I was pottering back up the dual carriageway home the other day and a mazda RX8 come up behind me and sat right on my rear bumper of my TDI VRS when i was passing another car. I pulled over and let him past but as we climbed up Haldon Hill (very steep hill for dual carriageway at least) another car got in his way so i ended up behind him again. I knew as the slow car pulled over he would boot it, so i thought i'd see how things compared, and pushed the DSG into S - expecting him to pull away but to be fair it was me that had to drop off the accelerator to avoid getting too close to him. Having satisfied my red mist/my irresponsible side, i let him dart of the other side of hill and disappear.

 

I'm assuming the RX8 was a 189bhp model (rather than 228), it wasn't smoking or anything from he rotary engine but i guess could have lost a few ponies in 8 years (i think it was 08 plate?) but it really didn't seem to have much torque for that hill. I always thought these cars were quick back in the day so was surprised with this - does this seem to make sense or did he possibly not try (didn't seem that way).

they have rubbish torque- about 150lb/ft. but rev to 7500 to develop the power. nowhere near as nice to drive as a turbo diesel or turbo petrol

they have rubbish torque- about 150lb/ft. but rev to 7500 to develop the power. nowhere near as nice to drive as a turbo diesel or turbo petrol

 

Sounds bit like my old focus ST170, all rev's but no real punch - the 115tdi (company car) focus i had just before it was arguably as much fun.

How hard was the RX8 pushing on, was he in the correct gear, low on fuel or simply fed up if another car trying to show how quick it was or if he didn't feel safe, speed camera aware etc? Too many variables for you to make any hard assumptions unless you were actually sitting beside the other driver.

How hard was the RX8 pushing on, was he in the correct gear, low on fuel or simply fed up if another car trying to show how quick it was or if he didn't feel safe, speed camera aware etc? Too many variables for you to make any hard assumptions unless you were actually sitting beside the other driver.

 

Yeah, could have not tried hence wondering if the figures make sense - but he did come out of nowhere and sat right up my rear bumper before i pulled over and then he hammered it down the other side of the hill - so i was pretty confident he was trying. The TDI VRS isn't ever going to be a race car but was interested in this, as i wouldn't have put it up against this car, in my mind thinking them as being quick.

The 8 was always a bit short on ultimate power and certainly had no torque hence the need to rev the life out of it which returned single digit mpg, BUT, they certainly handled very well indeed.

Can't speak about the 5 speed lower power version though.

they have rubbish torque- about 150lb/ft. but rev to 7500 to develop the power. nowhere near as nice to drive as a turbo diesel or turbo petrol

They Rev to 9000. To me that's much more fun than a turbo petrol, and a million miles away from a diesel!

I've had several high-revving NA cars and they are easily the most fun I've ever had, much more engaging than any turbo.

To the OP - even the 230 RX8's weren't much cop...my S2000 used to annihilate them, but still think one would pull from a vRS diesel eventually.

If the RX8 was an auto model then the engine was probably de-rated from manual figures. Not likely to be an auto in the UK though I guess, but near mandatory here in Aus.

 

I had a similar experience with a 3.6L v6 Holden Commodore 'Sportswagon', the rear style of this estate is similar to our mk3 combi but bigger (Australian made but not for much longer I'm afraid).

He had made a decision to overtake a B-double that was stuck behind a 90 kph towed caravan. The single lane highway was straight and clear and I decided to go with him because it was bound to get messy a couple of km up the road at an overtaking lane when the B-double would overtake the caravan (the caravan would inevitably speed up).

The Commodore floored the throttle and the auto box kicked down and we could clearly hear the revs, and the see the back hunker down as he went off.

I was already in 5th (manual box) and just eased after him. Now I am not going to say I kept up with him but I was surprised how little I conceded considering I had not tried to floor it and possibly a bit too conservative with my gear selection.

After the maneuver my wife commented how less dramatic our execution had been for very similar results with low revs and similar(ish) acceleration

Obviously it helps that our estate weighs about 400kg less than the Commodore but it was difficult not to be impressed by our 1.4tsi. 

Love that car!

 

You can tell I am a very conservative driver as that's the only relative performance story I have to share.

Zeperfs can be useful sometimes. it would appear that the mid range at least on the 192 RX8 is slightly behind the diesel RS.

http://www.zeperfs.com/en/duel1209-4880.htm

Very different types of engines and cars mind.

Ooh, I like that site!

Mate just got rid of his rx8 you had to rev the nuts out of it to get shift and it drank petrol. 

 

He just got a brand new golf r

You had to rev the nuts off a type R, s2000 too. Problem was the Rx8 had proper sports car attributes, I.e. Petrol, rwd, Mid front engine position, and the poor mpg but needed more power to justify the George Best style of drinking petrol/oil.

They were fun though. A vrs either petrol or diesel doesn't handle anywhere near like an 8

Interesting site.

If the situation is less clear with the diesel, it would have been a one way contest against a petrol vRS

 

http://www.zeperfs.com/en/duel1209-5067.htm

Zeperfs can be useful sometimes. it would appear that the mid range at least on the 192 RX8 is slightly behind the diesel RS.

http://www.zeperfs.com/en/duel1209-4880.htm

Very different types of engines and cars mind.

 

The RX8 is quicker than the RS TDI if you play the 3rd+4th gears game to overtake.

Clearly not the car for the common diesel driver.

They were fun though. A vrs either petrol or diesel doesn't handle anywhere near like an 8

 

I've never driven or been in an RX8 but I have read good reports of the handling and would expect that to translate to faster cornering.

Considering the diesel vRS does not have that much more straight line performance and is a fair bit heavier I am surprised the RX8 did not fare better in lap times with the vRS still a couple of seconds faster.

Edited 2 March, 201610 yr by Gerrycan

Rx8's never fell into a company car bracket so that rules out a lot of people who have been limited on car choice over the years.

Sometimes it better to pay for the car you actually want

The RX8 is quicker than the RS TDI if you play the 3rd+4th gears game to overtake.

Clearly not the car for the common diesel driver.

Well reading those figures implies it's a third gear game alright. They really only get going when you're revving the nuts off them. And getting oh so cheap these days too even taking a rebuild into account.

They aren't cheap for no reason though are they.

Not a practical choice for most though is it

 

What is it

£400/yr tax ?

20 mpg?

high oil consumpion ?

high servicing ?

 

Basically a bit of a lemon. Might as well get a very similar looking Celica GT or GT86 pretty much the same breed of car but a lot kinder on most of those points above.

Although a bit pricier to buy as being a total cost of ownership lemon means you can pick one up in the £2k range.

They aren't cheap for no reason though are they.

Not a practical choice for most though is it

What is it

£400/yr tax ?

20 mpg?

high oil consumpion ?

high servicing ?

Basically a bit of a lemon. Might as well get a very similar looking Celica GT or GT86 pretty much the same breed of car but a lot kinder on most of those points above.

Although a bit pricier to buy as being a total cost of ownership lemon means you can pick one up in the £2k range.

20mpg!!! Was that a diesel version they produced?

It wasn't a car for the masses was it. More of a car of choice when not steered by a BIK tax calculator

Car of choice by whom lol ? optional giant floppy feet, round nose and braces ?

 

Would make a lot more sense with a different powerplant, so if you could get your hands on something readily converted could be more sensible, worth actually paying £400 a year for lol

They aren't cheap for no reason though are they.

Not a practical choice for most though is it

What is it

£400/yr tax ?

20 mpg?

high oil consumpion ?

high servicing ?

Basically a bit of a lemon. Might as well get a very similar looking Celica GT or GT86 pretty much the same breed of car but a lot kinder on most of those points above.

Although a bit pricier to buy as being a total cost of ownership lemon means you can pick one up in the £2k range.

Bit of a Lemon? Very far from that...it just wasn't made with penny pinching in mind.

Celicas are getting rare and you'd pay a very many multiples of the tax for a GT86 on top of one. And neither will give you the same experience as the ****el engined car.

I currently own an RX8 and a TDI VRS and I love them both for completely different reasons, I will say though in real world driving my TDI VRS is quicker 90% of the time. Although the RX8 is a lot more fun to drive and it's agility really is special. 

 

Here's a pic of them both this morning during a snow shower here in Liverpool

My take on the TDI 184, in the Golf GTD I drive is that it makes for a wonderfully entertaining daily drive.

Lets face it, a 2.0 diesel with the power output of an early E46 330d, that doesnt weigh a great deal, dynamically extremely well sorted (in that its pretty much a GTI with a diesel motor).....stock all the performance one really needs (more than enough to get you in alot of trouble with the law) and supermini running costs (mine will only return less than 40mpg if I am extremely unkind to it on a short run)....there is v little to dislike.

Sure if you just plain hate diesels then a TDI 184 probably isnt for you but for the entertainment/running cost compromise it offers there is nothing else really id rather be driving other than perhaps a 120/220d M Sport.

Bit of a Lemon? Very far from that...it just wasn't made with penny pinching in mind.

Celicas are getting rare and you'd pay a very many multiples of the tax for a GT86 on top of one. And neither will give you the same experience as the ****el engined car.

 

Read the entire posting I made, the context was in meaning a lemon overall / in practicality, not in isolation as a car itself, yes I've even seen the RX8 on a track video trying to keep up with something far better it might even have been the youtube vs 370Z one, if not it was very similar and I was impressed and thought potentially of having one......till I read about everything else......

 

But my point was who throws caution to the wind entirely and values only the properties of the car above the overall practicalities of owning, not many people afford to do that and those that can go for something better.

From the figures mentioned I know given the car isn't significantly that better than even my Mk1 BLT Fabia vRS from an overall stance, and also for not a lot of cash I know the guys in Fabia forums have easily modded the car to a state it would destroy an RX8 based on those figures.

 

Numbers don't lie about the practicality impact - check it out

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=rx8

8k to 4k in 6 years for the 192 and 12k to 7k in about the same - about 9k taken off the roads/out of use ? !

 

Now compare to the Fabia 1 - check the stability of those figures!

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=fabia+vrs

Have I made my point clear enough yet?

I wasn't saying it was totally ****, far from it, just so niche, and almost pointlessly so IMO unless you really don't do the miles or don't value money.

Those that don't value money tend to go for stuff far more exotic as they can afford to if they can afford to waste £400 a year on tax, oil, fuel, etc, etc....

Edited 4 March, 201610 yr by vRSAnt

Full marks to Mazda for persevering with the rotary engine, though - the world loves a trier!