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Mazda RX-8

3618 messages,  Last post on Mar 13, 2012 at 5:42 PM

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What is this discussion about? Mazda RX-8, Coupe

Messages Page 300 of 362

#2990 of 3618 I would, but... by plekto

Oct 25, 2005 (1:52 pm)

The Honda Fit and a couple of other small cars are going to come over this coming up year and next, and the Mini is due for a total restyling for 2007, which is likely to kill the value of the older ones(something's got to eventually give).
 
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/bymodel/2006_Mazda_RX-8.shtml
That's the specs for the 6-speed automatic. 18/25. I suspect that while it's only 1mpg better than the 2005, in practice, it will jump from the 20mpg combined that everyone is reporting to 22-23combined, if you have the stock tires and drive conservatively on the freeway. (18 inchers loose you 1-2mpg highway right there over the 16" all-seasons)
 
I just wish I could afford one new. Lol.

#2991 of 3618 Re: I would, but... [plekto] by trispec

Oct 25, 2005 (3:21 pm)

Replying to: plekto (Oct 25, 2005 1:52 pm)
The 6sp AT can't really use the 5th & 6th in the city. Paddle shifting in the city you are lucky to use 1st & 2nd effectively. It's only the highway travel that make the 6 speeds even possible.
 
But everyone forgets that 3rd and 4th are overdrive assisted in the 2003-05 RX-8 which gives you a 5th & 6th gear effectively already, you just can't select overdrive with the paddles or stick. Who cares, especially if 1st, 2nd are all that city driving calls for. The RX-8 is not a highway communter anyway, at the 25mph, best get a tranditional 100 year old 6 cylinder engine design, (Hybrid drivers - you are just nerds, so get out of the way). But the RX-8 is built to make a city driving commutes more like a first person shooter video game and agression theropy session combined.
 
My wife loves how relaxed I am when I get home, having won a dozen smack down street races on the way. I just let my RX-8 twin wolves howl all the way home, only paddle shifting to third for the parade celibrations in the hood.
 
She's Nordic Green, so the sheep don't even see me until I've blown by them. My car is just way way to much fun.

#2992 of 3618 True... by plekto

Oct 25, 2005 (5:12 pm)

But 25mpg is a huge hurdle to pass, much like 20mpg is for SUVs and 50mpg is for the ultra-frugal minicars. And unfortunately a lot of time is spent in highway traffic out here in California, so every bit helps. My LeSabre got 19/27 from the factory and nobody complained about its mileage.
 
I honestly don't know why the reviewers don't like the RX-8. Well, the ones in the U.S. I suspect have a bit of an exe to grind, but it's a super-cheap car that's worlds better than a Sentra SE-R or any number of cars that cost 4-5K less. $2500 in financing and rebates on a 2005 RX-8 drop it to around $22K(including $500 or so in dealer profit over invoice) for the automatic with nothing on it!
 
$22K for a RX-8 or $19K for a Scion Tc or $18K for a Sentra SE-R Spec V or... Well, you get the point. Silly not to spend the extra money
 
And try to get a rebate or good financing on a 350Z - you'll likely have to pay 4-5K premium on it, and to option it out as nice as the RX-8, it climbs to 35K+ by the time the markup and everything else is factored in. The RX-8 seems to be a steal by comparison, considering that an old 80's M3 was more car than 90% of drivers could ever need or handle, and this is easily as good as something like we lusted after in high school(to put some non-auto magazine reality in the discussion)
 
But I'm preaching to the crowd I think I'll wait for the 2006s to come out - the 2005s, especially the slower selling(here in L.A. at least they are) manual models, should sell for several thousand less. win-win.

#2993 of 3618 Re: So... [qbrozen] by graphicguy

Oct 26, 2005 (6:06 am)

Replying to: qbrozen (Oct 25, 2005 1:09 pm)
q....you tempt me too much.
 
Actually, I was stopped a couple of weeks ago at Lowes when I was in the Mustang. A guy, who said he owned "a car shop" (whatever that means) told me he had a Mustang on order since July '04 and still hasn't been able to get a manual tranny version. He said he wanted a redfire with red leather (which is what mine has). I told him what I tell most everyone here who wants a Mustang.....just order an '06 and wait your turn. He said he wanted a "first year new Mustang" model....meaning an '05. OF course, those are long gone. From what this guy said, he's been scouring for a redfire/red GT with a manual tranny (said he could find automatics) with the aluminum dash for months with no luck. I've only got about 4K miles on mine and it looks better than when I drove it off the lot since I've got about 10 coats of wax on it now. He offered me $28K, even (which is $50 less than MSRP....I paid $2,500 less than that on X plan). They've gone through a couple of price increases since I bought mine, too.
 
I dismissed him at first, since this is such a rarity in the car biz. But, two months ago, I had a Toyota DEALER offer me $28K for it when the weather was still nice. The Ford dealer I bought from offered me exactly what I paid for it ($25.5K) at the same time. Terry (RWTIV) said they were running around $27K at the auctions a couple of months ago.
 
This guy has called me a couple of times since then. I told him I'd take a cashier's check drawn on a local bank, if he was serious. Supposedly, he's coming with the check this weekend. We'll see. I've had the car almost 9 months. Winter's coming and I won't drive it much over the coming months. So, if this guy comes through, I'll pull the trigger.
 
You missing you're "Z"?
 
pletko...the RX8 is a "hell of a deal" right now. I can only suspect that some of the RX8's earlier buggaboos may have hurt it. But, it's a great buy for a unique, sporting driving machine. Don't know why, but the when the Z came out, it was priced very near the price of the RX8. Yet, the Z has held it's resale much better.
 
RX8 or a Z would be a great car, IMHO.

#2994 of 3618 Re: So... [graphicguy] by qbrozen

Oct 26, 2005 (6:51 am)

Replying to: graphicguy (Oct 26, 2005 6:06 am)
That's great!
 
Of course, subtract your tax and tags and the profit isn't that great. But, heck, its a PROFIT! On a car! I hope he comes through for you.
 
SOOOO.... what is next? An '06 Stang? Or back to the drawing board? What about going back to the RX8? Or, if you are concerned with winter driving ... maybe something with AWD?
 
Yes! I miss my Z dearly. But, at the same time, my new used ride (lincoln LS) is much more comfortable and quiet. So its an interesting trade-off. I was actually talking to my wife this morning about how I know in my head that the Z is quite a bit faster than the LS (about a full second difference 0-60), but that the LS actually scares the heck out of me way more than the Z ever could. The Z just always felt perfectly balanced and controlled, even at full throttle. The LS, on the other hand, makes me want to back off. I guess that just goes along with trying to make a close to 2-ton relatively large sedan move like a sportscar.
 
Its funny, a coworker of mine saw an RX8 yesterday and said "jeez. i didn't think about it, but why didn't you get one of those?" Of course, like I've said before, I WANTED one, but Mazda just didn't make it tall-person friendly. Oh well.

#2995 of 3618 Re: So... [qbrozen] by graphicguy

Oct 26, 2005 (9:45 am)

Replying to: qbrozen (Oct 26, 2005 6:51 am)
q....funny about this post. The guy that's supposed to be buying the Mustang just called me about 20 minutes ago. He wanted to know if a cashier's check from "XXX" Bank would suffice. As luck would have it, it's the same bank I have my accounts with.
 
Again, proof is in the "puddin". We're supposed to consumate this deal on Friday night. There are some other mitigaing factors driving this, too. My 19 year old son (who is attending college and still living with me) is having some insurance rate "creep" given some problems with an unfortunate accident. The Mustang isn't helping that, in any way.
 
You're right. After all the taxes, fees, licensing, etc are taken into account, the profit isn't nearly as big as it looks. I still figure I'll come out at least $1,000-$1,500 ahead, though. In the months I've had the Mustang, the only thing I've done is put gas in it. I had the oil changed once, already. But, the dealership "comped" it.
 
If (BIG IF) this does actually happen the way it's supposed to happen, I'm not sure what I'll get. I've got a 4Runner already, and am very pleased with it (except for gas prices.....still, it's getting about 19-20 MPG around town).
 
I'll take another gander at the '05 RX8. With the deals I'm seeing here, I can get one all loaded up for roughly the same price I paid for the Mustang. But, I'm also thinking I should consider looking at something that I can drive year round.
 
I kind of see where you're at, too. In all reality, I couldn't really explore the potential of something like an RX8, Mustang GT, or 350Z....even driving them in Spring/Summer/Fall.
 
What you sacrificed ("nth degree of speed and handling) with the 350Z, you more than made up with some "sportiness" combined with luxury in the Lincoln LS.
 
I'm not sure how much I'll miss my sports car fetish. Between the RX8 and the Mustang, I've been satiated (at least that's what I'm telling myself). I don't know how I'll feel about not having a sports car once Spring rolls around.
 
Maybe something in between.
 
I'm thinking perhaps a G35? I've seen them around a lot. Not real taken with their interior, but I know they've got the wonderful 3.5L and the alleged sterling "Infiniti ownership experience". Was invited to the Lexus dealership roll out of the new IS. But, the 250 is slow. 350 is really fast, but getting one optioned out puts it perilously close to a new Corvette (in which case I'm right back into the sports car "thing" again). Plus, both ISs are very claustrophobic....and I'm not that big (6'-180 lbs).
 
I'm intrigued by the Acura RL. Giving a quick look at pricing and it looks like Acura is making good year end deals on those ($41K-$42K). They're AWD with 300 HP and more luxury than I'll ever use. Supposedly, the TL is more sporting, though. I may have to drive both. Plus, like Hondas, Acuras are relatively bulletproof and require little in the way of maintenance.
 
Neighbor has an '04 BMW 5 Series. Having been a former BMW owner, I haven't yet got the high maintenance and low reliability "taste" out of memory. Still, they're nice cars and the new ones are supposed to be even better.
 
Audi quatro of some sort, perhaps?
 
In short, I don't know what's on the horizon. I'm thinking about other cars, but until I acutally get the cash from the Mustang, I'm not counting on anything.

#2996 of 3618 Re: So... [graphicguy] by qbrozen

Oct 26, 2005 (9:58 am)

Replying to: graphicguy (Oct 26, 2005 9:45 am)
Something to think about - a dealer at $27K would be better than a private sale at $28K, given the tax advantage (that is, if taxes work in your state like they do mine). SO, if this guy doesn't come through, a trade-in could still be in your future.

#2997 of 3618 Re: So... [qbrozen] by graphicguy

Oct 26, 2005 (10:49 am)

Replying to: qbrozen (Oct 26, 2005 9:58 am)
q....you make a good point I hadn't thought about. If I could get a dealer to give me $27K for it, it'll make a difference on the tax side of what I end up buying.
 
Problem there is, the $27K offer is from a Ford dealer. Right now, short of ordering a new '06 Mustang, they don't have anything that interests me.
 
That means I'd need to get an Acura, Lexus, Infiniti, Audi, BMW, Mazda, etc dealer to give me that kind of $$$$$. First, I'd have to decide what I wanted, though. Plus, I'd have to do a ton of research with printouts, calculators, etc.
 
Plus, as you know, that adds another level of complexity to the deal given I'd have to go through the "give me X for my trade and I'll pay Y for your new car". And, depending on how Jupitor aligns with Mars on the particular day I was shopping at that particular dealership, I'm certain that all the deals will be substantially different from each other.
 
That said, it would force me to drive a bunch of different cars to make up my mind. That, in and of itself, should be fun.

#2998 of 3618 Re: So... [graphicguy] by qbrozen

Oct 26, 2005 (11:31 am)

Replying to: graphicguy (Oct 26, 2005 10:49 am)
heck, you just described my favorite hobby perfectly.
 
I think we need to take this to the CCBA board.

#2999 of 3618 Back to the RX8 by vooch

Oct 26, 2005 (11:37 am)

Mustang this Mustang that...
 
Does any one have any info about the mpg on the 2006 or any future RX8s? I find it hard to swallow 13mpg. The Z06 gets like 19 while racing and it has 505hp! That's what a car mag says anyway =)
 
I'd take the renesis and all its quirks but getting a real world 15-16mpg all the time really puts me off. It is what I really want but I can't see paying that much money for a 3k lb car with a 1.3liter engine that gets the mileage of a dump truck. If it really got the mileage on the sticker, it wouldn't be bad at all. I do like 90%+ city driving and currently get ~25mpg. Makes me question if a rotary is worth it.

Messages Page 300 of 362

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