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2007 Mazda RX-8 Road Test

It wasn’t so long ago when the sports car was becoming an endangered species. We had lost the Toyota MR2 and the same brand’s Supra, the Nissan 300Z, the Pontiac Fiero and the Mazda RX-7 thanks to soft sales,despite their enthusiast appeal. Come the turn of the century, true entry-level sports cars were holding on by a thread, with only the Miata being available for the middle class to enjoy.

These days the sports car has been making somewhat of a come back. Nissan has reintroduced the Z series with the 350Z. Pontiac and Saturn have gotten into the mix with the Solstice and Sky, and there are even talks of Toyota bringing back the Supra. Mazda’s answer to the call is to once again offer two models in the sports car category, and in so doing create a car as unique as the engine that powers it.

Many will think of the RX-8 as a next generation RX-7, however the 8 is much bigger and has done away with the old model’s cramped passenger compartment, not to mention the on-the-deck ride height. The RX-8 is a four-door 2+2 coupe that combines the pure spirit

Something wicked this way comes... (Photo: Budd Stanley, American Auto Press)

of a sports car with the practicality of a sedan.The versatility of this coupe-cum-sedan makes owning a sports car a much more pleasant experience. Storage space, seating capacity, and comfort are all at useable levels, in a car that’s foremost purpose is performance. The only thing that disrupts what would otherwise be pure bliss is the constant need to check the oil level, and the car’s insatiable appetite for fuel.

The designers of the RX-8 must have been in a fun mood when penciling its look. To pay homage to the car’s Wankel engine heritage, they incorporated numerous triangular rotor shapes throughout the design. Trying to find all the rotors is like a “Where’s Waldo” game. To date I’m up to seven different placements of the shape;

Everywhere you look there are rotary-like shapes. (Photo: Budd Stanley, American Auto Press)

100 points to whoever can find the most. During the search, mind you, I’ve notice just how visually pleasing the 8 actually is.

The front end is beautifully aggressive, with a race-inspired look and several large intake vents. Massive fender flairs cover 18-inch wheels, front and rear, and give the RX-8 a distinctive appearance that separates it from other sports cars. A unique feature of the car is the forward opening rear doors that allow easy entry to the back seats.This is the most evident factor to the RX-8’s versatility. It’s a 2+2 that can actually hold four adults comfortably. Seriously, this is something you don’t see in the traditional sports car. Most don’t even accommodate rear passengers at all, let alone allow those passengers to travel in any kind of comfort. The only personal problem I have with this system

The versatility of RX-8 makes owning a sports car a much more pleasant experience. (Photo: Budd Stanley, American Auto Press)

is that the upper seatbelt mount is connected to the rear door and the lower mount slides along a small bar just below the rear door. I personally prefer seatbelts to be bolted to the body structure rather than movable pieces; although the fact that it passed all of its safety requirements should lead one to believe that its setup is up to the task of holding occupants in place during the unfortunate event of a crash.

As mentioned, the rear seats have a surprising amount of space and comfort. Being 5 foot 10, the ceiling was just at the right level. Anyone taller may be a little less comfortable, but too bad, it’s a sports car.I know that my editor stuffed two 6 foot 2 guys in the back of this car during his test and related that they were quite comfortable, so I suppose that Mazda’s claim stands up to questioning.

The build quality of the interior was questionable, however. The center armrest flexes

Stylish yes, but some interior quality issues put me off. (Photo: Budd Stanley, American Auto Press)

quite a bit when taking the weight of my elbow and would likely be broken within a month in my care (note: don’t give the long-term RX-8 to Budd – Ed.). Several dash and door panels also don’t quite line up properly, and don’t seem to be solidly supported.

Questionable build quality aside, the RX-8 offers a very stylish interior that I enjoyed very much, I must admit. The center console splits both front and rear bucket seats and is yet another unique design trait that makes the car stand out. The console stretches from the front dash to the back of the rear seat, housing storage compartments for front and rear passengers as well as two cupholders for those in back. Both seats in the rear are sunken deeply, forcing the knees quite high.While this sounds awkward, in reality it’s quite comfortable and should remain so for longer distances. All seats are also very supportive, and keep the body planted when the car starts to dance.

Up front, the driver has a very useful 8-way adjustable power

Even the 13B's engine shrowd is shaped like a rotary... OK, I suppose that one makes sense. (Photo: Budd Stanley, American Auto Press)

driver’s seat with lumbar support. Like the rear seats, the fronts kept me quite stable under hard cornering. The seating position is very low, and for those who have driven an RX-7, the 8 has the same laid back configuration, which takes a little getting used to. Once the driver has adapted to the position it then becomes comfortable.

While the rear doors and adult-sized back seats are unique enough on their own, it’s what Mazda’s stuffed into the business end of this car that makes it so distinctive when compared to anything else on the road. Under the hood sits a 13B, 1.3L, 2-rotor Wankel rotary engine producing 232 horsepower and 169 lb-ft of torque. The engine spins smoothly all the way past its 9,000 rpm redline, and emits the most magnificent sound in the higher rev range. Mazda must have done some exhaust note tuning, as the older RX-7s had, dare I say, an annoying scream to them. Rotaries are amazing technical marvels, but normally the sound they make is less than flattering. However, the 8 cured any such foible and emits a fluid rasp that sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard before.

Four-seat accommodation has its penalty... weight. (Photo: Budd Stanley, American Auto Press)

Due to the nature of a rotary engine, it loses trace amounts of oil thanks to the need of lubricating the rotors. This can be a bit of an annoyance, as the oil should be checked after every second fill-up, and will need replacing more often than with piston engines. During the 220 miles that I drove the car, I found that the dip stick indeed had a noticeable lose of fluid. Unfortunately, most people these days don’t even remotely think of checking a car’s oil level, which will likely result in the engine receiving massive wear, in-turn lowering the resale value of the car. Best to buy new and then pay close attention, I should think.

With the RX-8 being a little pudgy in the weight department, at least compared to the RX-7, and laboring along with a less than attractive dose of low-end power, it doesn’t seem so sporty when not driven in anger. However, Wankel’s are engines that need to be revved, and true to form, once I put the tach over 5,500 rpm the car began to charge forward ever so viciously.

Mated to the 13B is a slick 6-speed manual with a delectably short shifter. Now I’ve been known to love a good 6-speed, but this was the best I’ve driven yet. Gear ratios are very

The brakes are a bit weak when asked to perform. (Photo: Budd Stanley, American Auto Press)

close with minimal rpm loss between cogs. The shifter was smooth and I was able to pop of shifts as fast as a competition gearbox. Down shifts were magnificent as the motor can rev as quickly as a high-compression race engine, in order to meet the gear’s speed. Crashing down through four or five gears under hard braking was absolute ecstasy, and helped me to appreciate that driving the RX-8 was as close to a true competition car as I have experienced in a production car… only without all the exertion.

The benefits of using a Wankel rotary are many, but most importantly that it can be mounted extremely low, critical for reducing the car’s center of gravity, and well behind the front wheels, ideal for weight distribution which is set at 52/48, front to rear. All this makes the RX-8 a sharp weapon in the slice-em-and-dice-em handling department. 225/45/18 tires coupled with a wide track and extremely long wheelbase creates very stable and progressive cornering abilities that inspire confidence. Rear-wheel drive may have something to do with that as well.

In order to keep the car stable during high speed cornering I found that a lack of torque forced me to keep the engine spinning high in the rev range. But then, such is the nature of the beast, and of course the obvious penalty hit my

Despite a few weaknesses, the RX-8 is a car I'd buy. (Photo: Budd Stanley, American Auto Press)

wallet when the time arrived to top up the go-go juice.Such complaints disappeared once on the road again, mind you, as the engine, gearbox and handling abilities of the RX-8 continued to work seamlessly together to create one of the most enjoyable drives I’ve had in quite a while; the only weak link being the brakes.

Under low speed applications, the brakes work wonderfully well. However, with hard, extended use they fade rather early. As with the 350Z, as well as several other high performance cars offering massive sets of four-piston Brembos, I’d like to see Mazda follow suit and offer a similar performance package.

Despite brake fade and a few interior issues, I was thoroughly impressed with the RX-8. Overall it has a raucous, untamed nature similar to the character of the engine that resides inside its long, shapely hood. Actually, I began to love it a little more with each day that I spent in the driver’s seat. It was an absolute joy to drive, and the more I drove it the better the car seemed to fit me. Driving it just seemed the right thing to do. Its versatility deletes the typical downfalls of sports cars, and if I were to buy a new car today the RX-8 would be very high on my list. With a price of $31,665 for the top-line Grand Touring model, the RX-8 is thousands cheaper than its class rivals, enough said.

Specifications (Grand Touring):

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