My Stivo vs MX5 vs RX8

[ZEEROLLA]

Had a great run with a 6 speed MX5 (superceeded model) and a RX8. Anyway the 2 Mazdas were both stock except the RX8 has a buckled front wheel from hitting a curb, but to my surprise both stock Mazdas were very quick in the bends, especially tight hairpin turns but on higher speed corners my Stivo with my suspension bits was able to keep up while the MX5 was doing small zero-counter slides :o and mid-corner throttle liftoffs saw a bit of oversteer, that's the fun of rwd. Very exciting to watch from behind in my Stivo! Their 50:50 weight distribution really excelled and the Stivo's front heavy fwd really took a beating understeering when pushed to the limit, even oversteered on one occassion when i went in way too hot and jumped on the brakes.

Where the Stivo excelled was the power of the 2ZZ-GE! B) The RX8's rotary engine has less torque than the Stivo when driving out of tight corners so i was able to pull away each time in 2nd gear, and when floored full throttle, it was very close, pretty much neck and neck in 3rd until 4th gear my Stivo seemed to pull away all so slightly, no kidding or maybe it was his buckled front wheel. I would think its down to the tall gearing of the RX8, where 3rd gear maxes out close to 150km/h where i would be in 4th. But the rotary was so sweeeeeet sounding past 7500rpm to 9200rpm!! The MX5 would win the battle of the bends being the most agile, easiest to control and most fun! Braking was also the best it seems being the lightest car. Too bad it lacks straight line squirt. I'm sure the MX5 SP would be a blast to drive (provided it has an LSD)!

The run was almost like Best Motoring's togue challenge where C-One's Celica took on the AE86, or the one where the EG6 Civic took on the MR-S, the RWDS always prevail when it comes to bends. ;)

Edited January 13, 2006 by ZEEROLLA

[gOODbOYz]

Go Zeeee heheh :D

*Pats on the back.*

[CORZZA]

shweet bro!!!

[xoom]

good to see you heading out to wakefield park again to test out ur new suspension setup.......

[lucio_libre]

Wait till livefor6 reads this :). I actually drove both his rx8 and mazda mx5. had real fun in the rx8, and in a straight line it was definetly faster than the stivo, around corners it handled on rails. The mx5 had no chance it was only a squirt around the block, but yeah lacks a bit of power but would handle like you said. nice cars either way.

[Hsien]

Good job..

[MR22ZZ]

Wait till livefor6 reads this :). I actually drove both his rx8 and mazda mx5. had real fun in the rx8, and in a straight line it was definetly faster than the stivo, around corners it handled on rails. The mx5 had no chance it was only a squirt around the block, but yeah lacks a bit of power but would handle like you said. nice cars either way.

I thought Stu had an MX5 now for his track day car as the RX8 was getting a little costly in fuel

[ZEEROLLA]

Wait till livefor6 reads this :). I actually drove both his rx8 and mazda mx5. had real fun in the rx8, and in a straight line it was definetly faster than the stivo, around corners it handled on rails. The mx5 had no chance it was only a squirt around the block, but yeah lacks a bit of power but would handle like you said. nice cars either way.

hehe, well a standing start drag i believe the RX8 will be quicker but coming out of bends like on a race track i am sure the Stivo kicked my mate's mate's RX8, half an hour's worth of bumper to bumper racing doesn't lie. The N/A rotary has little torque down low, and my Stivo just pulled harder out of tight corners in 2nd gear especially. Even the RX8 driver said i was punchier out of corners. I think its a combination of the RX8's weight, torque and gear ratios. And on the straight we accelerated together with the RX8 behind me from 3rd gear, we were line ball all the way until i shifted into 4th and i slowly pulled away. He was in the slip stream too so with that much more power i expected the RX8 to creep ahead.. I didn't ask him about straight line difference because i don't want to upset anyone and he didn't talk about it, just said the Stivo had power :P

And Ilivefor6's RX8 is not stock is it, so not worth comparing plus you didn't actually drive your Stivo comparing it side by side on the track of course u wouldn't believe me.. who would? Even i didn't until i ran against it. It was the MX5 that was the surprise package, great car, very agile and quick on turn in and low-mid speed corners, high speed corners can be a little nerve wrecking.. my mate driving it told me it was a very balanced car between understeer and oversteer, easy to control on the limit. But he said the MRS is better bcus he used to drive mid-engined rwd cars, a MR-2 turbo and an MR-S. Just too bad these (excl. MR2 Turbo)great handlers lack in the engine department.

Edited January 14, 2006 by ZEEROLLA

[shaohaok]

mr-s with a 2zz would be nice. poor man's lotus

[EGG80X]

its interesting to compare light weight fwd vs light weight rwd..... owning an echo with a lot of suspension and body reenforements goodies and a stockish mx5....... Nothing beats a well sorted rwd, u dont nose dive into a corner and torque steer out of a corner.......

On fwd and u have sussy allows u to adjust damper rates, make the front softer and the rear stiffer hence your ride will transfer weight to the front end and lean towards oversteer and elimates some understeer giving a slight neutral feel

MX5 is one of the few cars in the world that has 50:50 weight distribution and being light it drives like a go kart. You dont need to drive fast to have fun.

vids of the last track outing in the echo, showing you that u dont need power to be quick around corners

here is a 9 min vid of me fanging around Wakefield

Click here to watch --->click here

about 18mb

as u can c the power differences on my kickass stock 1.3L echo engine

here its a video of me overtaking a 70 v8 mustang and a late model wrx wagon

----> click here

its about 4mb, check out the gap i had on the rexy after i spun out

Once again a big thanks to Evil imaging for day's photo coverage

http://evilimaging.com/wakefield261005/index.htm

Edited January 15, 2006 by EGG80X

[sportiyo]

good work man never thought of our stivo will keep up with the rx8,

[shaohaok]

good work man never thought of our stivo will keep up with the rx8,

:D

[evo]

new respect for the echo :)