CD Article: 2008 Mazda RX-8 SE

[CD_Editor]

Test Drive:


40th Anniversary Special Edition: To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first rotary-engined Mazda car, the Cosmo Sport, Mazda is offering a special edition RX-8 with mostly cosmetic upgrades. Only 100 will be available in Canada with an MSRP of $42,145.

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[Wolfe]

I like that Metropolitan Grey.

One of the drawbacks of rotary engines is higher fuel consumption. The RX-8's official fuel consumption figures, with the six-speed manual transmission, are 12.8/9.2 city/hwy, but in a week of driving I averaged only 13.5 L/100 km

With gas prices being what they are today I'm afraid that Mazda might just follow everyone else in abandoning the rotary engine. Then again they've already announced a new 1.6L version and they're experimenting with hydrogen rotaries too.

[Jaeger]

A great chassis in search of a great engine.

Jaeger

[initial_D]

I think the rotary is an awesome engine, same goes for the 8. For the brief seat time I had with that car, I absolutely love driving it. Tested the RX-8 and an E46 330Ci (belonged to a family member), I prefer the RX-8 over the E46, if I was in a position to choose between the two.

[Snowman]

The RX-8 should remain in its current configuration or else it is not an RX-8. The owners I know could care less if it cost them $300 more each month to fuel up at current gas prices. If you are buying a performance oriented car with fuel consumption high on your list you need to reconsider your priorities IMHO.

[TopGun]

A great chassis in search of a great engine.

 

Have you heard this thing rev Jaeger?  It sounds wonderful...and it's so effortless.

Also...is not the engine (through its light weight) that contributes to the greatness of the chassis?

BTW - This same car is $32,000 in the U.S of A... 

[Jameel]

A great chassis in search of a great engine.

 

Have you heard this thing rev Jaeger?  It sounds wonderful...and it's so effortless.

Also...is not the engine (through its light weight) that contributes to the greatness of the chassis?

BTW - This same car is $32,000 in the U.S of A... 

At a local dealer in Ottawa they have a new RX8 (I don't remember if it was an 07 or an 08) discounted by $10,000. They had it for $36,000.
I don't think they should have made the RX8 a 4 seater, but that's just me. They should have kept it a 2 seater like the North American RX-7.

[Jaeger]

A great chassis in search of a great engine.

 

Have you heard this thing rev Jaeger?  It sounds wonderful...and it's so effortless.

Also...is not the engine (through its light weight) that contributes to the greatness of the chassis?

BTW - This same car is $32,000 in the U.S of A... 

Yep - I have.  Got to drive one courtesy of a very indulgent Mazda dealer who knew full well that I wasn't going to purchase the car, but WAS (at the time) very seriously considering a Mazdaspeed 6.

First off, let me say that the insanely high revs that this thing can reach make for an entertaining drive with a fantastic soundtrack.  But chalk it up to my personal preference - I like torque - and I like it to arrive early and in abundance.  Back to back drives with the Speed 6 made the RX8 feel like it had barely enough torque to wring out a dish towel.  And flexibility definitely was not the RX's strong suit.  If you have the luxury of only driving it only on the weekends or at the track, this is of less importance, but as a daily driver, having to wring it up to nosebleed territory just to get decent forward progress is tiresome. 

It's not hard to understand why people love this car.  In a landscape of automotive blandness and sameness, it is vibrantly different.  But I can't help but wonder how much more entertaining it would be more torque, more evenly distibuted.  Surely a turbo would not add so much weight as to upset the terrific balance of this car - it's already got a shade of rearward weight bias as it stands.

And please don't rub in those comparatively low US prices - that's just not nice. 

Jaeger

[Demosthenes X]

Greddy makes a turbo kit for the RX-8: http://www.turbo-kits.com/rx-8_turbo_kits.html

326hp would be a lot of fun in that car. 

...when the front door is opened followed by the rear door, both doors form a barrier to the front and rear. When a car is parked beside the RX-8, it acts as another barrier, trapping the passengers in a sort of a box. This sounds silly, but when it happens to you, it's no laughing matter.

Just imagining this happening made me laugh out loud.   

[clarkma5]

I'm really tired about the misconception of "the rotary makes all this power from only 1.3 liters!"

The Renesis/13b is 654 cc's per chamber, of which there are three chambers per rotor.  The Renesis/13b is much more accurately described as a 3.9 liter (3924 cc), not a 1.3 liter.  This explains its power, its torque, and its fuel consumption.  In reality, the rotary is NOT a very efficient engine in terms of volumetric displacement.  However, it is very efficient in terms of overall engine size.  That's a point that always bugs me.

Anyway, as for the car, I drove one a few years ago on a little autocross course.  It's got a very neutral chassis, which is nice, but I found the suspension and steering didn't filter enough road feel to the driver.  Also, the engine may rev, but it feels sleepy all the way up to 7500 RPM, and stock it sounds like a vacuum cleaner, not a performance car.  I readily acknowledge that there are some amazingly cool sounding rotaries (I think the best I've heard was a bridge-ported 20B that had this intense, crackly sound to it), but a stock Renesis is certainly not in that group.

[Rolling]

I salute and commend Mazda for all the many years they have invested in this truly unique engine of German origin and design. I’m interested to see what the new Renisis 16X engine with the longer stroke will do for the new engine’s lower end grunt.

I encourage Mazda to continue on with their relentless devotion to this type of engine, and may they have another 40 years of success and improvements. Let us not forget that Mazda was the first, and is to this date still the ONLY Japanese manufacturer to win the 24 hours of Le Mans…..with of course a rotary. Sure it was a 4 rotor racing engine, but it was reliable and fast.

Too bad it currently takes more energy to acquire Hydrogen as an automotive fuel, because the Rotary engine definitely has an inherent advantage over a piston engine when using Hydrogen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go3Fgd1wgic

[safristi]

Man that's a sweet package...makes my head SPIN...wrap me one up fer ma Birf"day Gift GUYS....send $100 to Make a PHISH PHOUNDATION..I can't torque but have great text skills.........

[TopGun]

...It's not hard to understand why people love this car.  In a landscape of automotive blandness and sameness, it is vibrantly different.


...And please don't rub in those comparatively low US prices - that's just not nice. 

Agreed on the "different" piece.  I too drove a Speed6 and I, personally, found it to be much less of a "driving experience" vs. the RX8.

On the US prices...they're applicable.  There's an imported RX8 with 20,000 km on it for $20,000...tempting if I can find a way to "fit" this car into my plans.

[johngenx]

I saw a local Mazda dealer offering a new 07 for $29,000.  Not that fancy SE, fer shure, but a good buy.

[2hondas]

Wow, sounds like there are HUGE profit margins on these. 

[johngenx]

Ya gotta figure that Mazda is pitching in dough so that the price can go <$30K. No way the dealer has that much room...