Fifth-Gear-Mazda-RX8vAlfa-GT36 Video!

[BlueAdept]

Jeeez, you\'d think the thing used oil by the gallon... I\'ve actually had a couple of friends with pretty mundane cars who had to admit that their cars use more oil than my RX8!,.,.

Also, I thought she was a bit over dramatic about the size of the steering wheel... anyone want to bet it\'s the same as that Alfa??  Realistically, a road car steering wheel doesn\'t get much smaller anyway... perhaps her problem was that the car feels more like a sportscar and she got carried away...

[ro284]

(quote from rotary beeltes,)
 dubber91  
NON MEMBER   Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portsmouth, UK
Posts: 42
 
at the end of the day.......beetles are NOT in the same orientation as Mr2s or others. MID ENGINED mr2s are fantatsic cars, and great fun. The ideal weight distribution for handling being about 40:60 from to rear.
Porkas have always had the problem of being tail happy, especially the 911s.....
i dont think rex\'s are great cars either...why do you think they are used in drifting? because they are tail happy, all the weight in the front and none over the driven axle leads to lots of tyre smoke and controllable oversteer.
(end Quote)
 
Could this be the problem? That the balance is all wrongafter all? and there was me thinking Mazda had it right! perhaps that RX8 needs a bag of cement in the boot to make handle more like a porch! i think this sort of superior knowledge should be sent on to Mazda, just think how many cars they would sell then!
Bob

[Ricco_04]

I thought the RX7 (FD) and the RX-8 had 50/50 weight distribution?

If the Brake bias was wrong then you would lock up the fronts too much or be heading for the nearest ditch in a hurry.

Just think 5th gear dont like the rotary.  Tom was the only one who said anything good about it - just after he was putting it down!  :confused:

[ro284]

(quote)
I thought the RX7 (FD) and the RX-8 had 50/50 weight distribution?(end quote)

Well thats what i thought Ricco! which is why they are so controlable for drifting etc. just going by what the guy said! perhaps he knows something Mazda doesn\'t,

[Ricco_04]

Oh dear oh dear - all these car companies spending millions on perfecting 50/50 weight distribution and they have got it wrong all this time - if only they had channel 5  :rollin

[Homer Simpson On]Oh, that was sarcastic by the way!![Homer Simpson Off]  :spank

[zevans]

(quote from rotary beeltes,)
 dubber91  
NON MEMBER   Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portsmouth, UK
Posts: 42
 
at the end of the day.......beetles are NOT in the same orientation as Mr2s or others. MID ENGINED mr2s are fantatsic cars, and great fun. The ideal weight distribution for handling being about 40:60 from to rear.
Porkas have always had the problem of being tail happy, especially the 911s.....
i dont think rex\'s are great cars either...why do you think they are used in drifting? because they are tail happy, all the weight in the front and none over the driven axle leads to lots of tyre smoke and controllable oversteer.
(end Quote)

The 911 is REAR-engined. Not mid.

And 40-60 is not ideal - that means the car will naturally oversteer, which leads to snappiness.

Tail happy cars are not actually very good for drifting, because, yes, you can put it sideways very easily, but sadly when you try to get it back straight it just goes the other way, and a tank-slapping we will go...

I know you all know that...

I did drive mine about 5 miles down a B-road with a 30kg bag of coal in the boot, and I got out and moved it into the passenger footwell as soon as I saw somewhere to pull up!

The steering wheel is very chunky, which makes it feel even bigger than it is, and I do think it\'s slightly larger than the average car - haven\'t measured it yet but I need to, so I can work out what size to buy

[ilovemyrx8]

Jeeez, you\'d think the thing used oil by the gallon... I\'ve actually had a couple of friends with pretty mundane cars who had to admit that their cars use more oil than my RX8!,.,.

Also, I thought she was a bit over dramatic about the size of the steering wheel... anyone want to bet it\'s the same as that Alfa??  Realistically, a road car steering wheel doesn\'t get much smaller anyway... perhaps her problem was that the car feels more like a sportscar and she got carried away...

Totally agree with you there!!!!! My friends too have said that there standard everyday family car(s) use around the same amount of oil as my 8 :eek , also thinking of all the cars I\'ve had over the last 5yrs and looking at friends cars the 8 definatly has the smallest steering wheel without a dought!!!!

[Prototype]

I don\'t think Tiff would have gone round any quicker,I\'ve seen VBH race in many one make series and she\'s a pretty quick and consistant driver.

Anyone catch a previous 5th gear where they did a 24hr race at Silverstone and both RX-8\'s pulled out??

I have the Fifth Gear report on the 24hour Race on video (So it wont be as clear as my normal captures)

If you want me to capture and post it please let me know

Philip Palmer

[zevans]

Yes yes yes yes yes (please)

[Prototype]

Ok here you go

http://www.modularsolutions.net/mazdarotaryclub/FifthGearTeam_Silverstone24H.zip

Zip File 38.9 MB
AVI 39.9 MB
Total Run time 12:57 (not bad for a file under 40 meg   )

Regards

Philip Palmer

[<--rYaN-->]

Also you may not have noticed in that shootout they were using the 5 speed lower powered rx8 not the 6 speed one.

[Ricco_04]

Well whats the point of putting them head to head! Bloody 5th gear!  

[Prototype]

Also you may not have noticed in that shootout they were using the 5 speed lower powered rx8 not the 6 speed one.

What makes you think it was a 5 speed lower power model?

VBH quotes:  8200 Rpm, 231 BHP, top of the range model, when she is introducing the cars which would make it a 6 speed High Power

[<--rYaN-->]

The only exterior difference between a lower and higher powered rx8 is that there are two squares under the headlights in the higher spec one for the headlight washers. If you look closely underneath the headlights on the beginning of this vid they dont have the squares underneath i dont think, unless its just the quality of the vid and my eyes are deceiving me  :p ....

[<--rYaN-->]

My mistake it was my eyes, got a good angle of it going round the track with the sun on the front and i saw the little buggars.... 6 speed it was!