I too have both of these cars at my house.....
Mine being the Z and my sisters being the RX8....
I drove the RX8 after driving mine for months and i was not satisfied with any good amount of power...it feels as is if i am going slow....the engine rev's soo damn high...and when i was driving up to richmond from NC @ wilmington...it was a good 5 + hr drive and the MPG was rediculous....6th gear @ 80mph was still reving around 4k+ rpms...i was alittle skeptical about this....i think the gear ratio is very high on this and allows for more acceleration...the turning ability on the RX8 is pretty nice though ill give it that....but i dont see the sports car here...no power no torque..and it revs too damn high for my liking...and the motor whines soo much to me...i guess i am too used to my popcharger and plenum....i love the sound of the Z and my engine makes...nothing matches it...the rotary engine is beautifull design but i cant stand the noise....it doesn't feel or sound powerful to me...like in my Z i can feel and hear how fast i am going...and i love it...nothing beats it...

my vote goes to the Z, not just because its my car...but because have such a better time in the Z than in the REX....

Ben

 

I've never driven either the RX7 or -8, but sounds like you're right on the money. Indeed with the Z in the turns I don't think I've even downshifted into first, it's always been around second in the high RPMs and it's definitely very sensitive. What you're saying makes sense about the cornering abilities because with the Z I do feel like I have to be very precise to get out of a turn as fast as possible.

Personally, I love it but it could be because I haven't tried the RXs. I've learned how to handle my Z pretty well, I wonder if it'd make me a better driver in a car more designed for cornering abilities.

thanks man

 

You'll have to look at most sports car, they are usually high rev engines. Althought its personal perferences, race cars ARE suppose to have high rpms. M3's and M5's and many other sports car are pushing their redline higher and higher. Mercedes have low redlines, but I never considered Benz as sports car. They are fast in the straight, but they just dun have the sports car feel...

The RX8 is a really easy and fast car. I will say this over and over and over and over again through out this thread. It simply is.

It has really good crash test results too, recieved an award for rollover resistance and got really good results in front and side collosions too!

 

the RX8 will be the car to drive before you drive a Z. Its easier (this is my 1 billionth TIME... getting annoyed yet =P) to drive.

To start race driving, one should start with low powered cars liek Miatas. I know the car is ugly and low powered, but you this is how you learn all the basics. You can just throw that thign into turns and learn how to keep that thing poise and steady throughout the turn. As you do more of that, you slowly learn to feel the car's limit and reactions. A softer and light car will allow the driver to better communicate with a vehicle.

The RX8 is a nimble little car with enough horsepower to give you speed and it has good cornering ability to let you explore the car through the corner without spinning out a zillion time. The Z is more peaky, but its still a very well designed car. Its designed more on the safe side, so you get all the power and everything, then you get that freaking understeer that the deisgners dial in. Designers nowadays think we are all idiots (drivers). THey dun let you switch to the geras you want (automatic and some sequentials), big understeer, and make them super fat (weight) and those added airbags for safety.. well i guess that's a good thing.


Cars deisgned nowadays are just so easy to drive. At least compared to the ones in the old days. Talk about driving a supra or NSX....now .... driving those wild horses will really require some good good technique. Some poeple think they can, but they are only driving like 60-80 percent of the car. If you can truely drive those car to their full potential, man you are GOOD..

 

I know this was posted along time ago but, you're comparing an auto 8 to a 6sp Z. The RX-8 6sp and RX-8 auto are very different, the 6 speed has almost 50 more horse power, 2 more gears, carbon fibre drive shaft, 9300 redline, better suspension, bigger brakes and wheels, and no power stealing torque converter. You should compare equal cars next time.


Oh yeah, the 6sp RX-8 weighs less, only 2940 lbs.

 

Way to bring back a dead thread. LOL

 

Well, someone had to correct the guy.

 

It's all about horsepower to weight ratio. That's what made the great 93
RX-7's so awesome and that's what makes the RX-8 cool too. Based on the weight difference of the two I see no reason why the RX-8 couldn't be just as fast over a stretch of road.

 

RX-8: 2940lbs / 238hp = 12.3 lbs per hp
350Z: 3240lbs / 287hp = 11.3 lbs per hp

All this nonsense over 1 pound per horse power difference!
It all comes down to the driver.

Lets not even mention that the 350Z Roadster weighs in at 3462 pounds.

 

That's the boat i'm in right now. I'm of course in the market for a new car. I've got my list o cars

RX8
350z
Evo8
STI
s2k

My parents own and s2k and I drive it just about every time I go visit them. Its a blast to drive and I would definately love to have one of m own. I've test driven the RX and the Z. The Z just feels faster. Secondly I like the way the Z feels on the inside. To me it just feels right to sit in. I still gotta drive the Evo and the STI so the jury is still out on those cars...but from what I hear they're a blast to drive as well. Just throw'n my thoughts into the mix.

 

>> THe Z wins .. I guess becasue I have the Brembos..

Just a side note here, but the Brembos are just about the same as the standard brakes except they don't fade as quickly with rapid use. That won't come into play in street driving, unless the driver is racing on the street, or is a exceedingly bad driver!

 

That sounds kinda homo.

 

Sell the 8

 

The brembo's look awesome, but like you said they only really help on the track. They're not going to make it stop faster.

I was reading some info from the Nissan and Mazda website, it turns out that the brakes on the RX-8 out perform the Brembo's on the Z! (this is only in stopping distance, not fading)

350Z: http://www.rx8club.com/attachment.ph...chmentid=45912
RX-8: http://www.rx8club.com/attachment.ph...chmentid=45913

 

I own a 2003 enthusiast and my brother owns the RX8, driving the two is very different. The Z has that great low end torque which I feel makes the car much more fun to drive, the 8 on the other hand needs the crap revved out of it in order to make any type of power. It is quite nimble once you do get it going and I like the smoother shifter feel and the soft clutch. But its makes a funny wining noise as well...I like the sound of my injen and pop charger much more. He has the added convenience of 2 more seats but that comes at a price...specifically getting about 13 mpg and his car not starting with less thta 5k on the odometer...my vote goes to the Z

 

Just wondering, which does your brother prefer?

 

That i'm not too sure of, i dont' think he or most guys would come out and say "Your car kicks my cars a$$" but considering his car doesn't start right now and gets crappy gas mileage he might be leaning towards the Z...they he is getting a computer reflash that is supposed to improve the mpg to 19+ from mazda.

 

The two cars at highway speeds arent comparable. The Z is much faster from a roll!

 

Why won't it start? Flooded?

Most owners typically report around 18mpg, depending on conditions of course. I've never seen less than 16, and never higher than 20.

 

It gets very bad mileage in the city, about 15-16. The highway mileage is much better, around 25. The most I have seen is 28 on the highway and 18 in the city. I get 16 city, 24 highway. One thing that I have noticed is that if I shift at 3k, I get 16/24 city. If I shift at 9k, I get 16/24.

As for flooding goes, there are two main things that cause it.
1) the car must not be shut off until it is in the normal opperating temp.
2) due to the fact that they burn oil, they go through spark plugs fast. The pulgs should be changed every year or 15,000 miles, which ever is first.


If the two steps above are followed the RX-8 will never flood.