Extra power and 7+ extra mpg even driving like an *******. I consistently got 12-14 city in my 8. Anf highway was what the Z gets driving around town. I was getting gas at least 2x a week because I fill up at 1/2 tank.

If money wasnt an object but i stick within reasonable spending, I'd get another 8 no questions

 

damm thats horrible!! i used to get 16-18 in my rx8 80/20 city/highway with a full exhaust! i only get 19 in my z and i rarely gun it. my favorite part of the 8 was that it fit my personality so well, plus the fact that the rotary's love revs made it so much fun to drive!!

 

Yea....I didn't realize at the time.. Idk if it was because it was the AT or something? I had an HKS Hi Power Single catback and AEM CAI. I WAS a lot younger then......... I may have lost weight in my right foot since then I also may have taken the "redline it at least every other day" a little too serious and redlined every day

 

Didn't know we had so many former RX8 owners here. How do the interiors of both cars stack up? I've looked at the RX8 but never driven one at speed. They are certainly not as quick as a Z at the racetrack in terms of lap times, although they certainly look like they handle well.

 

Rx8 interior blows 350z interior out of the water. I feel like they really took time designing the 8 and it shows when you drive one. And then you drive the z and it's like a kinda fast car that turns decent. Rx8 is a much better car IMO.

 

I agree out of the box the 8 has better handling than the Z. But everytime I drove an 8 I kept telling myself this is not an Rx7. That is the bottom line for me IMO, hopefully in the coming years Mazda will bring the Rx7 back.

 

If this is the case then you should be saying man It's just not a TT 300zx when you're driving a Z....

 

Of course, but the Heritage of the Z is still carries over in the 350Z. Granted the TT makes the car more exotic/rare (albeit more $$$), but the performance per dollar is still there. I still think Mazda missed the mark on the 8 and that is why they are not building it anymore, but the Z is still here.

We can agree to disagree

 

Rotaries have tons of heritage and if you don't think that's the case you need to look into it. There's a lot more than just the rx8 and rx7. I would even venture to say the Mazda rotary powered line has equally as much heritage as the z. And they stopped production because it was produced from 2003-12, that's a long time for the same car to be produced. And they are currently working on another rotary vehicle. And those who truly think that the 8 is lack luster vehicle have not owned one. But to each there own, I hope you get the joy of owning a Mazda rotary one day.

 

Dude, I owned a tuned FB 85 GSL-SE Rx7, and I have messed with most rotarys out there including the rotary pickup truck, Rx3, FC, FD etc. I am not saying the 8 doesn't have heritage, but when you compare the Z and 8, the Z falls in more inline with it's past cars in its lineage than the 8 with its past rotary lineage IMHO. I am a fan of all cars out there and I hope Mazda brings back the FI rotary in the future with the 16X engine and I also hope Nissan brings back FI to their Z.

 

Now that we can both happily agree on. Factory FI FTW

 

Word!

 

lol, great analogy...



werd!

-J

 

I would beg to differ on the track times...I only have ONE instance to go off, but it was a couple big instances in one day. I went to Willow Springs International Raceway (Big Track) and that is a very high speed/HP track. Not many tight sections for the 8 to outshine the Z. I am no means a great driver, but this was my 2nd time at that track and there were 2 "newbie" 8 drivers there. One bone stock the other had bolt ons and RS3s(this puts him in a different category IMO). Turn 8 there was 100-105mph for me as my fastest speed around there. I caught up to the Stock 8 on the back straight before turn 8, and went 104 through it, and the 8 was pulling from me. Maybe my ***** weren't big enough that day, or his were waaaay big, but he trusted his car more than me in that High speed sweeper, and consistently ran 1 second faster than me on the track as a whole. I think that is a driver variance, but going back to my previous post about the 8 being a lot "safer" or planted feeling. The weight of the cars definitely plays a part in that.

I totally agree. I had the Grand Touring with heated leather and Bose and got asked multiple times what size subs I had! Now search 'Bose' or "interior" on here and all you find is how do I get rid of this rattle or scratches, or what's up with the weak Bose system.

One thing I didn't like about my 8 was that center cluster centered around the radio.... I had no place to hook up an aux cable, and no "Best Buy" option for a dash kit to go aftermarket HU. It looked great, but needed upgrade options I'm sure the later years came with.

When I had my Auto RX8, my solution for it's drawback was looking into an FD.... That would satisfy my speedneed as well as the need for a Manual trans. I found one in CA that had 87k on the clock, was in good shape, it was even green to match my 8. but there was something going wrong with the turbo(s).. I test drove it and heard them spool, but there was never any delivery... I was too young and too "unequipped" to throw 15k at a car with mechanical issues, even if it was a minor boost leak.

Going along with the kickback to the RX7, I just hope they don't make it an abomination like the Charger/Dart messes.

OP, you sure sparked some convo in your "n00bie" post.

I love my Z and the only replacement would be a white Nismo 370.

 

Those sequential turbos (cool piece of engineering!)were buggy and expensive to replace. Most people I knew with FD's that wanted the stockers bought JDM 1999 sequential turbos.

 

The 8's interior is def nicer than the Z. Dont get me wrong I liked my 8 a helluva lot. I thought i would never sell it - It handled like a dream,and looked like a movie star.I did get very top $ for it because it was in perfect condition with the low miles. Sorry Sam, even with 9k scorching redline it just wasnt cuttin for me anymore.

 

never realized there was so much 8 lovers here! both are amazing cars, and both should've kept the FI. as far as interior goes, though i love the 2 seater, the rx8 wins by a mile!!! when i was in high school i used to take naps in my 8 with absolutely no problem!! i drove 500 miles round trip twice and loved every minute of it. with the Z its hard to get comfortable and it doesnt recline close enough to sleep. with feel, personally i think the 8 wins again because its smaller so i felt like i knew its limits after a week of driving. its been 4 months and im still trying to figure out my Z's limits. and to be quite honest my 8 was a bigger head turner but the Z gets more compliments. i wish i still had my 8 but shes gone and im loving my Z. im just waiting for the day i need to replace my tires to really see what shes made of!!!

 

Hahaha! I agree with your whole post. Lots of 8 love, but something was missing for all us. Mine was the manual. I got my 8 when I was 19, and had never driven in san diego. My step dad said traffic would be too bad for a manual. I was stuck between my 04 auto in green or an 06 MT in white. I think that if I had gotten the white MT, I'd still be in the 8 but FI somehow. I got a white MT Z sooooooo.....hahahahaha.