[QUOTE=CosmosMpower,Dec 12 2007, 02:33 PM]You already knew all that though being a fellow miata owner

 

Here's a couple reasons why I think the the S2000 is a bit quicker than the Rx8:

1) The power it puts down to the wheels. This issue came up when the Rx8 first came out and before I bought my S2000. At the time, the Rx8 had 238hp and the S2000 had(has) 240HP at the crank. However at the wheels, the S2000 puts out 200, while the Rx8 was around 180HP. Many owners were pissed about that and they could not explain why there was a 20HP difference when comparing two FR platforms with essentially the same amount of power. The Rx8 VSA was also turned off when this WHP was measured. Wasn't there an ECU mod that helped mitigate this issue? I forgot the name of the guy who designed it. I think it was someone on the Rx8 forum. But it voided the warranty.

2) RX8 is about 300 lbs heavier than the S2000.

3) I'm not positive on this but I think the gearing on the Rx8 is a bit taller than the S2000. Throw in a 4.56 or 4.77 gear set and it would significantly help.

The Rx8 is a great car. I think a lot of the rotary bashing is due to the bad reputation the 3rd gen Rx7 gave. I was considering one and was really impressed. It's a great looking car and is very practical! I, like many wish it had more power. Hopefully Mazda will work on that in the next generation model.

 

Well, I was only pointing out factory numbers, not wheel horsepower, but if you want to go with that, AP1 S2000s typically put down 190, not 200, so its still pretty close to an RX-8's 180 (that you state). I've seen stock S2000s here dyno anywhere from 175-210 "stock", so I can imagine RX-8s have a similar range as well... The fact is, dyno numbers don't mean much unless you are testing in static conditions, and I've never seen that yet.

Also, if you say the S has 240, then the RX-8 has 238, or if you use the revised numbers, its 237 and 232, just to be clear. As for explaining the power loss, there are lots of possibilities, including build materials, gearing, etc... its not the engine alone.

The main reason I made that comment however was because someone said RX-8s were way underpowered - they're not, and the power and performance statistics are almost identical to S2000s despite the car being heavier. You're not going to notice ten horsepower in daily driving.

 

I have owned 2 rotory powered cars (both 2nd gen RX-7's) I never had a huge oil buring issue, one ran to 140k before I sold it. I am not sure if Mazda has crapped down the rotory or if people just don't like them, but I loved mine. But not as much as I love my S so far since I have only had it for 8 days now.

 

FWIW, we had an RX-8 dyno day here a couple of years ago. All but one of the RX-8s dyno'd within a couple of hp of 180, while my utterly stock AP2 (ok, I had an aftermarket radio) dyno'd at 210, corrected. On the RX-8 board, it is pretty well accepted that 180RWHP is pretty standard, although the apologists do try hard to come up with odd explanations.

 

That's because AP2 rules!

 

I heard that replacement parts for Mazda are always more expensive than Honda/Toyota. Ain't it right?

 

In three years of owning our RX-8, I certainly haven't found it to be so. And Mazda (unlike Honda) is remarkable in supporting its racers, so if you race a Mazda (as I do my Miata), they sell you parts practically free.

 

Honda seems to throw their support more in the direction of professional racing than amateur racing. Honda said the S2000 was designed to give us some of the feeling of a pure race car, whereas Mazda helps us turn our Miata's into real race cars. To me, that difference in philosophy/marketing/culture seems to be clearly reflected in the cars themselves, and I like 'em both.

 

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