"Mazda’s Wankel — stop sniggering at the back — rotary engine is not the only thing that marks the RX-8 out from the crowd. Distinctive styling and those suicide doors make it the most recognisable coupe around. It handles well, so long as it’s dry, and has the comfort of a much more expensive car, making it practical as a long-distance cruiser. The engine might lack low-down torque and you can see the fuel needle move at cruising speeds but these are small prices to pay for a car only the Japanese could pull off.".......

From Times On-line-Jeremy Clarkson's Good Car Bad Car Guide 2006..

BEST COUPE 2006...
1. Aston Martin V8 Vantage
2. BMW M6
3. MAZDA RX-8
4. Corvette C6

Again the RX-8 is up there with some of the most expensive coupes you can buy today...

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/sec...,27909,00.html

PS....

BEST SPORTS CAR 2006...
1.Mazda MX-5/Miata
2.Caterham Seven CSR260
3.Lotus Exige 240R
4.Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG

 

Go us! I'm really surprised to see the C6 anywhere near the top after he trashed it on the show. He's just so damn British that man.

 

About the Corvette, he waxed lyrical about it on his yearly DVD "Heaven and Hell."

 

Weird, that made the Vette out to be an absolute dog on the show, yet it makes the top 4?! What a strange show.

 

A bit OT....

Hey nice avatar man...... I made that for myself quite some time ago.


back on topic:


This once again shows what an awesome car the rx8 is.

 

nice find

 

actually, if you look more carefully on his full list of cars, pretty impressive that Mazda is the only Japanese company with more than one car represented

guess Clarkson likes his Mazdas

 

That's awesome news.

Hmm, how come I don't see the Evo or the WRX on that list?! .
(just kiddin' Ike)

 

Because the evo and wrx are not coupes....

 

Clarkson cracks me up. We miss that sort of character in North America auto media. I don't even mind that he is always dumping on us sportbike riders, I guess 'cause I always laugh before I get peeved.

 

I'm sure if there was a catagory for factory riced out econo cars with ugly assed wings, both those cars would make the list...well maybe not...

 

franken-sedans have no categories; they are what they are - freaks of the automotive world

 

ha

 

Dan Neil of LA Times strives to fill that roll. Not quite as obnoxious, but close.

 

Clarkson is what automotive journalism should be in North America instead of the same bunch of fanboys who write reviews based on how many ad pages have been bought in the auto section of the newspaper. I'd love to know more about what happened with the Potenzas in 2004 when he first called the RX8 the best car he'd driven that year and then said no...because of the "awfully twitchy tires" he encountered on his drive home in the rain. I was amazed at how he changed in that one seven minute Top Gear piece...but then again, he does that all the time.