FINAL(?) UPDATE 4/25/05
If you're wondering why I haven't updated my page in almost 2 years, well it's because I forgot that I even made this page until I came back onto CarDomain the other day to look at a car. The only reason why I'm even making an update is because I freshly waxed the car last week and took some pictures, and it looks better now even when I first bought it back in August 2003. Yup - this car is almost 2 years old and has 30,000 miles.
This will probably be the last time I update this page since I've grown bored of my car's lack of acceleration versus its horrible gas mileage. Gas prices are really starting to suck, and the price versus power trade off just isn't justifiable to me anymore.
I had an automatic RX-8 in case you were wondering - much, much slower than the six-speed manual version because it has significantly less horsepower and can't redline as high. Yeah, the car still looks great, but looks only take you so far unfortunately. I'm talking 0-60 in over 8 seconds. You may not believe it because it looks so speedy, but that is the reality with this car.
Anyway...here are the sloppy pics I took. The Titanium Gray really shines out when its waxed, like a mirror.
Also, if you look at my older pics on the second page, you'll notice the bottom of the car is all black. Last year I wanted two get the chrome accents on the front and back of the car, but I decided to take the cheap route and painted them by hand instead, and I also painted the mesh on the back as well. From a distance they look just like the chrome ones, and I think they're pretty nice considering it cost me 2 hours of my time and 10 bucks.
Take a look at the reflections, especially on the roof. In one of those pics I got close enough for you to even see the metallic paint. Pretty good for a car that's nearly 2 years old and driven out on the highway everyday:
Over the two years the stock rims got scratched up a little...as you can see here in this picture if you look at the top portion of the rim (all 4 of mine have these permanent scratches on them):
Also my first set of tires were done after 21,000 miles (about 1 and a half years). It was going to be over $1,000 to get the same stock tires again, so I said screw it, and went for some slightly cheaper ones that ran me $800 that had a longer treadlife rating, and a unique tread pattern better suited for handling water (it rains a lot down here in Miami). I don't think it takes corners as well as the original ones did though, but you've gotta pay to play kids:
Finally, here is a haunting image of something you will be seeing at least twice a week if you ever buy one:
����������������������FINAL RANT:
The poor gas mileage in this vehicle just isn't worth it to me anymore given the lack of performance and the ridiculous gas prices. I know I should have bought it in stick, but at the time of my purchase the automatic seemed more reasonable given my budget. Little did I know I'd grow bored of the disappointing acceleration in less than 2 years. I'm being serious when I say over 8 seconds to 60mph. The only pick up you feel in this car is when you're driving less than 30mph and then mash the pedal. And even then, it's nothing impressive. It's too slow to be considered sporty.
While it handles like a charm and takes corners better than 85% of the cars on the road today, I don't autocross, and the handling alone just isn't enough to cut it for me. I had to get the transmission replaced too (didn't cost me anything though). Only having 4 gears just kills the fun (yup, the automatic transmission in this car only has 4 gears unlike most that come with 5 today).
Sure I could buy one of the few turbo kits that are now available for the RX-8 today, but what for? It's still not going to be that fast (someone that turboed their automatic only cut 0-60 down to 6.5 seconds), and my gas mileage will likely be even worse. Plus I'll be out of warranty if my transmission ever decides to go bad again, which is likely, since most automatic transmissions cannot handle the boost levels from forced induction.
To make things even worse, the resale value sucks, especially since mine was only one notch above a base model.
Don't get me wrong here: it's a beautiful looking car, especially when taken care of and waxed regularly, and I did have some fun in it for a while. But its lack of performance and uneconomical mileage just aren't worth it to me anymore. I'll either be selling it soon or trading it towards a different vehicle.
If you're planning on buying one and are leaning towards an automatic, you're seriously better off learning how to drive stick. The other verison of this car offers a completely different experience and is a hell of a lot more fun. If I had the cash to blow I would have swapped a year ago. Mazda really dropped the ball when they made the automatic version for this car.
It's kind of sad, because there really is something special about owning a car with a rotary engine.
( The rest of my updates from 2 years ago are on page 2 in case you want to see the older pics. It's funny to see how different my attitude towards the car was from back then to now. )
������������Here's one last goodbye pic:
