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Dean Slavnich drives the new Mazda RX-8
Most praise heaped on the RX-8 centres on the rotary unit under the bonnet. But there’s more to this four-seater sports car than just a different engine motive as Dean Slavnich found out during a recent test drive.

Due to its Triple-H body structure design, the RX-8 has one of the most impressive driving stability offerings in its class

At the turn of the new century Mazda embarked on a product offensive that had been unparalleled in its 44 years of making cars and trucks. Safely under Ford’s wing, the small Japanese carmaker rolled out the acclaimed Mazda6, the Mazda2 and Mazda3 models.

But it’s the RX-8, a rotary engine powered sportscar that sits firmly at the helm of the new look Mazda tree. This car is the darling of the Mazda family.

The RX-8 has justifiably won much praise since its initial launch. It’s a unique sportscar that, with its freestyle door system, easily houses four people. It has an exterior design that oozes emotion and an interior quality feel that would not look amiss on a German sportscar, but more on that later.

The real catch to the RX-8 lies under the bonnet: this sportscar is the only rotary engine production car in the world. Last year, to the surprise of many in the industry, it even picked-up the engine of the year gong.

The unit, which Mazda chiefs have called Renesis, is a water-cooled, twin-rotor engine with two chambers, each with 654 cm3 of displacement volume. The standard unit produces 192 ps (141 kW) at 7,000 rpm and 220 Nm (163 lb ft) of torque at 5,000 rpm, ensuring the sportscar sprints from 0-100 km/h in 7.2 seconds before peaking at 223 km/h (139 mph).

If that’s not enough power, a high end derivative to the Renesis unit is also on the market, generating 231 ps (170 kW) at 8,200 rpm and 211 Nm (156 lb ft) of torque at 5,500 rpm. The tweaked RX-8 hits 100 km/h from standstill in less than 6.5 seconds and is capable of reaching a top speed of 235 km/h (146 mph).

Mazda chiefs love the rotary engine so much that even when designing the RX-8 they insisted on a rotor shaped bulge in the centre of the bonnet

The rotary engine might be the hook to the RX-8, but it does not tell the whole story. The chassis, for example, is another very impressive area.

For the RX-8, Mazda engineers opted for the proven Triple-H body structure design which consists of high-support steel beams that aid the floor, sides and roof of the RX-8. This, along with tunnel cross members that are bolted to the underbody at the lower, open end of the transmission tunnel, ensures the RX-8 has one of the most impressive driving stability offerings in its class.

And there’s more. There’s a newly developed double-wishbone front suspension system, with the upper and lower aluminium forged arms mounted to a rigid front subframe. There’s also a newly constructed multi-link rear suspension with five lines per side.

The rear subframe, to which the rear suspension is mounted, consists of two boomerang-shaped side members. These have been mounted to the cross members at their front and back ends by rubber bushings, and at three points – the front, back and centre – in the form of a three-dimensional triangle.

Such an innovative design firstly produces a very stable ride. The RX-8 corners with ease with the wheels almost ‘glued’ to the road. It literally eats up the tarmac and overcomes any challenge with ease.

Yet such a system is also felt inside the cabin. The ride is smooth, comfortable and, along with the pliant rubber mounts, there’s minimal NVH. All that can be heard is the sexy turbine like growl of the rotary under the bonnet and whining whistle of the twin exhausts at the rear.

In fact, the RX-8 is packed with state-of-of-the-art technology. Mazda’s front engine, rear-wheel drive sportscar boasts a plethora of active and passive safety systems. It also has Mazda’s acclaimed rack drive electric power-assisted steering technology that feeds the driver the exact amount of information he or she needs to keep the car under control. The analogy of being ‘glued to the road’ springs back to mind.

The fine engineering of the car is matched by the high quality interior. The optimal two-colour leather – black and red – with matching trim is a must, but it’s the smaller details that go a long way, like the front headrests that are shaped aptly in the form of a triangle rotor.

Another example are the seats, which have been developed on the basis of several Mazda ergonomic studies to determine, among other factors, the pressure distribution of driver and passengers on the seats and seat backs. The result is that, despite sitting in a low sportscar, one always feels comfortable, even when high revving in second gear. Other noteworthy touches include the aluminium brushed effect on the instrument cluster and the leather-covered steering wheel.

Due to the car’s long-wheel base, compact rotary engine and design of the freestyle doors, the RX-8 offers a surprising amount of space for a sportscar. For the driver and frontal passenger, there’s 970 mm of headroom and 1,084 mm of legroom. The impressive stat, however, is in the rear, where backseat passengers can make use of 935 mm of headroom and 817 mm of legroom. As one Mazda spokesperson told AE: “The back seats are not simply meant to only carry school children.” In the boot the RX-8 can hold up to 290 litres of luggage space.

Rounding off the RX-8 is the design that was penned in Mazda’s design centre in Japan. It has extremely short overhangs that add a dynamic zest to the car. The RX-8 also has prominent fenders, aggressively styled bumpers and a unique bonnet crease.

There’s even a rotor shaped bulge in the centre of the bonnet that blatantly advertises, once again, the fact that this is no ordinary sportscar: the heart of the RX-8 is rotary.

Great engineering, high quality interior and a design that speaks emotion. The RX-8 symbolically shows in what direction Mazda is headed in. Yet the car is not perfect. A few pointers spring to mind. Due to the low seating and a roofline that dramatically drops into a rear spoiler, the RX-8 is not the easiest car to park. In fact, rivals like the Audi TT Roadster, Nissan 350Z and Chrysler Crossfire offer far more vision when reverse parking.

Then there’s the rotary engine. Different it might be, but the oil needs to be checked every 805 km/s (500 miles) and it drinks petrol like a whale feasting on plankton. On combined the standard unit does 10.8 l/100 km while the higher spec engine achieves 11.4 l/100 km.

Some have even said the RX-8 is not a worthy successor to the iconic RX-7, but such a school of thought, thankfully, is rare and often dismissed because, despite the flaws to the RX-8 – of which there are only a few – Mazda’s new millennium darling is a very good car.

As well as being engineered to a high level, the RX-8 also dares to be different. Different in engine power, different in seating capacity and different in design. Mazda chiefs have been bold in opting against following the herd and the result is that the RX-8 is a car that, in its own right, occupies a very important position in today’s clustered sportscar segment.