Here's a strong review from this weekend's edition...

Mazda's new 8 is a 10
The newest addition to the rotary club proves a worthy successor to the much-loved RX-7

A short supply and long waiting list



Mazda's sports models have always been cars that have gone their own way in terms of design, propulsion and driving dynamics — think of them as analogue cars in a world gone all-digital.

The Miata persists today as the antithesis of most modern convertibles: small, light, unadorned, not too powerful — and a delight to drive.

And the new-for-2004 RX-8 plays a similar game in the performance-car arena: while everybody's come to the table packing huge horsepower, big wings, aggressive styling cues and steamroller tires, the RX-8 is lithe and narrow, with a pointy-faced friendliness contrary to the overtly macho styling cues you'll find in the rest of the class. Look at it from the front and it even looks like it has cycle fenders, for heaven's sake.

It isn't very much of a surprise, then, that Mazda sports-car fans are often as unique and impassioned as the cars themselves are; they're as faithful a bunch as they come, and rotary freaks especially have an almost fanatical devotion to their vehicles (which is difficult when their favourite engine hasn't been sold here in almost 10 years).

So to say that the RX-8 has been a long time coming for them would be an understatement. When an RX-7-driving friend of mine got wind of the fact that I'd be snagging an RX-8 before anybody else, I found myself in a veritable convoy of the things on the way up to Mazda's press-car garage, so eager were they to see the 8 — sit in it, touch it, go for a spin around the block.

Mazda will be relieved that they all loved it, for it's the fanatics who will feed the awareness of the car in the general population, who will convince more mainstream car buyers to give it a try.

Fans love that the exterior styling is full of rotary-shaped design details, like the little triangular supports for the front and rear spoilers, the recess in the short hood and the big, driver-friendly side-view mirrors.

Placed beside one of the last RX-7s, the RX-8 is a lot longer, a lot taller, but not much wider. But what most impressed everyone was the practicality of the thing: how there's actually legroom in the back seat behind average-sized drivers (it gets pretty tight if the person in front approaches six feet) and how much trunk space there is, once you get past the high lift-over. There's even a ski pass-through.

The RX-8's interior is also a riot of rotary-inspired details, from the shape of the air bag cover to the shiny-black/aluminum audio controls to the metal inset on the shifter to the unique emergency-brake handle. The seats even have little metal rotaries in their head restraints, as well as huge side bolsters, rendered in ribbed rubber and leather inserts to match the colour of the car.

Despite the space — and a huge array of cup holders, storage bins and oddment trays in the centre console spar that runs the entire length of the cabin — there's still a very intimate feel, thanks to a high beltline, wide transmission tunnel and the thick pillars of the suicide doors. Which is appropriate for a sports car: you don't want to feel like there's a lot of room for you to be flying around the cabin as you go flying around corners.

And a sports car is what the RX-8 is, four doors or not. Its steering scythes into corners with precision, its suspension keeps the body flat no matter what the speed or the quality of the road surface and its brakes have terrific feel and progression. Despite their relatively narrow 225 mm width, the Bridgestones are grippy enough that you'll likely never hear them squeal on the road.

The overall feeling is of an easy, energetic fluidity to the way the car makes every move: all of the major controls have a just-rightness to them that makes threading the vehicle through traffic, through corners and down the highway intuitive. It's almost as if the RX-8 converts your thoughts into motion before you even have to twitch a muscle; it's very easy to drive very, very fast.

Much of the RX-8's driving characteristics can be directly attributed to its motor, whose very compactness has enabled Mazda to build such a light car in the first place and tune the chassis the way it has.

Set well back behind the front axle line, the 1.3-litre rotary is so small it looks like an addition to the gearbox, yet it manages to pump out an impressive 250 hp at 8500 rpm. Though its torque numbers are less impressive (peaking at just 151 lb-ft), the motor never feels gutless and always has ample thrust in every one of the six carefully selected gears.

Besides, unlike other cars' conventional piston motors, which violently pound their way to their power peaks, the RX-8's "Renesis" rotary wobbles itself around an oval combustion chamber smoothly.

Were it not for the warning beep that sounds at 8500 rpm and the fuel cut-off at 9400, you'd never realize how fast the motor was spinning: there is zero vibration from this thing, meaning you drive in lower gears longer and more often, flooring the gas just for fun to hear the angry swarm of hornets under the hood beat itself into a new and more thrilling frenzy. Drive like this and fuel consumption, never a rotary strong point, suffers, but the RX-8 is surprisingly economical and decently quick if you're being more conservative, as well.

With pricing that starts at less than $37,000 (add $3,000 for the cool two-tone leather, about the same for a sunroof and navigation system), the RX-8 is a screaming deal, but it may have to be for it to gain acceptance with drivers and buyers who might be a bit skeptical about rotary engines, especially when they haven't been on sale here for so long.

Unfortunately, that pricing seems to have been so attractive that this year's contingent of 600 RX-8s is already sold, and buyers who order one now will have a long wait until they actually get their cars. Which is annoying, because what rotary fans really want is to see as many of these on the road as soon as is possible.

Still, those lucky enough to already have their names on the list will be driving what is one of this year's most interesting cars, an engineering feat and a car that's a blast to drive. Save for a couple of cheap pieces, the RX-8's interior is a work of art, and its styling is like nothing else on the road.

Let's hope that we get a bigger truckload of them next year, that they sell out just as fast, and that Mazda's convinced of the fact that the rotary is well and truly back. That way, it can get cracking on putting the engine in a two-seater as well.

 

http://www.rx8forum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6424