At last, a decent Japanese sports car for this century! (Mazda RX8)

Member Name: Jonny_L

Product:	Mazda RX8
Date:	15/06/08 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Goes, stops and handles great as you'd expect, looks beautiful, nice inside

Disadvantages: A bit thirsty, but then's a sports car.

The RX8 was brought into mazda's range in around 2003, though most of these were imports until 2004. The RX8 comes in 2 variants, the 190bhp version and the 230bhp version. The latter really is the one to go for, as it offers a 6 speed gearbox and a rev range up to 9000rpm!

The RX8 is based around the tried and tested Wankel rotary engine, known in this car as the Renesis engine. If you want a full explanation you should check the Mazda site, however it basically works around a piston-less design, where the engine has 2 triangular rotors which use the 4-stroke combustion. There were originally some worries about the reliability of the rotor tips, however Mazda have reinforced these since the old RX7, and are confident that they'll be fine.

When you first look at an RX8, you instantly think 2 door coupe, and it looks fast. It's sleek lines and curves are beautiful at the right angles, with expressed wheel arches giving it an aggressive stance. The rear window has a beautiful curve to it, that is reminiscent of the old RX7, which it's self was a gorgeous car. Then you step in and see that the interior is just as striking, if not more so. It's luxurious, spacious and comfortable, with plenty of gadgets to keep you entertained. Sitting in the big comfy bucket seats you really have a sense that the car would take you to the south of france and back without so much as a mention of any aches or pains, and you'd have plenty of fun getting there. There's also plenty of cubby holes and cup holders too.

But the RX8's party piece is the back doors. You get backward opening suicide doors, sort of half doors in reality. Getting into the back still isn't brilliantly easy, but it's better than it would have been if they'd just given you folding seats. It's also a really nice touch. The back seats themselves are as the front, spacious and comfortable, if a little confined thanks to the big centre console.

The dashboard is a pleasure to look at, you get a nice big rev counter, digital speedo, plus all the usual gauges. The RX8 comes with a nice Bose sound system, which is lovely.

Now, enough of that, this is a sports car! Onto the drive.
And what a drive. You fire up that 1.3 litre (!) rotary engine and it instantly excites. The sound is beautifully smooth. Obviously this car is pretty fast. 0-60 comes up in around 6 seconds, top speed well over 140mph. But it's the way the power is delivered which is interesting. The engine feels smooth and ultra responsive, giving you plenty to play with over 3000rpm, and you can happily cruise when you're not into the drive.

Handling is great. This is a front engined, rear wheel drive car, so you'd expect it to be good. It'll power through the corners with ease, feeling perfectly balanced all the time. If you really push it, and I mean really push it so far that the big 18" wheels and tyres finally start to let go, you can control the back end with almost incredible ease. This car is a sports car born and bred.

So it's got a bit of everything. Racing pedigree, power, handling, luxury and looks. And at around £22,000 new, it's cheap too. Plenty of used bargains are around to be had as well, good ones start from around £9000. That's pretty incredible if you ask me.

Summary: At this price, you can't do much better I'm sure. It's a stupendously good car to drive.

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