Newspaper Article - Mazda RX 8 GT vs 370Z

boardingnath

Taking a side step back to the 19's issue, I had a mate who went down to speak to a Sydney dealer about the Z and asked about the 19's not appearing on Aus models. He said that Nissan aus decided against it because of cost, and because the wheels are magnesium, they were concerned about them cracking on our roads and recieving too many warranty claims. Would be surprised if they reversed the decision, but just as happy if they did!

GTRFAN

All "mags" historically were made partially from magnesium as the name suggests. Nissan and ADR probably just saw the wheels as an expensive and unknown safety item that was easily canned initially. Now that the GFC is over and the Aussie dollar is strong, they may take another look at them for 2010. I’m sure they will realise that Rays Engineering make some of the best wheels in the world, so safety won’t be an issue. I think the lack of wheels was mainly a cost issue at the time.

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My Zed

andylena

yeh i think they should experiment with the mazda mps engine into the rx8..

Gee

Mate, sorry, my all pervasive, all knowing, all seeing, ********-Detector is making a serious beeping noise at hearing abut 'mags' cracking up in Oz compared to other countries. Have you driven in USA? Whats that? no ? yeah right, why do you think they made them as a magnesium compound in the first place ? The gods that be, please give me strength not to throttle the throat of the unbelievers...

ha ha. just fooling around Boardingnath...its a good line of enquiry . I think it has more to do with marketing than physics.

"There are no stupid Questions, just stupid people who don't ask Questions"


Gee

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"...'cause the only decent things that come in 2 litres are milk & orange juice"

370Zsteve

Why would Mazda stop putting a Rotary in an RX? They've done a spectacular job over the years bumping the potential of the Wankel. Something about only three moving parts that warms the soul

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SOLD MY Z MARCH 2018 - another Core OG moves on - new ride 2019 Z Corvette Grand Sport - no mods necessary but already have eyes on HFC and intakes LOL IT NEVER ENDS.

Gee

Ah yes, the beautiful simplicity of the the rotary 13B engine - 3 moving parts - the 2 rotors and the crank shaft, compared to the mighty V6 with 6 pots, 24 valves, chains to synchronise the timing between valves and crank, and other stuff. Ah, the glory of it, the effortlessness and purity of the wankel design... until the we hit the real world...ker thump...

The downside of the smooth power of the wankel design is that it is essentially a two stroke design and at 1.3 litres.. yeah yeah I know of the 20B 3 rotor racing engine and so forth...try getting those emissions past the Governator (damn, am going to go hunting later for a youtube vid of the wankel motor, its truly an enginerring marvel AND a curse...ever wonder why Mazda is the only major m'facturer to persist with it <ignoring patents etc ?>)

Anyway it sucks oil as it needs to lubricate the three apex seals of the rotor while operating (I had mine upgraded from 2mm to 3mm apex racing seals to cope with the extra turbo boost).

But its all good. Diversity in design breeds best of for us all to enjoy.

The Z motor is awesome for producing 245KW out of a 3.7 litre naturally apsirated V6...holy crap ..my old Jensen Interceptor III 440 cu inch Chrysler donk (>7 litres , my friends) could just barely crank out the same power. But thats what science and engineering can do in 30 years....

(pics coming...)

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"...'cause the only decent things that come in 2 litres are milk & orange juice"

370Zsteve

Right on, man. 13B rotary? Try 12A, my friend. Remember, this is coming from an old RX-3 owner

The apex seals on my RX-3 gave up the ghost at about 45k of spirited driving (no track).

The RX-7 (2nd gen) and RX-8 are great cars with a great engine. In the real world!

As for the Nissan 3.7L V-6..all I can say is I used to think my old Alfa GTV-6 was baddass. That's what decades of technology will do for you.

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SOLD MY Z MARCH 2018 - another Core OG moves on - new ride 2019 Z Corvette Grand Sport - no mods necessary but already have eyes on HFC and intakes LOL IT NEVER ENDS.

Gee

I agree, they are great cars. The Z is the car for the 2010's though, much better overall, IMHO.
You can't let yourself be tied to an opinion..., its a little like always vouching for a particular religion or political party after all the world has realised its time to move on.

Like the losers, my friends amongst them , who still pine for Johnny H at the helm. As someone else commented, the RX7 Series 6 onwards is the best. I remember drooling over them at Syd. car dealerships along Paramatta rd all those years . Those bee-atches at Bathurst had to change the rules to eliminate the all conquering RX-7 from 1993 onwards. F*&kers...

All said and done though, likie I said at the ouset, I drove all the competitionj and the Z rules!

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"...'cause the only decent things that come in 2 litres are milk & orange juice"

Gee

Ha ha, otherwise I'd have bought an RX 8 GT and be on the RX-7/ RX-8 forum bitching about the buzzy z34 engine and how the Z car , while faster, sharper, cooler, meaner, with cool aluminium bonnet, hatch, carbon fibre tail shaft., oh ****, I guess I would'nt have much to bitch about really......damn the Z really is better...ha ha.

Gee

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"...'cause the only decent things that come in 2 litres are milk & orange juice"

GTRFAN

The Bathurst bogans are weak as piss. They banned the GTR's when they had their asses whooped and then the RX7's, BMW's, Cosworths and any other car that was quicker. The taxi racing the carry on with these days is so ridiculous and boring.

rant rant

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gromano

hahahaha i totally agree, i only had a 2.5L v6 Alfa 156 before this car, but was looking at getting into a 156/147 GTA or a GTV... then i found some finances, and with help from the govt rebates stepped into my 370 beast...

All my mates and their Evo's and 200sx's with turbo's bigger than my wheels cant believe the power mine has from a naturally aspirated V6.
I keep telling them to picture mine with their turbos on it. hahah *** kicker!!


Just a note... found it funny that on the magazine article it said 10.5L/100km for our fuel efficiency... hahahaha is that with my grandma driving it in neutral at 60km/h on a downward sloping freeway?
Im lucky if i get 420km to a 70L tank! ahahah

rudi

It would seem that I'm one of few that prefers the 18's. The 19's do nothing to improve the performance or none that I am aware of. Plus I had low profiles before and was not impressed by the ride and the cost of replacements.

standrewsx

I had an 2005 RX8 and loved it but you just have to understand they are different cars. The one thing not mentioned though is the rotary falls to pieces. I had a collaped cat, ignition coils, O2 sensor, engine mounts and spark plugs all go within 35000 kms. All mazda service could say was, "yeah, we have a lot of problems with these"

You really have to push the RX8 to get anything out of it but when you do it's great fun.

nicknick

GTRFAN

Confirmed!

This is weird quoting myself, but in the latest Wheels magazine there is an article about the new 2010 Roadster ST which has optional 19" wheels!

Nice one Nissan. Way to go pissing all the 2009 buyers off by not offering decent wheels.

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My Zed