Hello all you rotary nutters!

[Modified Dave]

Dave Pratte here. As my username suggests, I write for Modified Magazine and was actually the guy who wrote Phil Sohn's recent cover story. I'm also an avid racer (you can read about my most recent racing experience here: http://tiny.cc/dcnYC ). Although I've never owned a rotary-powered vehicle, I was lucky enough to test drive AutoExe's RX-8 at Fuji Speedway in Japan a few years ago and was blown away by how well it handled. It wasn't the most powerful car I've ever driven, but coming from a Honda background I really enjoyed revving it out to 9k rpm and the superb handling balance really left a very positive impression on me.

In fact, having recently completed a Infiniti G35 project car for Modified Mag, I am now planning on buying and building a RX-8 as a new project for the mag. I'm currently shopping for a '05 GT, though to be honest I'd prefer cloth seats and no sunroof so may end up going with a base model instead. Or maybe I can find a GT or Shinka without a sunroof (not too sure if that's a possibility).

If any of you have advice about RX-8 shopping (keep in mind I don't want to spend more than $15k, so no R3 for me) or what sort of build you'd like to see in the magazine (I'll also post all the product test results from the build on this forum), I'm all ears.

Looking forward to learning from everyone here on RCC and contributing what I can once I start my own rotary adventure.