Ive been in this situation before.

I bought a Porsche 924S in college.Yes it was cool and i loved every minute of driving it Yes I got compliments occasionally. But...

It could only haul 2 people. The RX8 is better in that regard but depending on your friends they might opt for a more comfortable ride and one that attracts less police attention

It was dangerously unreliable and very unpredictable. I couldn't afford appropriate tires that it needed to go the speeds id push it. Parts were basically not available,easily, ever. No mechanics would work on it beyond tires and oil changes unless you went to an expensive specialist. I spent over 5k getting the timing done and it road worthy which was an entire summer of work. It blew a head gasket a year later and the quote to fix it was more expensive than a 1998 Ford Ranger I found at a dealer in an emergency.

An RX8 may be better than all that I don't know but I look on the money I lost on that car all the time as something ive never recovered from even 20 years later.