Like I said, I think some of it may have to do with the xfire steering being overboosted...I'm not trying to say with some sort of factual statistical significance that rack and pinion is better than recirc ball. I can't say that *all* of the difference is due to r-p vs. rb.

However, I have driven them on the same tires (Hoosier A6's...slightly different sizes, but similar relative to the wheel...245/35R18's on the xfire 7.5's and 285/30R18's on the RX-8 8's). Alignments were very similar and the suspension designs are very similar. Steering ratio (16.43:1) and turns lock-to-lock (2.99) are very close to xfire. Wheel is smaller though.

The steering feel and feedback between the 2 is night and day. Putting a bigger bar on the xfire and toeing the front out some has helped some, but it's still no contest. Some of it may be r-p vs. rb, some of it power assist issues...but IMO, no doubt part of it is design...bottom line is the xfire is not good in that area...biggest complaint I've got against the car so far. (and in that case, as I said...really only on the autocross course...I don't notice it so much on the street...if I never autocrossed, I might not ever notice it on the street).