I'm in the market for a $30K sports coupe and like the Crossfire coupe with the 6-speed. I'm also intrigued by the Mazda RX-8 coupe that Car and Driver ranked as the "the best RX everh. Anyone had a chance to compare the two?

Also, with the announcement of the SRT-6 coupe are there any compelling reasons for a grecreationalh driver to pay the additional costs? The bigger engine is not compelling for me but are there any issues with the standard 2004 coupe that the 2005 SRT-6 will resolve?

And lastly, should I expect to find the best price at CarMax (Ifll be closest to Atlanta)?

Thanks!

 

Last week, I test drrove an RX8 and was ready to buy it. Because I had seen the Xfire at my Chrysler Dealer, I decided to give it a try but fully expected to still purchase the RX8. To me (I'm certainly not an expert) there was no comparison. The XFire was a much better ride. The suspension on the RX8 seem too stiff after testing the Xfire. The ride was rough and not nearly as smooth as the XFire. The rotary engine whined and lacked the sports car tone of the Xfire. The overall quality of the Xfire seem to surpass that of the RX8. Well..I own a Xfire now and I am certainly glad I decided to give it a try. BTW..I'm paying more, but feel it is well worth it.

Dadof4

 

Everything dadof4 said plus the RX8 in person is butt ugly.

 

I tested both of them the same day. I tried an autostick crossifre and did NOT want the car at all. Then I tried the RX-8 manual with every option (grand touring). As soon as the test drive was over I inquired about aftermarket leather to replace the horrid interoir ($1200) and looked into a aftermarket front end ($1000 plus mounting and painting) because is looks really, really bad. Those two parts of the car where awful but could be replaced.

The mechincal issues I had with the RX-8 (note I am a former RX7 owner) was that there is no touque and the car drove like a granny mobile unless you where above 4000 RPM's. Then there is the part where you must make sure the car is fully warmed up before you take off so that the engine does not flood (a $100 mistake) and that you have to constantly check the oil level. Mine use to burn 1/10 of a quart every 3,000 miles and they told me it was more like 1/4 of a quart now. On top of that the oil pressure gauge is useless and told you nothing. The car really needs help in the low rpm range and the previous RX7 had a twin turbo where one helped in the low RPM's to help deal with this.

All in all the car is a pain to maintain and smells of oil bad after you have been pushing it. They did not even put in a limiter or beep at you at redline like they did in the past (yeah it is not a conventional engine and it is hard to tell how close to redline the gerbal wheel is getting). Hope you never get a coolent leak either, so check the hoses all the time or it may cost you a new rotary engine.

My RX-8 overall review summary:

The RX-8 looks like a frog, looks too long, need that horrible nose replace that make it look like a bucked tooth rabit when a licence plate is on it, has a horrible leather trimed interior (the rest of it is not much better), has nearly unsusalbe rear seats (you have to lock your feet under the front seats), runs like crap at low rpms, has no trouque, has to really warmed up before driving it or you will have to replace the spark plugs, constantly needs oil, smells of burned oil after driving the heck out of it, the options for the car are way too much money and gets horrible gas mileage.

----------------------

When it was said and done and the RX-8 with the aftermarket parts would be more than the crossfire or the 350z i decided to go back and try a manual crossfire in hopes that it would be different. The difference between the autostick crossfire and the manual version was like night and day for me. The rear end of the manual version is all over the road, I could not get the autostick to do this.

I picked my crossfire over the 350z and the RX-8. If I needed a sedan I would have picked the RX-8 over something like a Nissan Maxima.


-marc

p.s. did I mention how weird the RX-8 mufflers sound when behind one? I must have forgot because it sounds like a weed eater...

 

I love Rx's!! they are sweet cars!! a FD is about one of the ONLY cars i'd trade my Xfire for!!! but... the Rx8 just doesn't have the look of the 8 IMO... its a beautiful car even if it does look like a frog! I love the 8... I wanted the 8 before the Xfire also...

I rode in my buddies and I feel in love with the rx8 ... the ride to me feels very sporty... the noise I love... the interior is nice... and the overall performance of the car is astonishing with such a small *** engine... but those rotaries are amazing!!!

Why did I get the Xfire?
EVERYTHING about this car... the interior IMO is even nicer! The performance is outstanding even if people wanta call it slow... the heated seats great speakers that blows the Rx8 outta the water... handling is perfect...

But I think you have to fit your car... I fit my car very much... the entire style and the overall generalization of this car is my personality! ... I think you have to choose what fits you the best with your life style...

my buddy jim got the rx8 cuz he didnt wanta stand out a lot... and with it in the dark green... not many people will give it a lot of looks... no one is gonna ask that Rx8 what kinda porsche is that !! 8)

 

no, but i'll bet it scares the **** outta flies! :shock: !


dan...ribbit 8)

 

OH MAN! I'm definately using that joke on him!!! LOL

 

I am very wary of rotary engines. I had a '93 rx7 tt and had to replace the engine at 20k. Then I needed to replace the new engine and turbos at 35k. No more rotaries.

 

Since RX8 burns a lot of oil....I bet your catalytic converter won't last long and you'll need another engine which will cost you more $$$$

 

Have driven both they are very differnet cars for different drivers.

If you want an engaging drive with sharp handling, but perhaps hard work to drive having to keep revs high then the RX-8 is for you.

If you want a softer ride with slighly compromised handling to give a better cruising comfort, but with more power on tap throughout the range the the Xfire is yours.

In the UK we have a lot of sharp handling sports cars and being honest the xfire is tuned for the american market and is a bit soft for UK tastes. But and its a big one the xfire is without doubt the best combination of style / power and handling package for the money.

If you want an out and out sports car look elsewhere, if you want a competent powerfull cruising coupe then step right up

 

I keep hearing that the RX8 is suppose to be such a good handling car. It's been my observation that it doesn't handle slalom / autocross courses very well. It has no grip in the front end. The 2 I've seen try to negotiate an autocross course couldn't make a tight, fast turn. Not impressive @ all. As a matter of fact the 2 that were autocrossing here have not been at the last 2 events. My guess is that they didn't want to humiliate themselves anymore. The Crossfire does very well.

 

I also drove them both on the same day.

The RX-8 was much stiffer, and way too noisy. As people have said, it depends on what you like.

I bought the Crossfire because (a) it's much better for every-day driving and long-distance driving. Overall it's much more luxurious. (b) the Crossfire might have a chance in the snow (I live in New England). RX-8 would have none.

You might get a different feel for this if you also checked out the RX-8 forum.

 

exactly WM... the rx8 is nothing like the rx7 FC or FD ... I dont know what they changed but they should go back to the original design...

The Rx8 definately feels japanese on the inside... the Xfire feels more Merc. then DC... but thats probably because it is

 

Autostick is not bad at all. As a matter of fact it is very smooth and precise feeling. I realize transmission choise is a matter of taste but to me manual seems so lo-tech for a european touring sports coupe and ive owned many manual cars. Maybe the manual isn't as clunky as they say but I love not having to shift and the way it adapts to your style of driving and yes, it has plenty of tourque to get up to speed. To each their own I guess 8)

 

someone needs to post the Top Gear crossfire review link on this thread. The guy thought the Maaazduh (british pronounciation) was the second coming. They also bashed everything about the crossfire. Did they really even drive the two? I think he used CGI to make it look like he was actually driving the crossfire.

 

Hello, I'am a new here and I have had my Crossfire for about three days now. I love the car and it turns heads where ever I go, but I also have a RX-8GT fully loaded and it does the same. I'm a car nut and I have owned everything from a Mustang GT to a XK8 convertable. I have owned a 2nd Gen RX-7 convert & a 3rd Gen RX-7 TT, they are special cars that require more attention than most drivers are used to, but they reward you with a great drive. The Crossfire is my daily driver and the RX-8 is my toy, as far as handling # say they are the same but the RX feels more agile and the breaks are fantastic. I do love the torque of the XF but I love reving the rotary also. They both are GREAT cars but the RX does require a lot more attention from the owner, but decide what is best for you and whether you are willing to take the extra steps with the RX and if not you will love the Crossfire.

 

I personally dislike the rotary engine... I see no benefit to the rotary design. Thus I would not want to own a RX, but I do respect the performance they provide.

 

I'd die to engine swap the rx7 FD Turbo Rotary into my Crossfire!!! rx7's are AMAZING BEASTS!!! I love the sound ... i love the feel.. just perfect cars IMO... but the 8.. wow... to me it was a sad loss to the RX line... ... they are nice looking... nice handling... but speed?! what happened!!!! the car just a few years back was amazingly fast! ... I just feel when you have a RX you do want it for the speed!!! its a nice looking car no doubt. I almost bought it myself cuz I love JDM cars... but I wanted to be different and boy... the Crossfire is different! I get more looks then I could count... and to me... lots of people are not impressed by the Rx8 like the xfire... people just look at the 8 and know its japanese... people look at the Xfire and ask what amazingly crafted italian or german piece of work is that?!?!

 

James,

The rotary engines are really small and light compared to other engines putting out what they are doing...

-marc

 

:lol: :lol: Nice aviatar Bobafettm..... :lol: :lol: