raybo said:
Fair enough, I didn't research all Mazdas.
The RX-8 has a low center of gravity (it's a sports car!!!) and therefore has a high resistance to rollover. If it did rollover, could its roof support it?
15 years ago my brother was run off of I-78 in NJ while driving a VW Fox, the car rolled and ended up on its roof, and he got out without a scratch. It would not have been as pretty in a "modern" Explorer. I wonder how well an old Mazda 323 would have done.
Ray
I would have to agree that 15 years ago a mazda 323 might not have fared as well as the Fox, but I bought a base hatchback model 323 in October 1990, and my dad still drives it every day to my house, well it seems like every day, lol. It doesn't consume more than a few spoonfulls of oil between changes, ok the seats are now towels and foam inserts, but it still gets 33 mpg around town and the a/c blows cold...the clutch is a bit of a touchy mother, but still original, and it pulls hard if you want. If it rolled over I supect it would hold up as well as could be expected. Those Foxes of that vintage were pretty boxy and upright from what I recall...the 323 may have just rolled over onto its wheels
. Your point is taken, though...if I had to choose then it would be to go through it in the Fox. I once slapped a mosquito on the roof of it one evening and it took ten minutes to pop the crater back out
. OTOH, I remember getting the stink eye from someone when I asked them about their Fox in early 90s, thinking of buying one for my folks...they painted a familiar picture of dealer trips and such. I dunno...I wouldn't be afraid of a Mazda quality-wise, and I had Mazda Navajo for a few months that seemed solid...but it got returned due to many many problems. (shrugs).
I just want a friggin diesel minivan so I can pull our 3800 pd boat and get decent mileage, mumble mumble, and not have to break out big iron going to the lake.