Quote :

"Sorry, those are too expensive for the year. Basically, here is the price criteria: 2004 - 2008 : Anything $20000 or under 2004 and below : Anything under $15000 This is related to loan options and what I can afford. "

You can easily get a good condition AP1 S2000 for <$15k (i.e., 2000-2001 model). MIGHT even find an AP2, but it would be a stretch/unlikely unless it was high mileage or had something wrong with it.

Quote :

"questionable reliability so, it would be a good track car maybe, but not a daily driven car. "

Precisely why I DON'T think the RX-8 would be a good track car.

Quote :

"I wouldn't drive an s2000 as my only car if you paid me. "

I did it for 2 years, and thought it was quite acceptable as a DD, as long as you (a) don't need a backseat or a large trunk, and (b) are ok with chewing through a lot of expensive rubber--but that's still cheaper than having 2 cars.

...and my car had a Comptech supercharger and exhaust, which wasn't super loud, but MUCH louder than stock.

oh, and I made a whole bunch of trips between NoVa/Raleigh and FL/Raleigh (to include non-stop trips between FL and NC, other than pay at the pump fuel stops).

I don't think ANYTHING ever broke on it over 30k rather heavyhanded miles from me (bought it at 37k, sold it after driving about 30k more miles)--DESPITE having somewhere around 150 hp more than stock. Actually, I fried my stereo amp (aftermarket), but that's all I can think of.

I did burn totally through 3 sets of tires in those 30k miles, and replacements (particularly on the 18" wheels and fat rubber I was running) weren't cheap, but that's going to be the case with any high powered car running sticky tires (the Evo is just as bad, despite less power and AWD).

2/19/2008 12:18:06 AM

I vote mini. I had a really odd day over xmas break where I just went test drive crazy.

somehow, in one day, I drove:

'07 Nissan 350Z auto
'06 Corvette z06 6 spd
'08 mazdaspeed 3 6 spd
'07 mazda rx8 6 spd
'08 mustang gt convertible automatic
'08 Mini Cooper S 6 spd

first off, and it may be irrelevant to this thread, but the mustang was fucking horrible. the convertible was WAYYYY too floaty and the whole body flexed and there wasn't feel for shit. And honestly, in a straight line, only in a standing start did it really feel all that fast compared to anything else I drove.

Now back to the point. I'm gonna be a bit of a fanboy. That Rx8 was fucking magical, if noticeably slower than the other cars I drove, until I realized I hadn't used 4th, 5th, or 6th gear.....it revs so high and so smoothly and the gearshift is so perfect, it might be the best curvy-road test drive I've ever had... I won't say how quickly I went in a 35 zone around a pretty sharp curve, but I'd be dead if I tried that in probably any other car I drove that day apart from the z06. It was honestly more satisfying than the 350z in almost every way. The steering feel was incredible, as good as my gf's '99 miata, if not better. Easily the most stable handler overall of the cars I drove, and very forgiving with sloppy inputs. (mostly due to the light clutch, shifter, lack of torque).

So... towards the end of the test drive, I tried to drive only in 6th gear. Fucking impossible. Going up a slight uphill at like 55 mph, we started to slow down, even as I applied throttle. until that point, i was practically sold. Until all I could think was, " a 3100 lb sports car (and it truly is... nobody even try to argue with me on this one... not because I'm any sort of authority but because it just is....), and I have nearly as much room in here as my Lincoln."

No denying the torque or mpg or reliability issues though. I can only say I've "heard" what everyone else has heard as well...

But if I was in the market, and I could get one for under 15, knowing that the engine replacement is probably a large but manageable sum that you could consider as part of your shopping budget, I'd be all for it.

Sports cars are about fun, and that car was just fucking fun.

The next most fun car I drove was the mini. Fuck the fact that its fwd. and I'll only allow that for the mini, and MAYBE a GTI. everything else I've ever driven that was fwd was teh suck. The mini has possibly the perfect drivetrain for a car that size. Similar power to the rx8 when its revving, but torque EVERYWHERE for such a tiny engine. 6th gear is a useable around-town gear. midrange acceleration would absolutely monster an rx8. If you're short (like me), the rear seat is actually usable for other short friends or pets, and you'll notice this was the only hatch on that shortlist above. Plenty of room for stuff. Also, the mini's build quality was head-and-shoulders above everything else I drove that day. As well as mpg. They are NOT gay, at least not a new cooper S.

Btw... the z06 wasn't even close to fun. whoopideedoo... did we start the test drive yet? Oh we just drove 5 miles? I just saw a blur and there was some roaring and the HUD was going apeshit. That was a test drive? I don't remember.....

You need 50 miles in a car like that to have any idea of what it actually drives like. A miata, rx8, or mini only need a parking lot.

Just to be fair, I'm sure a mustang GT coupe with a stick, some sort of suspension and brake upgrade would be dramatically better than the posemobile I drove, but I'd be shocked if it was anywhere near as fun as ANY of the cars I drove.

The nissan was fucking easy to drive like a maniac in, but it didn't grip, feel, or rev as satisfyingly as the rx8. You could tell it was easily quicker, but that advantage wasn't even close to what you have to give up. And it has horrible space utilization. the trunk covers a huge area but the usable trunk space is so weirdly shaped... you essentially have the same space back there, or less, than the mini has behind its rear seats when the seats are up.

2/19/2008 1:54:26 AM

Minis are fantastic cars

2/19/2008 9:06:20 AM

they are good cars. just a simple pully upgrade and you've got powR.

just dont get the blue color.

2/19/2008 9:33:45 AM

Quote :

"it sounds like a leaf blower inside the cabin with the roof up. small trunk small interior gas mileage isn't very good, although compared to an rx8 it is the soft top makes for decent sized blind spots tires are gone in ~10k miles old ones burn oil, gas station = check oil...actually says so in the manual it's a great car for what it is, i just don't think it was built to drive to work and back "

It really is a pain to drive with the top up. I drove mine to work today. Bad blind spots, foggy/scratched up rear window, buzzy cabin, and feeling like I'm in a small confined space. With the top down all these issues are gone and it's a blast. The drive home will be much better assuming it warms up this afternoon though.

As for the oil thing...I've found it's best to just buy an extra quart when I do an oil change. I'll lose about 1 quart between oil changes so I basically just put half the quart in a couple of months after I do the oil change and then I may or may not use the other half of the quart before the next one.

I couldn't do without a second car though. I picked up 400 lbs of (bagged) sand in the e30 last week. It's nice that I have something I can park downtown with no fear of curbing a wheel or having some jackass in a big truck backing over my hood.

2/19/2008 9:55:45 AM

I've driven a C5 Z06 and I was very impressed. It was the best all-around American car I've ever driven (in terms of performance)--pretty quick, very solid handling, and it felt pretty balanced given its dimensions. Obviously the interior had its problems etc. Still, it is about 10,000 times better than any Ford I've ever driven, including an 03 cobra

2/19/2008 10:29:37 AM

^ Nah, you're right. I didn't really do the c6 z06 justice with my comments. I just had a bad experience w/ the dealer and a hilariously short time with the car. he said the loop we drove was 5 miles, but I'd be shocked if it was much more than 2. I had one nice run through the gears and one turn with anything resembling a camber change. It felt.... good.

I just didn't want to make a comparison between these cars when one of them has more than double the torque of some of the others. I mean, that corvette weighs 3200 lbs and has 470 lbft and can nearly do 60 mph in 1st

the rx8 drive was probably my highlight of the year so far though. I really enjoyed it. Everything but torque....

Although... if you gotta have some torque with your rx8, you can have it, for a price

http://www.tuningmotorsports.com/product.php?productid=19

pagescans from pgs 106&107 of C&D's July 2006 drive of PTP turbo rx8, on rx8club.com:
page 106: http://www.rx8club.com/attachment.php?s=4dd81a60127f3416fd22dcc30ad87740&attachmentid=77999&d=1148483880
page 107:
http://www.rx8club.com/attachment.php?s=4dd81a60127f3416fd22dcc30ad87740&attachmentid=78000&d=1148483880
coverpic of July 2006 if you probably have it and want to know which one to look for:
http://www.rx8club.com/attachment.php?s=4dd81a60127f3416fd22dcc30ad87740&attachmentid=77998&d=1148483880
member discussion of the rx8 and ptp turbo kit:
http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=90654

rx8club thread: comparison of aftermarket tuning options, with dyno graphs showing overlapping plots of various turbos and superchargers:
http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=132628

rx8club thread: "Faq for new owners": list of some problems and fixes made... apparently the not-starting issue mentioned above was due to 04/05 having a weaker starter motor. also, the ignition coils were changed in 06 to a different design to alleviate misfiring issues. There was an emissions recall for 2004-06's in 2006, requires "4206F recall" to be performed, should ask for it when shopping used cars. It involved a PCM reflash for most cars. Some cars needed new catalytic converters and a few more needed a replacement engine. the spark plugs were redesigned in 05 to also deal with the flooding issues (the culprit of the cold start reluctance). "These improved plugs should be the only leading plugs you buy. (part #NGK RE7C-L)" . Engine mounts and mount brackets were redesigned in 2005 to alleviate rough idle issues.... more there but this was stuff that I actually wanted to have visible in this thread instead of relying on TWW'rs to go check it....
http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=116484

52 service bulletins on the rx8:
http://www.finishlineperformance.com/store/pages.php?pageid=11

rx7.com (Rotary performance) sells a variety of stuff for the rx8 and has some more FAQs:
"RX-8 Power: how powerful is the Renesis really? "
http://rx7.com/techarticles_rx8power.html

two shutoff procedures to prevent flooding:
http://rx7.com/techarticles_floodprev.html

updated starter here: $349
http://www.finishlineperformance.com/store/product.php?productid=16983&cat=338&page=1

2/19/2008 12:51:39 PM

Greensboro Carmax has 2006 red/black rx8 with 26k for 19999, will transfer to Raleigh on request.
http://www.carmax.com/dyn/factsheet/factsheet.aspx?KNo=0

2/19/2008 1:03:42 PM

that link is bogus

2/19/2008 1:07:15 PM

oops... didn't catch that it was already posted.

sorry about the carmax bogus link, too... looks like you can't link to a specific part of their site.

The ID # for the car is: "Stock # 4974765"

[Edited on February 19, 2008 at 1:42 PM. Reason : retracted link/info on car God was already looking at. lmfao]

2/19/2008 1:33:17 PM

^Yeah, I posted that towards the beginning of the thread. I'm talking with him over e-mail.

2/19/2008 1:36:31 PM

iirc, carmax has their info wrong. They claim its a 3 cyl., however its really a 2 cylinder equivalent (technically its 2 rotor)

2/19/2008 2:04:27 PM

i'd say it's not equivalent to cylinders at all!

if you really wanted to make the analogy, i guess i'd say that a 2-rotor Wankel is most analogous to either a 4-cyl or 6-cyl, depending on how you want to look at it, 4-cycle (again, basically...not a perfect analogy) piston engine.

2/19/2008 2:59:11 PM

they probably have a little drop down box or something that doesn't include 2 rotor wankel. can't believe that one didn't make the final cut. lets move on. the rx-8 sucks, don't fucking buy one.

[Edited on February 19, 2008 at 3:05 PM. Reason : *]

2/19/2008 3:05:20 PM

2 chamber then? lol I just don't want to be flamed for spotting incorrect info and trying to correct it with semi-correct symantics. Again, those of you who know the rotary know what I meant. grr this forum can be frustrating trying to avoid all the haters

[Edited on February 19, 2008 at 3:08 PM. Reason : I stand corrected, ^ Beat me]

2/19/2008 3:06:06 PM

once again, I would get a late production 05 car and nothing earlier than that.

2/19/2008 3:09:59 PM

Quote :

"For Sale: $6500 1991 Toyota MR2 Turbo (3sgte) -completely stock rebuilt motor from Phoenix Motorsports -Runs strong -T-top -Manual 5 speed -Good Condition -Red Paint with slight Green Pearl -Slight dent damage on driver door -Aprox. 15k miles on motor -Very Mint Interior"

I'm going to lowball him $5000 and see what happens.

2/19/2008 4:41:14 PM

what happened to your other curb banger? That car was awesome. it went VROOOOM VROOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM

2/19/2008 4:50:03 PM

Since you are an MR2 guy, I'm going to make the suggestion that you

a) Save your money for a year, then
b) go test drive a Lotus Elise, then
c) go buy a used 06 Elise next year.

On the lotustalk forums, its seems like 1/2 of the owners either transitioned from an MR2, or just bought a lotus too. You can currently find 05's for ~30k, but the 06 is a vastly superior model and will likely drop to about that point next year.

Plusses:

Drives like an MR2, but better and faster
Holds resale value better than anything else you have been looking at
Still gets REAL mileage of 24-28 mpg
With the touring pack it's a capable daily driver
Extremely reliable (thanks Toyota!)

Minuses:

10k more than you can spent right now
You will become obsessed with it
No factory cup holder
You can't put dead bodies in the trunk

2/19/2008 6:06:23 PM

but.. but.. but..

I can get an MR2 Spyder with the same engine as an Elise[1] for $12,000!




[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_ZZ_engine#2ZZ-GE

[Edited on February 19, 2008 at 8:40 PM. Reason : ]

2/19/2008 8:39:48 PM

Elise has the same engine as Celica GTS, not the MR2-S.

2/19/2008 8:47:38 PM

I know. It's about as common as an SR20DET swap with 240s. I'm actually looking at a 2zz swapped MR2 in Virginia.

2/19/2008 8:50:53 PM

It's slightly heavier, slightly slower (even with the swap), carries slightly less G's through the turns, is out of production, and it just isn't a Lotus

Really though you are right, they are VERY similarly natured cars, which is why so many people make the transition. The tuning market is just now opening up on the Lotus, right now there are two good aftermarket SC kits, and one stable Turbo kit. Plus all kinds of cheap weight reduction, suspension, wheel, brake, and aero modifications.

2/20/2008 12:13:52 PM

I love lotus elise/exige line of cars, but I feel safety is compromised, especially on the street where 50% of the people drive full size trucks.

[Edited on February 20, 2008 at 12:26 PM. Reason : .]

2/20/2008 12:25:49 PM

go for the supra!

2/20/2008 1:07:28 PM

If I could afford an Elise, I would drive an Elise.

Bottom line is that I can't. I won't spend more than $20k on any car with what I make right now, regardless of the year.

2/20/2008 1:09:34 PM

then don't buy a gas ass MR2

2/20/2008 7:30:25 PM

Quote :

"I love lotus elise/exige line of cars, but I feel safety is compromised, especially on the street where 50% of the people drive full size trucks"

Dual airbags, race buckets, probably the best side impact protection of any car on the road (you sit IN the frame), 3, 4, or 5 point harnesses, a ridiculously strong B pillar (as if you could ever roll it over), and it's light as hell (aka transfer of momentum in a wreck favors you to crunch and bounce).

On the lotustalk forums, there's pretty much every accident that's ever happened in one accounted for on there. And the only ones that have resulted in major injury or death have been from people driving the lotus like fucking retards. Lots of expensive fender-benders, but everyone walks away relatively fine.

Quote :

"If I could afford an Elise, I would drive an Elise."

If you can afford a 20k car this year, you can save for a year and afford a 30k car next year EASILY.

2/21/2008 12:08:30 AM

Yeah, that's what I was thinking on the $$ thing.. It'd be so worth it to wait a bit longer and get a really badass car instead of rushing it now and getting something typical

2/21/2008 2:27:00 PM