It's definitely a nice car, I especially like the two tone interior (red/black), its probably the best color combo (and I'm glad I have it in my car).
I really love the center console in the RX8, it looks cool, the design is wicked and I like the 'piano black' type finish. I also like how the handbrake looks like the handle of a sword or something like that :D My friend has an M3 (E46) and he said that the handling of the RX8 was pretty much on par with the M3 (he's crazy with cars, really knows how to navigate turns at high speeds, I was freaked when sitting in the car while he was driving, haha). Only problem we had was the quality of the brakes, but it's not quire fair to compare them to the ones in the M3 (much more expensive car). Good buy *thumbs up* |
Man, I love the RX8, and it has the best interior of all the japanese cars.
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Vansquish, do you have Tesco in Michigan?
Any chance you can rehost that vid? Link has expired... Thanks TA01 |
I could probably do it for you baby ;-) when I get to my own computer, I'll be more than happy to upload it again...if you don't get it in the next day or two in a PM, send me a PM and I'll make sure to do it again.
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