I think that the RX-8 does a far better job of being a "plain old
street car". The 350Z is hard to see out of, has what would otherwise
be useful cargo space bisected by an ugly plastic covered rear strut
brace, and of course has only two seats.
For autocross, the 350Z has plenty of torque but a big issue with
understeer. The RX-8 has specifications and traits that seem similar
to the S2000 (247 HP, ~2900 Lbs, low-torque 9000RPM engine) although
it probably won't be quite as fast due to the weight and likely softer
suspension. Unless the rumored factory camber kit comes through for
the 350Z, I don't think either will be a class-winner, but I'd
probably pick the RX-8 as more likely to be fun. Note that I haven't
driven either car in an autocross environment so these are my best
guesses. You can probably guess too, but you asked for opinions...
Pat Salerno and Guy Ankeny both put up their 350Z track models up for
sale after setting them up for autocross and running them for a
while. I think you can still buy Guy's. He's asking for $36k fully
set up with A.R.E. tuned double adjustable Penskes and upgraded front
swaybar. RX-8s are available for MSRP, which is $27,200 for the
non-sunroof 6-speed version.
One other issue with the RX-8 is that new owners are dyno testing
their low-mileage cars and coming up way short on horsepower. The
popular explanation (though by no means confirmed by Mazda) is that
the engine computer runs the fuel mixture extra rich at high RPM until
the engine is broken in. One person who measured the air/fuel mixture
while on the dyno confirmed that the fuel mixture is enriched at high
RPM...so the question is, when does the computer unleash the beast?
James, would a 1000hp engine do anything for the Cobra other than make
the throttle harder to modulate?
On Wed, Aug 06, 2003 at 05:50:02PM -0700, James Creasy wrote:
> for a plain old ordinary street car.
>
> any glimmers if one or the other might be a decent stock autocrosser?
>
> choice C, no new car, but a 1000hp motor for the cobra.
>
> james
--
john@idsfa.net John Stimson
http://www.idsfa.net/~john/ HMC Physics '94
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