the 8 was runner up when i was car shoping. what made it loose to the s? it's stock straightline performance and, from my little research, difficulty to mod. i.e. forced induction.

 

hehe... it's a trick question.

 

There's tons of comparison. Maybe you should do a search and read up too.

 

When i went shoping I looked at an rx8, a miata and stumbled across the s2k.
The miata well i drove that after stumbling across the s2k so it was almost predetrmined that I wouldn't be happy with the miata.

The rx8 was a whole lot less appealing to me than the S. The main thing being the head room. I had my head IN the sunroof and still had to kink my neck a bit. I'm not huge either only 6'. After that it was the run flats i think that bugged me, they sucked. The other thing was the engione was rough. Ihad expected a rotary to be much smoother. it was probably just that rx I drove since I have heard so much about how "smooth" they are.

for me as soon as I slid into the S I knew it was right. I was 80% sure I was going to by it before I left the parking lot. It was strange like there was some little Japanese guy sitting behind his desk/drafting table saying " I'm going to build the perfect car for this 6'0 tall 160lb(he probably thinks in metric though) american guy. It just fits like that old pair of jeans. Though I did lose 5lbs recently when i caught the flu so I slide back and forth a bit too much in the seat now\ but nothing a couple big macs won't solve.

 

I'm pretty sure some people are hating on you right now.

 

Before i got S, Rx8 was my favorite and did numerous test drives and i think it's a quite nice car with horrible gas consumption.

Even it was pretty nimble to drive, it was still too damn bulky compare to S.

 

IBTL!!!

 

Apples and bricks...the rx8 is a four door coupe...comfortable and large enough accommodate while providing fun driving.


The S is a 2 door raw sports car.

 

The RX-8 handles very well. Close to the S2000. Better stability control I think, less intrusive than the S2000 and has the option to shut-off just TCS and leave SC on.

Horrible gas mileage 13-14 mpg vs 22 - 24 mpg.

I personally like the S2000's engine a lot more. Never really enjoyed that rotary. Probably was too smooth for me at 9K rpm

And the S2000 fits like a glove

RX-8 horrible depreciation. I lot a ton of money even though I bought it used.

 

I've driven several RX8's at the Mazda Zoom Zoom Live events, and I like the cars. Obviously if you want a roadster no four door car is going to cut the mustard. The RX8 is really in a class by itself, so I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense to try to compare it to a niche market roadster like the S2000. If I had to live with only one car I'd certainly consider the RX8, but as a weekend toy I'd go for a roadster every time. However, that's just me.

The differences between the two are pretty much what you'd expect, given their different target markets. If you drive both cars you'll see that they feel totally different. The way you interpret that difference will affect which car you end up liking most. In terms of absolute performance, look at the cars times at the SCCA SOLO Nationals and their quarter mile times and the differences will be obvious. Absolute performance aside, the RX8 is not really any more or less fun to drive than an S2000. LOL, for some I'm sure it's more fun, because some have found the S2000's handling a little scary.

If you drive them both you will most likely come away with a very strong preference for one or the other. If not, you'll probably be happier with the RX8.

Either way you've got a fun decision to make.