Rotary revolutionary.

Introduction

For about five years in the middle of the 1970s, Mazda's rotary engine seemed poised to conquer the automotive world. Small, smooth and powerful, it promised a new generation of faster, cleaner and more efficient cars. Funny how things turned out: Today's cars are indeed faster, cleaner and more efficient than anyone then could even imagine. But they are all still motivated by the same reciprocating-piston principle that served the automotive pioneers of the 1880s. 

All but one, that is. The rotary engine did find its purpose, powering a delightful series of light, nimble, high-revving Mazda sports-touring cars. That may seem like an awfully small kingdom for an iron warrior that once looked like a world conqueror. But it's still a wonderful place to be. 

The latest model in this series, the ingeniously engineered 2007 Mazda RX-8, drives like a sports car, with a high-revving engine and perfect 50-50 weight distribution for balanced handling. 

Yet the RX-8 is surprisingly practical. It's capable of taking the kids to soccer practice, with passenger space for four full-size adults. There's enough room for a weekend's worth of luggage or two full-size golf bags, and the small rear doors and relatively spacious trunk make trips to the home improvement center possible. Granted, it's not as roomy as a sedan, but it can move people and stuff when needed; while moving the spirit as no sedan can. 

In short, the RX-8 is a true four-seat sports car. It reminds us of the brilliant third-generation RX-7, but it's $13,000 cheaper, and its muscular styling has a zoom-zoom edge. 

It's the small but powerful rotary engine that makes all this possible. 

The RX-8 was launched as an all-new model for 2004. Its most significant update since then is the six-speed automatic transmission that arrived last year, replacing the previously available four-speed. In addition to two more gears, the six-speed automatic also brought steering-wheel mounted paddle controls for semi-manual shifting; and allowed the engine to be tuned closer to its manual-transmission specification, narrowing the performance gap between the auto-shifting and shift-it-yourself versions. 

The manual and automatic models are two different cars. The six-speed manual benefits from 232 horsepower at 8500 rpm, while the automatic gets 212 horsepower at 7500 rpm, albeit with the same 159 pound-feet of torque at 5500. The base automatic comes packaged with a softer suspension, smaller wheels and smaller brakes. The bottom line is that the manual model is for driving enthusiasts willing to sacrifice some comfort and convenience for performance. The automatic is for drivers more interested in the look and feel of a sports car than in ultimate performance and for drivers who have to contend with stop-and-go commuting. 

Changes for '07 are more modest. Mazda has promoted some of last year's various option packages to the status of separate trim levels. And a six-disc, in-dash CD changer is now standard at all but the base level. 

Lineup

While little has changed in terms of actual hardware, Mazda has significantly revised the RX-8 model lineup for 2007, from a single trim level with four major option packages to three separate trim levels with one option package. All are powered by a 1.3-liter twin-rotor rotary engine. 

The RX-8 Sport ($26,435) comes with a choice of six-speed manual or six-speed paddle-shift automatic transmission. Standard equipment includes cloth upholstery; air conditioning; AM/FM/CD stereo with six speakers and steering-wheel mounted controls; cruise control; power windows, mirrors and locks; leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob; floor and overhead consoles; rear window defogger; variable intermittent windshield wipers; and an alarm with immobilizer. Automatics roll on 225/55R16 radials on 16-inch alloy rims; manual-shift models get 225/45R18 high-performance tires on 18-inch rims. 

The RX-8 Touring comes with manual ($29,535) or automatic transmission ($30,335), and adds Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) with traction control; high-intensity discharge headlamps; fog lamps; power sliding glass sunroof; auto-dimming inside rearview mirror with Homelink; and a 300-watt Bose nine-speaker sound system with AudioPilot noise compensation and an in-dash, six-CD changer. Additionally, automatic Tourings upgrade to the manual model's sport suspension; limited-slip, torque-sensing differential; and larger wheels and tires. 

Grand Touring ($31,070) adds leather seating with matching synthetic leather door panels, heated front seats, eight-way power for the driver's seat, heated outside mirrors, and Mazda's advanced keyless entry and start system. The Grand Touring automatic ($31,770) benefits from the same handling upgrades that come with Touring automatics. 

A Performance Package ($1,300) for manual-transmission Sport models adds Dynamic Stability Control (DSC), HID headlamps, and fog lamps. A similar Package ($2,000) for automatic Sports adds those items plus the Touring/Grand Touring handling equipment. 

Options include a navigation system ($2,000) available on all models, and pearl paint ($200). Dealer-installed accessories include an aero body kit ($1,100), Sirius satellite radio ($430), and a CD-changer for Sport models ($500). 

Safety features that come standard include frontal and side-impact airbags (for torso protection) for the front passengers, and curtain airbags (for head protection) front and rear. A tire pressure monitor is also standard on all models. Anti-lock brakes with electronic brake-force distribution comes standard; DSC is optional. 

Walkaround

The Mazda RX-8 bulges with style if not grace. It's about the most aggressive shape possible in stamped steel. From the rear it looks good, with upswept lines and wide fender flares. From the side you see big, sharp wheel arches; plus a non-functional black mesh angled vertical vent behind the front wheel. The headlights aren't as dramatic as they might be; Mazda says it believes design should be expressed in sheet metal, not lighting. 

The front and rear doors open in opposite directions, which Mazda calls the Freestyle door system. With no pillar between the doors, this allows very easy ingress and egress for the rear-seat passengers. As with similar systems in pickups, the front door must be opened before the rear door can open. 

To compensate for the lack of a B-pillar, Mazda has carefully designed the structure with supporting steel crossmembers and braces, as well as reinforcements around the door perimeter for rigidity and safety against a side impact. (The RX-8 achieved four stars out of five in NHTSA side impact tests.). 

Interior

The Mazda RX-8 cabin is comfortable and surprisingly roomy. The seats are great, a nice fit with good bolstering. The Sport cloth seat material wasn't as attractive to our eyes as it might have been, however. 

Even large adults find the rear bucket seats in the RX-8 comfortable, with plenty of elbow room thanks to the transmission tunnel/console that separates them. Getting into and out of the rear seat is easy. Due to the high front seatbacks, rear-seat passengers can't see much out front without leaning inboard, but they can see out the side windows. The rear side windows don't roll down, but just push outward, so the back seats may not be the best place to spend long periods of time on a hot summer day. 

The trunk, a true trunk, can carry two sets of golf clubs. A vertical compartment door opens to the rear seat area to allow the carrying of skis and such. The pillar-less door configuration allows loading of large, awkward items into the back seat area that simply cannot be handled by other sports cars and sedans. We were able to fit a desk stool (Swopper) and a storage crate inside, without using the front seat, a very impressive feat for a sports car. 

But the RX-8 is best appreciated from the driver's seat. We like the stitched leather three-spoke steering wheel, both for its style and feel. Also nice were the drilled aluminum pedals and the solid dead pedal. The brake pedal is designed to make rotation of your right foot easier, for heel-and-toe downshifting. Each knee is comfortably and firmly supported during hard cornering. 

The instrument panel seems to sacrifice efficiency for style. There are three big rings, dominated by the 10,000-rpm tachometer in the center, with a digital speedometer readout on the tach face. We miss having a separate analog speedometer. Our feeling is that analog gauges can be interpreted at a glance, while digital readouts have to be read. The two large outside rings include gauges for water temp, fuel and oil pressure. The instruments are illuminated with indirect blue lighting. 

The panel forward of the shift lever is trimmed in a combination of leather and high-quality vinyl and glossy piano-black plastic. The stereo and climate control knobs are integrated; redundant controls are on the steering wheel spokes. The air conditioning wasn't as effective as we would have liked, a common complaint about many Mazdas. 

The available navigation system is DVD-based and features a dedicated, retractable seven-inch screen on top of the dash above the radio and climate controls. Controlled with an eight-button cluster located just behind the shift lever, the system is simple to operate and the interface is clear, thanks in part to the fact that it does not incorporate radio and climate controls into the screen, as do many other navigation systems. 

The doors and seatbacks have ample pockets and cranny space, and four CDs can fit in the console, but there aren't a lot of cubbies up front. The soft triangular shape of the engine rotors are a design theme found throughout the interior, most noticeably in the stylish headrests and atop the shift lever. 

Driving Impression

The Mazda RX-8 handles like a true sports car, with great balance and precise turn-in. The suspension is soft enough for daily comfortable use and not as stiff as that of the Nissan 350Z, which corners like a race car but pays the price with a stiffer ride. 

Greatly benefiting the RX-8's handling is its perfect balance, with 50 percent of its weight on the front wheels and 50 percent on the rear. While some conventional, reciprocating-piston sports cars have also achieved this balance, it has usually been at the expense of interior space. The compact size of the rotary engine makes it possible in a four-seater. 

Extremely smooth and simple, the rotary has been developed by Mazda for over 40 years. The RX-8 features the latest and by far the best rotary engine design, which Mazda calls Renesis. The engine is about 30 percent smaller than a typical inline four-cylinder, and its compact dimensions allow it to be mounted in a low and rearward position that results in that perfect balance. It also keeps the four-seat RX-8's center of gravity low and the curb weight down to just 3,045 pounds, more than 500 pounds less than even the lightest version of the two-seat, 3,578-pound Nissan 350Z. 

The engine offers a sweet unique sound under acceleration and is very refined now, with little of the rotary rasp that early RX-7s were known for. The two three-sided rotors deliver six power pulses per turn of the output shaft, the same number as a V12 (and twice as many per revolution as a V6), resulting in an exhaust note that's almost hypnotic on a rhythmic road, and chainsaw-like under full steam. The rotary revs extremely quickly, but lacks the mid-range grunt of a V6. Downshifts for quick acceleration are definitely necessary. The RX-8 can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph is less than 6 seconds, according to Car and Driver magazine, making it nearly as quick as a Nissan 350Z. 

Downshifting is redefined by the rotary engine, especially when paired with the brilliant close-ratio six-speed gearbox. You can drop the RX-8 into second gear at a speed that would cause almost every other car on the planet to scream, if not explode. This baby revs. 

When the automatic is equipped with the sport suspension and 18-inch wheels (standard on the manual RX-8), the brake rotors measure a massive 12.7 inches in front and 11.9 inches in rear, with increased ventilation ribs for more resistance to fade. The fact that the RX-8 is so light, thanks not only to the rotary engine but also to the thoughtful use of aluminum in the hood and rear doors, reduces the stopping distance to an impressive number, with performance comparable to that of the 350Z. 

Out on the open road the RX-8 feels even better. It hugs the pavement progressively, meaning the deeper it gets into a turn the harder it grips, which is wonderfully confidence-inspiring. 

The optional Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) works effectively, yet allows the driver to work the tires without intruding. The RX-8 wasn't completely forgiving when driven hard on an autocross circuit. We found with too much throttle the Mazda would understeer (the front tires plowing, and the car going straight instead of turning). When we pushed it still harder, driving like hacks, the DSC would kick in to limit the understeer. What we learned is that the DSC is programmed to tolerate small errors but saves you from the big ones. In other words, it will let you get away with two feet of understeer in a curve, but not six feet. 

And when DSC does take over, it uses the brakes, slowing one or more wheels as needed to correct the imbalance. The electronic stability control systems in other cars correct skidding by closing the throttle, which skilled drivers find intrusive. The RX-8's DSC will eventually cut the throttle too, but not so early that it frustrates you. 

When we switched the DSC off, we discovered two things that together seem paradoxical: how good the DSC is (because we could barely fe. 

Summary

The Mazda RX-8 is a unique sports car. Its four-seat, four-door configuration is an original design that works. The rotary engine is super smooth, simple, high-revving and almost indestructible. It's complemented by a beautiful six-speed gearbox and great brakes. The RX-8 is a great sports car with an innovative approach and admirable engineering. 

NewCarTestDrive.com correspondent Sam Moses filed this report from Irvine, California, with Mitch McCullough reporting from Los Angeles. 

Model Lineup

Mazda RX-8 Sport manual or automatic ($26,435); Touring manual ($29,535); Touring automatic ($30,335): Grand Touring manual ($31,070); Grand Touring automatic ($31,770). 

Assembled In

Hiroshima, Japan. 

Options As Tested

Performance Package ($1,300) includes xenon headlights, fog lights, DSC with traction control; in-dash 6-disc CD ($500); Rotary Accent Package ($159).