the car feeling faster has some truth to it, as the engine wears the seals seat themselfs and the car "breaks in". It does take quite a bit longer for a rotary engine to "break in" than a piston motor....although the differences we are talking about on a new motor vs a motor with say 10,000 miles on it is so slim you couldnt measure it. Even by seat of the pants, so I still say this is more of a "in your head" thing. I think part of this feeling with the RX8/Rotary is because of the "~30K mile reset" that mazda did on the FD RX7, where the car altered its fuel and timing maps at a specific miliage.
Its the same kind of thing where people will bolt on an intake to the RX8 and talk about how much faster the car feels, or how much more power it makes, only to find out on a dyno that the car actualy LOST power.
As for the "car feels faster with the traction control off" that is also BS, it makes a difference on the dyno, but on the street the car makes no more power with it on or off....the only thing it does is apply the brakes/limit throttle when the tires slip.
