my car vs 04 mazda rx8

the RX-8 will take you on a nice curvy road assuming you dont have everything from MM or Griggs under your car.

we are a Ford and Mazda dealer. the Miatas and RX-8's are no joke real fun to drive. power might not be there, but the fun factor is way high.

I think the RX8 is a very nice looking car.

you ought to kill it in a straight line and on a curvy road if you can drive. They don't make much power and are only 200 lbs. lighter.

Yes yes I know everyone says they handle well, but half of that is the fact that you can mat the gas and not worry about losing traction. For poor drivers that's a huge benefit to keeping it on the line. Going around a curve is very similar to going up a hill - the stronger car can accelerate faster around a curve as long as traction holds.

I'm not saying every Mustang driver will beat every RX-8 driver around every road course. I'm saying that in the real world, the RX-8 is a fine car but the lack of power is not overcome by some nebulous handling advantage. And better tires on the Mustang than the RX-8 will trump any advantage the RX-8 might have in handling. Of course, better tires on the RX-8 will trump the power advantage on the Mustang by the same token.

Your car will be faster down the track.

Once that's out the way, DRIVE THAT CAR. the RX-8 is an absolute blast to drive. Not impressive spec-wise but really fun, nice cars.

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+1, your car will be much faster down the track, but you will have your hands full on a road track. Actually, you will have it handed to you.

the Miatas and RX-8's are no joke real fun to drive

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I agree, I can't count the miatas that rape stock and modified z06's on road courses around here. The miata is far, far superior to a mustang on road course, even modified.

you ought to kill it in a straight line and on a curvy road if you can drive. They don't make much power and are only 200 lbs. lighter.

Yes yes I know everyone says they handle well, but half of that is the fact that you can mat the gas and not worry about losing traction. For poor drivers that's a huge benefit to keeping it on the line. Going around a curve is very similar to going up a hill - the stronger car can accelerate faster around a curve as long as traction holds.

I'm not saying every Mustang driver will beat every RX-8 driver around every road course. I'm saying that in the real world, the RX-8 is a fine car but the lack of power is not overcome by some nebulous handling advantage. And better tires on the Mustang than the RX-8 will trump any advantage the RX-8 might have in handling. Of course, better tires on the RX-8 will trump the power advantage on the Mustang by the same token.

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you greatly underestimate the miata. The miata is an excellent road car, very fun to drive, and will kill a mustang/camaro/vette around the corners on the track, period.


OP,if you guys are taking it to the strip, you should have the upper hand. Make sure you have more experience at the track than he does and know your track(track prep, knowing how to cut a light, weather conditions, tire pressure,). Your stock gears are going to help you on stock tires. If you are new to racing, make a couple hot laps with "NT"-no time and single runs early, so he does not know what times you are running. Good luck, get us a video!

LOL the responses in this thread did q pretty good job on making me laugh. The OP is asking how his car would do in a race against an RX8 and everyone goes of in completely different tangents.

"But they're so fun to drive", "he'll beat you on a winding mountain road", "blah blah blah".

First of all, who the hell races on curvy roads? Do you thin this "race" has anything to do with handling?

Race him and you will annihilate him. Forget about how fun it is to drive or how it gets better gas mileage

Actually, Rx-8's are only rated at 18 city, 25 highway.

Winters98GT said:

+1, your car will be much faster down the track, but you will have your hands full on a road track. Actually, you will have it handed to you.



I agree, I can't count the miatas that rape stock and modified z06's on road courses around here. The miata is far, far superior to a mustang on road course, even modified.



you greatly underestimate the miata. The miata is an excellent road car, very fun to drive, and will kill a mustang/camaro/vette around the corners on the track, period.


OP,if you guys are taking it to the strip, you should have the upper hand. Make sure you have more experience at the track than he does and know your track(track prep, knowing how to cut a light, weather conditions, tire pressure,). Your stock gears are going to help you on stock tires. If you are new to racing, make a couple hot laps with "NT"-no time and single runs early, so he does not know what times you are running. Good luck, get us a video!

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Number one, we weren't talking about Miata's.

Number two, I've actually ran a timed autocross on a road course section on a day when there were a ton of Miatas running. The only three that beat me were running a full cage, race tires, and came and went on a trailer. No idea what had been done under the hood, but I doubt they were stock power when they were built to piss everywhere else. Not to mention they knew the track while I had never been on it before. Not really impressed.

A Miata is a RWD Civic. Anything can be made fast with enough money.

We were talking about the RX-8 here, and I stand by my comments concerning that car.

If you want to talk about the Miata, fine. But let's keep it to the actual facts. Even looking at SCCA autocross data, Miata's hardly dominate. And that's on tight courses that *might* see 50mph at most. What do you think happens on a road course with any kind of straight? A Miata is a slow car that handles pretty good for what they cost. But they certainly won't rape a car like a base C5 Corvette on any kind of road course. They stand the best chance of merely being competitive on an autocross course in a modded class, and even then we are talking merely competitive, not dominating. Stock, they run behind lots of cars, including Shelby Mustang GT's.

Please leave the ricer Miata worship at the door. The actual facts don't support your claims.

And let's get back to the RX-8. Which IS NOT a Miata. It's actually a more capable car in stock form. And slower than a 99-04 Mustang GT in a straight line, and arguably not any faster on a road course.