06 WRX vs 05 RX8 Too Close???

[nocturnal_wrx]

So last night, i decided to race my buddies RX8....my car is completely stock (14xx miles), and the RX8 has a catback and short ram intake.

1. Our first run was from about 50 to 100 (there was a cop) around a slight bend, and neither one of us seemed to pull on eachother at all.
2. Second run was basically a 0 to 60 from a dig, and i came ahead by a really small amount.

So my question is, does this seem normal?? I expected to pull on him a lot more! Do you think his exhaust and intake really made that big of a difference? Any input welcome

[Integra96]

I think the WRX should be faster, but not dramatically so. Apparently, it's hard to nail good launches in the Mazda - and the thing has no torque, so passengers would definitely hurt the RX-8's chances, too. I think stock vs. stock they would accelerate to 100mph similarly, with the WRX having a small advantage. The RX-8 is a blast to drive, but I can see why you need to grenade the clutch at high RPM to get it out of the hole. The '06 Rex is a breeze to drive fast, on the other hand.

[Chiketkd]

I think the WRX should be faster, but not dramatically so. Apparently, it's hard to nail good launches in the Mazda - and the thing has no torque, so passengers would definitely hurt the RX-8's chances, too. I think stock vs. stock they would accelerate to 100mph similarly, with the WRX having a small advantage. The RX-8 is a blast to drive, but I can see why you need to grenade the clutch at high RPM to get it out of the hole. The '06 Rex is a breeze to drive fast, on the other hand.

Agreed. As you were stock, it'll be a close race. Most RX-8's with good driver's are mid to upper 14 sec cars stock. Most WRXs are low to mid 14 sec cars stock.

[turbo9339]

14xx? Arent you still in your break-in stage?

[TigsteRz]

you should beat him, ive raced an 05 RX8 when i got my 05 wrx a few months back when it was still bone stock. Needless to say i had 2 passengers and still beat him from a dead stop up to 60mph, i had about 1 car on him.

[DJSHADOW7]

The intake and exhaust yeilded little to no power on the RX8 (as many members have discovered on the rx8 forum) To 100 it should be a drivers race.

[Trainable]

From a dead stop the WRX has the torque to get started quicker otherwise I think it would be pretty even.

[elohdaeh78]

I raced an RX8 with my 05 wrx, at the time all i had was a lightweight pulley and a short throw shifter. From a 40 mph roll i would creep ever soo slighty on him up to about 80mph then my creep would stop and we would even out, we stopped around 100mph. Never raced from a dig.

[TOOFAST88]

1. Our first run was from about 50 to 100 (there was a cop)

Smart

[nocturnal_wrx]

haha well we didnt see the cop till we got around the corner, but lucky for us he was already in the process of writing some other dude a ticket

[rasp]

lol....

I'm that crazy RX-8 driver

On the first pull, which was about 40ish to just over a 100, the cars seemed to hug each other .... neither of us were pulling on each other.

From the dig to about 70 (top of second) nocs wrx had at the very most 1 foot on me.

My launch sucked.... as stated above you got to rev it up pretty high to get a good launch and even then you run the risk of just smoking the tires and going nowhere. I put down a good 20 feet of ruber which didn't help my take off any, thats for sure. That was at a 5k launch. Keep in mind that a 5k launch in a car revs to 9500 is different than a 5k launch in a subie.

I think many people assume the RX-8 slow because it doesnt offer the power surge like a turboed car. Rotary's are so smooth you don't feel the power. Don't get me wrong....a RX8 isn't a stop light rocket....far from it. But then again, neither is a stock WRX.

We switched cars to account for driver error and I believe that both cars are very close in terms of speed. However, both cars achive it very differently.

[AngelBoy]

how are you liking the RX-8?

[rasp]

how are you liking the RX-8?

All in all, I like it.

It handles like nothing else i've ever driven. This past weekend noc and I installed some springs and sways. I honestly think it is on par with an evo's handling now. The rotary engine is very smooth and linear, however, as stated above, it does lack torque. This forces me to downshift more often. At 9k rpm in this car feels like 3k in piston engines, it doesn't give you that "the end is near feeling". I've had zero problems with the car in the 21,000 miles I've had it. Mazda seems to be on top of their stuff, they release new ecu flashes every few months.... each one gets a little better.

For a sports car, it rides very smooth even on rough roads. The interior is very nice for a mazda, however, I worry about the leather lasting. It is showing a little wear, I've never owned a car with leather so I don't know if thats normal for 21k miles. Everything else is still looking as good as new. The paint on the car is pretty good, I had a SUV back into my rear quater panel and not scratch it at all. Dent wizard made the huge dent disappear.

The back seats are pretty usable for a 2 door car. It can seat 4 average sized people with no problems as long as you don't take a road trip. You really notice the lack of torque with 4 people and a full tank of gas...

If you weren't aware, rotaries comsume oil by nature. I have to add 1 quart between oil changes (every 2k miles).

The brakes in the car are nothing short of amazing. 60 - 0 in about 108 feet I believe. (goes to show you don't need flashy calipers to stop fast )

The only real downside is the poor gas milage and lack of mods. 15.9 gallon tank yeilds about 200-250 miles of mixed driving. I am an agressive driver and I hear that other owners have pull 250-300 avg. And even that is pretty poor.

Mazda left little room for improvment in terms of mods. Full intake and exhaust (like I have) produces at most 10hp. ECU hacks seem to be the only worthwhile mod, depending on tuning, they can produce 20-50 hp.

Here is a picture for you.

[Trainable]

Hey I bet if your calipers were painted fire engine red your car would shave 10 ft off that distance .

I was happy when Mazda came out with the rx8 since I was always a fan of the rx7 and was a little sad to see a one of a kind go away. Sounds like they made it a real winner too. Deffinitely on the list of cars I would like to own someday.

[DJSHADOW7]

I love the rx8 (almost got one actually).

Yours looks really nice with the axis hiro's.