I just spent 2 weeks in CO driving my parents jeep and RX8. I miss my truck!

[airwelldone]

Ok so I went back home for the holidays. My parents told me if it was snowing than I could drive the jeep, and if it was nice (which is was nice in the springs almost the whole time I was out there) I could drive the Rx8 (06, 6 speed). Ok let me start off by saying, I can't remember EVER driving a vehicle slower than this jeep. It's a 02 grand cherokee 4.0L I6. This thing took 13 seconds to get to 60! WTF! lol. Ok so now for the rx8. My stepmom was riding w/ me and she honestly thinks this thing is fast. W/out exaggerating, it felt about as fast as my wifes stock cobalt 2.2L lmao! I'm sure elevation had something to do w/ it, but seriously i hammered it all the way to 9000rpms and this thing isn't fast. Even at sea level, I know our trucks would beat it. Needless to say, I came home, jumped in my truck and went for a little tire spinning joy ride. lol

[Art64]

I know what you mean, man. Just got back from Incirlik. Spent almost 30 days there. I missed my truck a lot. I parked it on base and disconnected the battery. We have an 05 or 06 Chevy 2500 long bed, extended cab truck that we use to drive around Incirlik. Its a heavy duty truck but when I got back and drove my Tundra, oh man, biiiig difference in ride quality, power, handling, and noise level. I appreciated the Tundra even more.

[RudyDep]

Im not much of a Rotary Fan, but....my buddy has an RX8 with an added 3rd rotar and twin turbos....THAT MOTHER WILL SCOOT !!!! NO Torque, but it hauls MAJOR BUTT !!

[airwelldone]

Originally Posted by RudyDep

Im not much of a Rotary Fan, but....my buddy has an RX8 with an added 3rd rotar and twin turbos....THAT MOTHER WILL SCOOT !!!! NO Torque, but it hauls MAJOR BUTT !!

When I was 17 I had a 1991 rx-7 that I didn't mind too much. The 3rd gen rx-7s have alot of potential. All i know is the stock RX-8 is a waste of money and mazda needs a real sports car again.

[Flashgordon]

Originally Posted by airwelldone

Ok so I went back home for the holidays. My parents told me if it was snowing than I could drive the jeep, and if it was nice (which is was nice in the springs almost the whole time I was out there) I could drive the Rx8 (06, 6 speed). Ok let me start off by saying, I can't remember EVER driving a vehicle slower than this jeep. It's a 02 grand cherokee 4.0L I6. This thing took 13 seconds to get to 60! WTF! lol. Ok so now for the rx8. My stepmom was riding w/ me and she honestly thinks this thing is fast. W/out exaggerating, it felt about as fast as my wifes stock cobalt 2.2L lmao! I'm sure elevation had something to do w/ it, but seriously i hammered it all the way to 9000rpms and this thing isn't fast. Even at sea level, I know our trucks would beat it. Needless to say, I came home, jumped in my truck and went for a little tire spinning joy ride. lol

Kinda makes you grateful for what you have.

[DocWard]

I had an '84 RX-7 (1st gen), a GSL-SE with the 13B rotary. While acceleration was adequate, it wasn't by any means the quickest car from a standing start. It had great top end though, and handled incredibly well, the true forte of the RX-7. It also had nearly 150,000 miles on it when I totalled it. The 3rd gen RX-7s were running at the ragged edge of the rotary's abilities, and reliability suffered greatly. The one I have driven handled better than I was capable of taking full advantage of.

From what I read, the RX-8 is again a handling dream, but goes back toward the old concept of a reliable sports car that handles well. I would love to take one for a test drive, just to see what it is like, but I can't afford one and I am happy with what I have. My 02 Neon R/T handles quite well, gets great mileage, fits four and luggage easily, does reasonably well in inclement weather when needed (not so often, thanks to the Tundra), and is paid for. It is getting some miles on it, so it might be time to see if I can make it handle a little better and move out a little quicker...

[barron64]

I had a friend of mine who horse traded into a clean MGB convertable many moons ago. He also had a spare 13b engine sitting around. Well one thing led to another and the old pushrod MGB engine got anchor duty while the 13b got a down draft dual throat weber and custom header during the install. Engine looked like a beer keg once you remove all the needless crap! Strong runner but the exhaust note would make your ears bleed! Not sure how many different mufflers he tried while he owned it but it was fun!

[kaleo]

it's interesting reading about this especially the RX8 as when I was in the market for my truck, I actually went down to mazda and took a look at their rx8's. This was back in '05 and I was taking a look at the shinka edition. I actually liked the vehicle as for me i was still learning stick, and I had a great and easy time test driving the vehicle.

Too bad they wanted an older '04 regular plain jane rx8 for more then the new '05 DC I had my eye on. Though overall i'm glad with the choice I made, but as I'm young I sometimes still want the more agile sportier drive of a sports car sometimes.

[rx7vert]

I've been through a rotary or two. I will agree that a stock n/a 13b isn't by any means fast, but they do have a ton of potential. The downside to them that I found was reliability when they were making power. My vert was running mid 11's on street tires, but i also rebuilt the motor once and completely replaced it twice in a 2.5 year period... Still have the car, but its not getting another rotary...

[dsrtrcr01]

RX-8 is a let down. When I worked for the body shop we had the Mazda account. I drove the RX-8 when it first came out and it was slower then slow. Any of the Acuras I drove (Had that account as well) were faster.