Leno drives the Kabura and gushed over his RX-8
#1
Grand Chancellor
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Leno drives the Kabura and gushed over his RX-8
Read it here: http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol...cle3681914.ece
Here's the RX-8 bit....
Here's the RX-8 bit....
Then recently I got my third Mazda: the RX-8. I’d picked the RX-8 as the best-handling car for Road & Track. The magazine did the 10 best cars for under whatever price, and that was my choice.
I thought it had the best gearbox. I thought it was the lightest on its feet. You had to work the engine to make it go – it didn’t have all kinds of torque – but it was a great deal of pleasure running it up to 9500rpm and just tapping the gearlever and it all seemed very linear. I just liked the way it felt.
The rotary motor fascinates me because it’s really the only new engine of the 20th century. Mazda perfected it and made it popular and I like the fact that the company sticks with it. It doesn’t have as good fuel consumption as the conventional internal combustion engine, but the reliability seems to be there. People say they burn oil but mine doesn’t. Putting half a pint of oil in every 1,000 miles doesn’t seem excessive to me. If you’re an enthusiast and you like your car, that doesn’t seem crazy.
I also like the design of Mazdas. I like the RX-8 because, whether you love it or hate it, at least it doesn’t look like any other car on the road. When I was a kid growing up in America you could tell by a rear tail light, by a rear quarter-panel or a front quarter-panel, whether you were looking at a Ford or a Chrysler or a Chevy. Everything was distinctive.
Nowadays there’s a line of cars from Buick and Chevrolet that all kind of look the same. The Lexus, the Infiniti, these cars kind of look the same. The RX-8 looks different and I like the original thinking. I like the rear quarter-door that opens. It looks like a two-door but it’s really a four-door. I like the haunches on the fenders. When I see one on the road I immediately identify it.
I thought it had the best gearbox. I thought it was the lightest on its feet. You had to work the engine to make it go – it didn’t have all kinds of torque – but it was a great deal of pleasure running it up to 9500rpm and just tapping the gearlever and it all seemed very linear. I just liked the way it felt.
The rotary motor fascinates me because it’s really the only new engine of the 20th century. Mazda perfected it and made it popular and I like the fact that the company sticks with it. It doesn’t have as good fuel consumption as the conventional internal combustion engine, but the reliability seems to be there. People say they burn oil but mine doesn’t. Putting half a pint of oil in every 1,000 miles doesn’t seem excessive to me. If you’re an enthusiast and you like your car, that doesn’t seem crazy.
I also like the design of Mazdas. I like the RX-8 because, whether you love it or hate it, at least it doesn’t look like any other car on the road. When I was a kid growing up in America you could tell by a rear tail light, by a rear quarter-panel or a front quarter-panel, whether you were looking at a Ford or a Chrysler or a Chevy. Everything was distinctive.
Nowadays there’s a line of cars from Buick and Chevrolet that all kind of look the same. The Lexus, the Infiniti, these cars kind of look the same. The RX-8 looks different and I like the original thinking. I like the rear quarter-door that opens. It looks like a two-door but it’s really a four-door. I like the haunches on the fenders. When I see one on the road I immediately identify it.
Last edited by delhi; 04-14-2008 at 06:17 PM.
#2
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#8
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Whatever, they'd still be folks out there that would argue against Leno's assessment and that he is wrong. Don't you know that you don't need to know how to check for engine oil to be a car enthusiasts these days?
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Thats pretty cool to hear, that for all the cars/trucks/bikes he has that he still buys an RX-8 and like its...goes to show how sweet our cars are.
Also, anyone know around how many toys "cars" he has?
Also, anyone know around how many toys "cars" he has?
#15
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#18
Wheels, not rims!!
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I believe his RX8 is black.
Jay Leno's Cosmo (repost):
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/...html?cat=30494
He also owns a Suzuki RE5 motorcycle. Yup, rotary engine.
Jay Leno's Cosmo (repost):
http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/...html?cat=30494
He also owns a Suzuki RE5 motorcycle. Yup, rotary engine.
#20
Huge hole is huge
Wow, it's good to watch the video of his Cosmo. I love the way those look. They dropped a 12A in there, which isn't so bad. Great engines.
He gets +10 respect points.
He gets +10 respect points.
#23
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#24
I wonder if they just re-edited some of his previous articles for this one. Some paragraphs of that article sound very similar to his writings in Octane and Popular Mechanics. Nothing wrong with that, I just like fresh stuff.
I remember a piece he wrote for Octane saying his favorite engine sounds are Mclaren F1, Porsche Carrera GT, and then his Cosmo.
I remember a piece he wrote for Octane saying his favorite engine sounds are Mclaren F1, Porsche Carrera GT, and then his Cosmo.
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