The Car and Driver articles states the front end ride was so bad the hood pins shook loose? WTF???


In truth, I take anything they have to offer 1/2-seriously...

aren't these the guys who had the match-up between the '08 Mustang (which isn't even out yet) and the 09 Camaro (which only existed in concept car form at the time) to see WHICH ONE WAS THE BEST?........

The cars aren't even is existence to be tested.... how the F do you COMPARE THEM???

 

I like the fact that Ford is coming out with SE's.... don't llike the fact that they run a SE for more than a Year...(i.e 2007-2008 GT/CS). And I don't know why most of you are complaining, the more I see SE's come out...the more I see the people on here trying to make thier Stock cars look like an SE. Therefore the more SE's come out the more mods you can buy for your cars! I don't think it will depreciate the value of the Stock or factory SE's... but I can see it hurting the regular Aftermarket SE's like the Stage2's Stage3's etc.

 

And wait - a car magazine gives the winner, the RX-8, THIS kind of review concerning power/engine output:

"The RX-8 is great at speed, but getting up to speed is a challenge. With only 159 pound-feet, the RX-8 has less than half the torque of the Shelby GT. The six-speed gearbox and short gearing don’t alleviate the problem, either. On steep grades, downshifts are required from sixth gear to hold a constant speed, and two-lane passing requires a downshift to third and a planted right foot. The lack of oomph was more than a source of constant frustration — running the RX-8 near its 9000-rpm redline burns a lot of fuel as well, resulting in a cruising range of less than 250 miles.......

On the track, the Mazda couldn’t make up for its woeful lack of torque and posted the slowest time around the circuit.......... That’s not to say some extra power isn’t sorely needed here — it is......"



Riiiiiight......

keep your rotary powered POS......

 

Wow... thanks man.. haha

Burke, you mean the RX-8 WON and then they said it couldn't do this this this and that?

 

I agree with you bpmurr. IMHO, save something for those monsters coming down the line from Mopar and The General.

 

does it really matter?

who's going to buy those over priced SE's!!?

 

I owned a 93 RX7 TT R1, and have driven about a dozen RX8's. That car is a complete bore and is annoying to drive. I don't think it handles all that well either. It goes around the turns ok I guess, but with no power there is no feeling of it being a sports car. It feels like there is something wrong with the engine when you try to be agressive. The generic(c&d/r&t/mt) magazine writers are morons anyway. I think we have gotten more of those things traded in that I have ever seen on the road.

They are also death to try to sell, we just wholesale any RX8 we trade in now. I actually got an automatic in a week ago. I went to take it to lunch, left the auto park circle, was already bored, turned back, and put the D-tag on an 07 'slade. About 600' and I couldn't stand it.

 

I'm more impressed with those who take their GT and really make it their own ... our own SE's with different body enhancements etc. Several other Grabber Orange owners on this site and especially on www.grabberorange.net have tried to make our cars unique (just having GO is a good start) - and I'm sure there are alot of others on here who do the same - I'm just sharing what I know of the BOGO gang .. I take more pride in that then just having a SE roll off the line (although the PJ Saleen would be my exception! - sweet car)
I'm very wordy tonight - jeez! .. to sum things up - I like all the options we have! - there, I'm done

 

Dead last in what, exactly?

The Mustang smokes all of the above.

I wouldn't be afraid to go up against any one of those imports in my old, out of date "humble" GT.

 

I wouldn't go that far. I have driven two RX8s and my impression was of a very finely balanced car that handles like it's on rails, feels solid at speed, and has a wonderfully rev-happy engine.

The problem comes in when you try to get up to speed quickly, cause the car just doesn't have any real grunt until you're spinning close to 9K; not really possible in every day driving.

Also, they get worse mileage than a Mustang GT, you always have to add oil, and if you've ever spent time on any of the RX8 forums, you know they're prone to flooding issues, too.

 

Agreed!

 

I wouldn't go that far. Here's a scan of the article

 

Shelby especially is whoring out the Mustang. And over pricing it. The sad part is people are willing to pay it. I mean c'mon, $35k for a Mustang GT with $2500 worth of parts, a different set of bumpers, a rivited on hood scoop, and VINYL stripes? I saw one of the Shelby GT's in a show room and not only was the paint job horrible on the bumpers (orange peel so bad it had a satin finish) but the hood scoop was coming off. WTF?! For the $35k you could get a GT premium and add all of Ford Racing's stuff plus a body kit of your choice with paint, new wheels, etc and still have money left over. I think SE edition Stangs should be unique, especially under the hood. And just adding the FRPP doesn't count. C'mon Ford. Give us some engine options.

 

The article said the Shelby GT has "the worst handling" and had to point out the "inferior live axle" yet it had the 2nd or 3rd fastest track lap time and pulled the highest G's on the track...

The Shelby GT had the best acceleration with the 350Z very close.

They harped on how expensive the Shelby GT was, but when the price was compared to the other cars in the test, it was in the same range as the others.

The most ridiculous ranking was "styling" where they ranked the RX8's styling higher than the Mustang's....

Realistically without all the "fixes" to the subjective scores to get the RX8 to win, the Shelby GT should have been mid-pack with the 350Z or Audi as #1 and the RX8 last.

 

These magazine journalists don't bother with truly subjective results anymore, do they? It's clearly all opinion-based.

<sigh>I guess that's what their demographic survey forms tell them that readers want.

I mean, I can accept certain obvious things, like the Audi interior being more upscale than the Mustang, or like the fact that - on paper, at least - an IRS will provide better ride quality on rough pavement and better control on twisty, undulating road. But rating the RX8 the way they have shows a blatant bias. And why, pray tell? They critized the car heavily, for crissake.

Another thing >> the Shelby hit 60 MPH in 5.1 seconds, .1 seconds faster than the Z. Yet back in '05 Road & Track tested a stock Mustang GT to 60 in only 4.9 seconds. So these tests are fully dependent upon weather, altitude, barometric pressure, track conditions, caliber of the driver, etc, etc, etc.

Personally, I don't feel the least bit threatened when a Z pulls up beside me at the light. I like and respect the Z (I've test-driven the car twice), but it wasn't for me, and I don't believe it's as close to the Mustang in acceleration as some of these tests let on. Not from my purely subjective recollections, anyway.

In a 60 to 100 MPH acceleration test, I believe the Stang would devastate the Z.

 

Exactly why I let my CD subscription run out this year. I WAS a faithful subscriber for the last 20+ years.

 

I suspect that with all the pressure being put on traditional print media (including magazines) right now by the Internet, these writers are resorting to flowerly editorializing to sell magazines.

Objective results can be more easily and quickly found on the web.

 

An idiot. I'M JUST JOKING! But good point though..

 

No question. It's a sign of desperation. They have nothing that sells, so they keep rechroming the SN197.

That actually was a good observation. The live axle [read; straight rear axle] is one of the biggest flaws of the SN197. Ford has touted it for its true muscle car feel or some nonsense like that. The reality however is that if you hit a bump (pothole) under load, the entire rear axle sounds and feels like it is going to be ripped off of the car. Cheap engineering is probably a better description.

 

No matter what Car and Driver says, I'll bet not too many guys daydream that someday they'll be able to own an RX8.