Mustang GT vs Mazda RX-8, Can't decide which to buy

[KAUS]

Well I test drove both cars again monday and tuesday, but this time I really got to open up the GT a bit. I must say the GT has gained ground in my mind and if I can find a good dealer to order an 06 from I will do it. I took some corners at decent speed and the GT pulled it off no sweat. My girlfriend was bitching about the size of the backseat but who cares, not that much better in the RX-8. I am willing to travel anywhere in the country to buy/order the GT for a fair price; since I work for an airline travel to or from any dealership is not a big deal.

I'll start by just calling every dealership in the state and seeing if any are willing to let them go for MSRP. Personally I think that the Ford Dealers being able to pick and choose which cares they honor the X-plan on is B.S. I'm sure Continental Airlines doesn't pick and choose which flights the ford employees get their discounts on.

 

[dozlert]

My girlfriend was bitching about the size of the backseat but who cares, not that much better in the RX-8.

If the girlfriend is bitching about your car, then it must be the right one.

 

[KAUS]

I also drove an Infinit G-35 coupe today....t'was definitely a nice, quiet ride but I didn't like the tranny as much as the GT or the RX-8. It definitely didn't have the balls of the GT either. I'd give it a pretty significant edge over the Mustang in terms of creature comforts (seat controls, displays, overall interior design, etc), but I just can't see paying 3-4 grand more for the infiniti without getting at least a bit better performance than the GT.

The inifiniti is also supposed to suck gas worse than both the 8 and the GT....many guys on g35driver.com are getting 18-20 mpg on the highway driving conservatively in the infiniti. I could get a BMW 3 series coupe for that price and get almost double the gas mileage....then again, the bimmer is more of a luxury sedan than a sports car. Still might be worth test driving the BMW though....

Overall, I think I've decided on the mustang.

 

[dozlert]

I could get a BMW 3 series coupe for that price and get almost double the gas mileage....then again, the bimmer is more of a luxury sedan than a sports car. Still might be worth test driving the BMW though....

You might want to test drive an M3...they are sweet. They are a tad bit more expensive than the reg 3 series though.

 

[KAUS]

Yeah....the M3's look awesome, although they're too far out of my price range at over 40k. Maybe a good car to shoot for in 5 or 10 years when I'm in a better place career-wise.

 

[28]

I was in the same boat..Ended up picking up a 350 Z..as far as gas mileage,performance,and looks;I think it's about par with the GT cept way better handler and alot lighter(2 seater though)...Handles better than the RX-8(pulls harder out of the corners) and is about par with the S2K(S2K gets a slight edge on,but not by much)....I get about 26 on the freeway and about 21 around town..Oh,and they dyno at an average of 251(Z) at the wheels as where the GT averages at about 265 and the RX-8 at 198(boooo...).....As far as comfort,the GT gets the edge but you'll be surprised with the Z.The one thing that might get a few folks about the Z is the road noise...It gets annoying after a couple of hours.Other than that,it's very comfy and the A/C kicks arse....On a side note,I've played with a couple of stock GTs and the Z is nose to nose with them(stock of course)...then once the road opens up,the Z actually starts creeping away from it..Not to mention when it starts to get twisty...The RX-8 has to be driven at it's limits to be enjoyed.Kinda like the S2K less the reward(The S2K is the bomb when pushed to the limit).But you definitely get alot more out of the Z and GT as far as performance goes...On the side note,The GT and Z both have a great heritage and a great after market and following .Already various superchargers out for both the Z and GT..Not to mention turbo kits..If I'm not mistaken their are already some GTs getting 450hp with blowers as to Zs getting about the same with a turbos..A Vorteched equipped Z is getting 370hp on average so it's more turbo friendly.
Anyway,just my own personal opinion from driving all 3.....Good luck on your choice.

 

[dozlert]

I was in the same boat..Ended up picking up a 350 Z..as far as gas mileage,performance,and looks;I think it's about par with the GT cept way better handler and alot lighter(2 seater though)...Handles better than the RX-8(pulls harder out of the corners) and is about par with the S2K(S2K gets a slight edge on,but not by much)....I get about 26 on the freeway and about 21 around town..Oh,and they dyno at an average of 251(Z) at the wheels as where the GT averages at about 265 and the RX-8 at 198(boooo...).....As far as comfort,the GT gets the edge but you'll be surprised with the Z.The one thing that might get a few folks about the Z is the road noise...It gets annoying after a couple of hours.Other than that,it's very comfy and the A/C kicks arse....On a side note,I've played with a couple of stock GTs and the Z is nose to nose with them(stock of course)...then once the road opens up,the Z actually starts creeping away from it..Not to mention when it starts to get twisty...The RX-8 has to be driven at it's limits to be enjoyed.Kinda like the S2K less the reward(The S2K is the bomb when pushed to the limit).But you definitely get alot more out of the Z and GT as far as performance goes...On the side note,The GT and Z both have a great heritage and a great after market and following .Already various superchargers out for both the Z and GT..Not to mention turbo kits..If I'm not mistaken their are already some GTs getting 450hp with blowers as to Zs getting about the same with a turbos..A Vorteched equipped Z is getting 370hp on average so it's more turbo friendly.
Anyway,just my own personal opinion from driving all 3.....Good luck on your choice.

The new US version of the Skyline will have twin turbos...and about 450-500 HP. Cost >$70K?

 

[topless beach]

KAUS-if you are going to order an 06 stang hold out for x-plan price. I wanted an 05 on x-plan, and several dealers laughed at me, but it was pretty easy to find 2 different dealers to take x-plan on an order. One didn't even want a deposit. If you have to have one off a dealer lot then MSRP is probably the best you can do.

 

[KAUS]

Thanks again to everyone for all their help!

Yesterday I put my deposit down on a Tungsten Grey '06 Mustang GT deluxe with medium pachment leather. Add leather and spoiler delete were my only two options. It was a very tough decision, and like I said earlier I test drove both the Ford and the Mazda twice before making my final choice. On the second mustang test drive I really got to open up the GT around the corners and was quite satisfied with the way it handled and was even more impressed with its power the second time around. The second time I test drove the RX-8 it's lack of "balls" in low gear and low rpms was a bit of a downer, but don't get me wrong, I still think the RX-8 is a great car and I have a lot of respect for its design.

In the end it really came down to price. I found a dealer that would give me X-plan on the GT, so I got a GT with leather for 24.5k before TTL, 26.5 out the door.

To get leather on the RX-8, I would had to get mazda's "grand touring package" which would cost me another 2-3k over the GT easily and given me a whole lot of crap options like the moonroof and Bose system that I don't care about. There's no doubt that the handling and interior build quality on the 8 are things I'll miss on the Ford, but I was also concerned about the weak AC on the RX-8, the reports of people getting damaged AC condensers from flying gravel due to mazda's neglect to put a guard over them, the difficulty of installing an aftermarket stereo in the mazda, and the fact that the 8 gets worse gas mileage than the GT all while making 80 fewer horses. The Mustang also takes 87 octane while the RX-8 reccomends 93. Then I saw a post on rx8club.com about how the spark plugs needed to be replaced every 25k miles or so, and since I'm not exactly a DIY engine maintenance kind of guy I was concerned about mx expenses on the RX-8 (not that this is necessarily a problem with the car, but just something that I ultimately do not want to deal with).

 

[SactoStang]

Congrat KAUS! You won't be dissapointed. Your reasoning made alot of sense. I was in the same boat as you. It was either the RX8 or the Mustang GT.

 

[KAUS]

I also need to give a major thanks to "The Extreme" for hooking me up with a dealer in my area who would honor X-plan pricing. Thanks man!

 

[topless beach]

Good choice on car, color, and spoiler delete. That will be a beautiful car.

 

[graphicguy]

Yep, congrats KAUS. You made the right choice.

You're going to love it........!!!!!!!1

 

[Szlachcic]

Congrats man, you won't be disappointed, I know I wasn't. I have had my GT for about 4 months now and love it. When I was shopping for a car my last three cars were the Mustang GT, RX-8, and the 350z. The 8 and Z were more similar to each other since they are more of a sports car ("quick", good handling, etc.), but I have heard that even though the Z is supposed to be good at handling it really isn't. But I was really looking for more "raw" power instead of handling, so that narrowed it down to the the Z and the GT. The GT has an obvious advantage here and I think the Mustang is the best looking out of the three even though they all look great. Anyways, I hope you enjoy your Mustang as much as I do and I don't evny you since now you are at the hardest stage of the buying process....the wait .

 

[The Extreme]

I also need to give a major thanks to "The Extreme" for hooking me up with a dealer in my area who would honor X-plan pricing. Thanks man!

KAUS, you're welcome! Glad it worked out!
Can't wait to see your car!

The Extreme

 

[hollywoodstang]

rx-08

i had rx-7 for years back in the days i had 3 of them. if you decide to get rx-08. have spare block and apex seals ready at all times and buy the engine rebuild book on rotary engine, because that sucker is gonna blow every weekend at the strips. and its got no torque what so ever. unless you turbo it. then you will blow the apex seals if you get the thicker apex seals form racing beat...then you will gring on the block wall. and if you heat coat the block your radiator will over heat...then you upgrade the radiator...then your car start surging idling weird so you get the timing kit then your car floods...then finally you got $35000 piece of **** car. i had 3 of them just because of the body style and how fast it can be. "yes" it can be fast but to get there you have to have F1 crew standing by at your pit stop(home garage) otherwise it will be in the shop more then you drive it. that's why you don't see many rx-7's on the road. they are all in the shop...go check the local mazda dealer.even mechanics will tell you that they are "sorry"

 

[MustangGT95]

I'd probably go with the Subaru STI or even a WRX.....

Oops

I honestly don't like the looks of either of your choices. But that is just me. But if that rx8 only gets 13mpg I say **** that.

 

[BlackSpirit]

I killed an RX8 just the other day, my first race in my 06 as well.

 

[Spdfreak]

You can forget the RX-8. They are about to recall all of them. Apparently there is a major problem with the engine, and they will soon be replacing them in just about all of them. They also burn a qt. of oil about every 1500 miles.

I almost bought one, and am so glad I didn't.

 

[Dreadnaught]

Friends don't let friends do mazda.

Besides the Mustang GT superiority in almost every category, what sounds better to a woman..

"I drive a MUS-TANG, yeah it's like that."

OR

"I drive a Mazda RX-8, sorry baby there are no pumping pistons below this hood."