i have a friend who has challenged me to a dual with an RX-8 he plans to buy how does the Z stack up to that car.

 

Hate to mag race and all, but since its only numbers I've seen, Car and Driver has it listed at 14.9. Again I don't like to mag race, but since that is the only number I've seen it is what I'll give as information =\.

 

The initial numbers from C&D are much slower than the Z in a straight line, but they are about the same as the intial numbers that C&D got for the S2000. The later tests of the S2000 were much faster than the initial one, so hopefully the RX-8 will also be quite a bit faster than their tester was.

On the twisties, the lighter weight and better weight distribution should make the RX-8 perform very close to the Z. However, in the end it comes down to how the engineers tune the suspension. We know the Z understeers quite a bit, so I wouldn't be surprised if the RX-8 was a bit more neutral. On the other hand, since it is able to carry more passengers, maybe Mazda will be a bit conservative on the tuning and make it understeer a bit as well.

Anyhow, it sounds like you are talking about drag racing in which the Z should have a slight advantage.

-D'oh!

 

I think it you would have a very slight advantage, but if you are a better driver then him, you should have no problem. This is based off what I have read about rx8, not actual experience.