I was just at Laguna Seca yesterday (met Willard and Heckler there, as well as saw Chad's car) and Road and Track happened to be doing a photoshoot for the RX-8. So I decided I wanted to snap some pics of it going down the corkscrew... hehe

Btw, I don't care if that thing is a semi four door, it has less leg room in the back than my Integra.






Ooops, this isn't an RX-8!? Boy is the corkscrew fun...



[Modified by Rain_man, 3:04 PM 2/1/2003]

 

Nice!

 

cool. when are those things going to hit the market?

 

i like that second pic with the tire

 

It's a 2004 model... that's all I know. I'd imagine not too much longer because there's a road test review in the next issue of Road and Track.

 

I'd love to drive that track! RX8 looks good too.

 

Doesn't look like he/she is taking the right line in this pic.

 

looks good

 

Nice "spy" photos

 

Wow, sharp eye! He's not taking the right line because he stopped at the top of the cork screw to pick up the photographer and take him to another part of the track. Too bad he didn't pick me up too!

The driver is supposed to be some famous professional driver... although he did spin out the car, hehe...

 

I couldn't do the corkscrew for **** with my Viper in GT3.

 

For some reason, I liked this car far more than the upcoming STI or EVO. Its a tad simpler .

Nice pics

 

Weeeeeeeeee! looks like fun!

 

Me neither. I usually stay in the throttle and ride the driver's right wall down

 

Gotta slow WAYYY down, anyways the Viper blows.

 

Nice nice pics

 

someone get that man a zoom lense!

 

i'm definetly not a fan of the semi back door crap, but i like the fronts of them

 

 

cool I just spent a lot of time on the mazda RX-8 homepage and it appears to be a very cool car. im not too excited about the freestyle doors and tiny back seats though. and they didnt post any times for 0-60 or 1/4mile which I am very curious to see if they are similar or maybe even better than the 350Z since the mazda page seems to emphasize lightness as one of its strong points.

 

The RX-8 photoshoot thing was kind of cool being that I'm a big Road&Track fan, but wasn't overly impressed witht he car itself. Some of the car just doesn't look right and the performance isn't suppossed to be anything special either. I heard like 6.0 0-60. I got some pics of it in action too and will have to post them when I get them back.

Laguna Seca though was as fun as ever, minus the sound violation thing. I was over sound twice yesterday with only an intake. I've run the track twice before without any problems. I wasn't the only though as plenty of other folks were getting violations too. I ended up cutting up a cardboard box and sticking it up between the fenderliner and intake. I passed for a while, but got violated again a few minutes into the last run. Was able to finish the run by taking it easy between turn 5 and 6, where the sound booth is. What a pain. I guess I'll have to take my stock intake (or maybe just the cardboard box) with me next time I go back.

It was cool meeting everyone. Willard and his group made the drive all the way from North Carolina to come to this event. In fact, he's probably still driving home right now.

 

You can check out some rx8 pics at www.rotarynews.com. Rumors are that it's a little heavy (3000 lbs) which would be rather disappointing.

I see the db **** was in force. What's wrong with them? A type R makes music. I'll have to warn the guys about it for the next unlimited laps LS event. Just to **** them off you should have yanked out the box the last few laps.

How did the brake fluid and pads hold up?

 

It looks funny from the side.

It's a pretty hard turn to take in GT3

 

I'm such a rotary *****. I love the rx8 already in concept, will drive one when they show up to see if it lives up to it;s predecessors. How did it sound?

-Dave, who wonders if they tried to muffle the rotary goodness so much that it doesn't sound like a rotary

 

I've always been a rotary fan too and was hoping they were going to bring it back. So far I'm not all that impressed by the RX-8, but maybe driving one will make me change my mind. Or, maybe Mazda will bring another more sport oriented car eventually.

As for the sound, it didn't have much of that rotary sound. It was pretty muffled and didn't sound like any of the RX-7s there at the track. Of course the RX-7s at the track were older gen 1s and most look pretty modified. I was behind one for a while and kept hearing this banging sound. I though maybe I had forgotten to take something out of my car and it was rolling around. I kept looking around inside and couldn't find anything. Once I passed him the sound went away. Heard him later on the track and was like backfiring whenever he got off the throttle.