Well, having owned an RX-8 for a couple years before buying a Crossfire, the crap talk in this thread is laughable.

Both cars have merit. Frankly, I liked my RX-8 better, but the Crossfire has been fun too.

Styling: they both have love it or hate it elements to them...everyone likes what they like
Straight line: non-SRT vs. RX-8 has got to be pretty much a draw, though they feel completely different...xfire is all low-end torque while the 8 is all high revving hp. In typical daily driving, the xfire definitely feels faster, but in an all out straight line run, I think it would be a toss-up. SRT6 would clearly walk an RX-8 in a straight line.
Handling: this is a no-brainer to the RX-8...there's a good reason the RX-8 is in a significantly faster autocross class (and it's winning national championships there)...it's lighter, balanced much better, and has significantly better steering.
Other stuff: rotary gas mileage is woeful...my xfire does waaaaay better. Crossfire has the advantage sound-wise too...comparing both stock and autox exhaust setups that I had for each. Practicality-wise, the RX-8 is pretty tough to beat for a sporty car. As for the engine recall stuff, yeah, some cars had problems, but few cars actually had engines replaced...mine went in for that recall...I got a couple new spark plugs and an ecu flash, not a new engine. I never had any reliability issues in 50k miles. Only 9k on the xfire and no significant issues so far...although I do have some oil seeping from the valve cover gasket that I need to have the dealer look at.