By Noah Washington
This year RWD Cars have been rising in value but the Rx7’s successor has diminished in value, today we will find out why.
You might ask yourself “is the Renesis motor bad” when you see Rx8’s for sale with “Apex Seals Issues”.The Rx8 provides amazing N/A power and more reliably compared to the FD which is dependent on a finicky twin-turbo set-up from the factory. The Renesis won many awards when it was first released and for the most part, it came from the powerful and smooth 13b rotary engine we all love to hate.
Some might compare the Rx8 to the Honda Civic, that’s simply not true. A stock Honda Civic doesn’t provide an amazing driving experience compared to the pinnacle of FWD cars, in this case, the 2019 Type R.
But the Rx8 can compete with the Spirit R Rx7 even though it’s a higher spec, the Rx8 has higher cornering speeds and better slip angle which provides it with superior handling.
One of the main selling points of the Rx8 is the chassis, being developed over a 5-year embarkment they focused on making a platform so that the car could be used by enthusiast as a platform for as they saw fit whether that be a time attack, road racing, drifting, or daily livability. The class-leading chassis stiffness and low moment of inertia whilst providing a low center of gravity under racing conditions or during daily use are what set the car apart when compared to others. They were able to do this in a car that sat four people comfortably.
In 1992 the Mazda Rx7 was a wonderful car. It was the epitome of handling and styling, everything we loved about the 90’s Japanese vehicle so naturally, the successor would give us better handling and better styling. Sadly, most people do not acknowledge this.
The FD was overrated, but I believe the Rx8 is underrated simply because of what you can expect for the very low price of the car. Mazda was able to provide lower lap-times with more weight, more creature comforts and with less power, and it accomplished blistering quick lap-times for its class.
An Rx8 driver will be able to drive home listening to Mariah Carrey in his heated seats looking at a digital dash while the FD owner will get more stares even though he lost the race and is more uncomfortable on the drive home.
When comparing the motors we have to keep in mind the FD Rx7 had the severe turbo lag, and the 40-80 time is 6.5 seconds, while the Rx8 is 5.8 seconds because of its N/A powerplant.
The Rx8 won awards for the brilliant engine and handling while the Rx7 FD won less during 27 years.
Saying the Rx8 is “bad” because it explodes when you add a turbo is as wise as saying “If someone had given Russia a stealth aircraft during the Cold War “they would’ve won”.
Naturally, the successor to the FD would give us better handling and better styling. Instead, they took the more controversial approach and focused on handling and the chassis first while the overall look came second. They modernized everything we loved about the FD and now you can get it for a bargain for as low as $2,000.
