Nice type i had there *rotary

 

I know that its pure physics of you drive a car 100mph and slam on the brakes and jerk the steering wheel. I also know if you drive 100mph and crash into a wall, the car will break too =).

I guess you are right, if you are driving at 100mph and performing a drift, I guess even if the system intervened and tried to correct or stop the oversteer... it wouldn't be able to..

the system prevents the car from oversteering by distrubution all the weight to four wheels.. so if you brake.. turn and try to swing the tail out. the car will try to prevent you from loading the front so much that the rear will snap. Although your technique is 100 percent correct... if someone wants to help me post, perhaps I can show that video to everyone... what I mean =D

The is tested and driven by Keiichi and Orido... two of Japan's best drivers... well.. one retired couple of months ago..

but if anyone is interested to help me, drop a message

 

I personally love the rx8 with aftermarket rims and body kit!!!!!! They've got so many body kits that make the car look nice!!!!!!!! but the negative parts are of course the gas mileage, underpowered, flooding.

Question...I always thought cars that are underpowered feel more stable on turns because it is hard for the amount of power to lose control. But in the z handles just as well except you gotta watch your lead foot on turns because it's not underpowered?

 

I totally agree with what you say, but not only because you have to watch your throttle when you are exiting turns.

A faster car will magnify all the errors of a novice driver. If you brake a second later, you are much furthur down the road than if you are driving in a slower car...

but to answer you question, I think the RX8 makes you feel more comfortable when you are cornering. The car is not as rigid as the Z (good and bad). Good becasue that gives beginners or intermediate drivers more feel of the chassis. You "feel" more of what the car is doing if your chassis is a little softer and the suspension is not as hard. Of course, low rigidity is not good, but none of the cars we are talking about here has this problem.

So to sum up my long BS, I think it is easier to wring out the full potential of the RX8. You have better a clearer comminication between the car and the driver. Also becasue the balnace in the RX8 is almost perfect.. light engine and a small gas tank... and teh designers squished them all in the center of the car...

The Z drives like its on rails, but its harder to feel its limits. Its definitely a more challanging car to drive IMO.

 

Bro....

I take off my traction control and I can put that Z to its limits. Go into a hairpin exit ramp at 85, downshift and brake right before and cut the wheel... pull right through the entire turn and exit faster than I started.

And Im not saying I'm an excellent driver -- but the car does a great job at correcting my mistakes. Correct me if I'm wrong guys, but if you try to take a turn too tight you can feel the Z compensating for you and keeping you on track. I'm amazed by it, I love my Z

 

Your are correct about the cars system trying to prevent oversteer but that only happens when I have VDC on. I have never had it happen without it off. I have tried to drift with the VDC on at 100 mph and it just will not do it. Actually it makes the car very difficult to control and may actually make you wreck.

I too have seen the video. Its the Best Motoring video and I notice when he tries to drift it acts like my car does with VDC on. I would think they couldn't drift because either they were not going fast enough to overcome the tires grip or they had VDC engaged (First time on slicks I found out it is very difficult to rotate the rear by using the brakes). Actually there is another Best Motoring video where they show the Z and G35 drifting with no problems.

 

I just want to show the videos... see is believing

I suppose you dun speak Japanese or understand Chinese translations (Most best motoring and HV hvae Chinese subtitles). They explained why it happened, and they explained aobut brake LSD, and they explained hwo to take disengage it (which I just found out) in a new episode for the Nismo Z (I dun know.. they have like aother Nismo version that you guys probably never seen....SO HOT)

Anyways, I can post all of them and it would put and end to this argument and give some people some good footage of the Z racing against other cars (and yes, they nailed the RX8. So for those who are DYING to see that, please come foward)

 

You must be a really good driver if you are really serious when you said you dirfted at 100mph...

I personally don't believe so, 100mph and you start going sideways..... if you were going 100kph I would believe that

but 100mph.. I am not that comfortable turing and making the car go sideways. but perhaps you are really that good, in that case, I would love to learn how..

 

I was trying to say that the RX8 is easier to drive between the two.

The Z tends to understeer when you really go for it. The RX8 doesn;t give you that feeling, it still understeers but much less than the Z.

And you can feel the weight pulling the car out when you are around a long sweeper, which I feel less in the 8.

Still I love my Z, I drive it everyday too

 

I don't know if it's good or bad, but pretty much everything X28 says is completely subjective. Softer this, better that.

X28: spend less time defending the shortcomings of the RX8 and just take both cars to the track. Come back when you have hard seat time and non of this crap about cold tires and cold pavement... blah blah.

 

Well, I guess I will come back and talk about this six months later then...

dun have to be on the track to know this... at least I think I dun have to

 

Actually from the cheesy Road and Crap road tests, the RX8 is a pretty good match to the 350z on a road course.

I think that Mazda REALLY needs to have the RX-7 out there. IMHO it would kill the Z.

 

I've owned both. I had a RX8 for two months last year ... bought it in August. took the buyback offer and sent it back to Mazda in October. Nothing really wrong with it, I guess (except for 15 MPG), but I had paid sticker and was about to put it away for the winter, so the buyback was a great deal. Cost me less than $200 to drive it for a couple months.

Got a Z this October, and like it more. The RX8's lack of torque means a lot of shifting, even in "everyday" driving. I also think the build quality was a bit suspect ... had a couple trim pieces ready to fall off, and some of the interior panels didn't fit very well.

That said, it was the best-handling car I've ever owned, including the Z. With the traction control turned off, I could throw it into a turn and pretty much steer it with the throttle. It definitely comes into its own on a curvy road, preferably one where you don't need a lot of low end to power out of tight corners. You've got to work a little to keep the revs up, but who says that it shouldn't take a little skill to drive well?

I can't see how the RX8 would come anywhere near the Z in a drag race, but I suspect the two cars could be fairly close in any contest that would allow the RX8 to use its superior road-holding and negate the Z's huge torque advantage.

The RX8 actually reminded me of some of the small-bore piston-engine sports cars of my youth (albeit with a *very* light flywheel ;-). Certainly not an unenjoyable car to drive -- but as I get older (and lazier) I prefer the low-end punch of the Z.

 

I think that was an excellent and unbiased review of the two cars.

How's the RX-8 compared to the RX-7, by the way? I had been in love with the 7, and when the 8 came out I got completely turned off. The 7 has excellent lines, very classy, and not too tacky in design (the jury's still our on the RX-8 - depending on the color, I either love it or hate it).

Any reviews on the RX-7 in relation to the -8, and/or the Z?

 

Well I drive a Z and I work at a Mazda dealership. We've had at least 12 RX-8's come back on us since I've been there because they won't start. They flood out if you let them idle before turning them off. You're supposed to rev the **** out of them and hold it there for 20 seconds then shut it off. Also when you start them cold, rev to about 5K for 30-40 seconds. Supposedly this is in the manual. On the other side, the only problem I've had out of a Z is the windows freezing shut. That happened last winter on my first Z, it's not been cold enough here to see if my new one will do it.

 

Wow, finally someone calls BS.

Look, lot's of us here havetaken the RX-8 out for a spin...for me it was when I was buying and almost hadn't even heard of the Z when I took the 8 out for a ride. There was nothing wrong with the ride except at 6' 3" I felt a bit squished in it, however comparing the power and accel is almost an insult, even to the RX8. Which means that it's either a BS statement, or poor driving skills. Maybe it's not the cars but your limits at 84 in a curve?

 

Well, I'm glad that even the guy who works at the Mazda dealership doesn't know what he's talking about. The engine had some flooding issues because the original ECU tune added too much extra fuel on coald soak starts. Some people would fire up the car and immediately stall it while backing out of the garage. This would leave an extremely rich fuel-air charge trapped against cold plugs and they wouldn't fire. The reflash TSB took care of this by leaning out the cold starts and not adding the extra gas until the engine catches and is running on it's own. As far as 6SpeedZ's boneheadded interpretation of the RX8 manual, he couldn't have been farther from the truth.

They can flood if you DON'T let them idle a bit to warm the engine before shutting down. You are NOT supposed to rev the **** out of them for 20 seconds you incredible nincompoop. You rev to 3K for 10 seconds. And why in the hell would you cold start a car by revving it to 5K for 40 seconds with cold oil and cold engine tolerances? Show me any of what you said in an RX8 maunal and I will kiss your *** and give you 10 minutes to gather a crowd. I really hope you work in the finance department or something!!!

All that is off topic anyway. I have an 8 and a Z also and I am capable of enjoying them both for what they are. Two different cars with different engines, different powerbands, different weights and different purposes.

Comparing an RX8 and a Z is like comparing a S2K and an accord coupe and then bragging about the S2K having faster track times like that's some kind of accomplishment..........Sheesh.

 

YEAH, what he said!!!

O'DOYLE RULES

 

its a long thread, I think you should read it from the beginning.

First, if I had poor driving skills. It would be the same for both cars... I am stil the same person.

I am not superman in the RX8 and an idiot in the Z.

I know lots of you have taken out the RX8 for a spin, but did you really ride it all the way to redline? 9,500? I realyl doubt the dealer would let you do that, even fi you did, the car has not runned in yet..

but with that said, the Z will win the drag race. I agree with that too, but up till 84 mph.. I guess the difference isn't that big. Its only a second difference in teh quarter mile guys.. actually that is a lot.. but well I was hoping to see the same result when I tried them myself...

Perhaps my RX8 is extra good... woohooo

 

my friend has an RX7 in where I come from. Its the final version of the RX7, called Spirte R. That car is sick, I puke everytime I see it.. opps.. I mean I cry everytime I see it.. its really REALLY nice... the looks still there man.. its still amazing

Hmm.. its different...

RX8 is like a combination of RX7 and MX5. It handles like the MX5 and but has a more powerful engine. It doesn;t ahve the RX7 drama, but its almost there. The RX7 is a little too much for the road, just liek the Z. If you take it to the twisties, you rarely have the chance to fully open up the throttle. Espically in 2nd gear and 1st gear turns (1st gear almost never happens), if you floor the car.. you just get wheel spin and you have to counter steer and ease off the throttle. This is the same with RX7, except, you get that stupid =X turbo lag then you tail swings wide.

The RX7 is defintely a cornering machine, it feels almost like the RX8. The weight is all in the center of the car, so the car is much more willing to turn. Once it turns in, just feed in the throttle slowly and you are pretty much set. It doesn;t have the low end torque liek the Z, so throttle control does not have to be as precise (NOT AS precise for those flamers out there).

SO, what I think is...

RX7 and the Z.. they are more suitable for track application or highway runs. Espically for the Z. They are just too powerful for the streets (twisties I mean, I am from Asia, that is all we get.. ).. well some highways once in awhile.