Mazda RX-8 R3 review
by David Finlay (31 July 2008)
The RX-8 range in the UK has been simplified to the point where there is now only one model on sale. In Japan, Mazda has uprated the old 192PS model (that's 189bhp in British money) so that it now produces 210PS (207bhp), which is so close to the 231PS (228bhp) of the more powerful version that Mazda UK decided it wasn't worth importing both cars. From now on, then, if you want a new RX-8 it's going to have to be a 231PS.
Or, to put it another way, it's going to be an R3, which is Mazda's name for the mildly reworked version tested here. At £24,995, it's nearly £2000 more expensive than the old 231PS car, but it's also better equipped. As standard, it comes with a Sports Styling Pack (front bumper, side skirts, rear wing), revised lights and intakes, very supportive Recaro seats, beautiful 19" alloy wheels, cruise control, automatic headlights and wipers, R3-badged carpet mats and an integrated Bluetooth system.
The rotary engine has been tweaked very slightly, but it still produces the same 228bhp, and performance figures of 0-62mph in 6.4 seconds and a top speed of 146mph remain unchanged. These are startling numbers if you accept Mazda's estimation that the engine capacity is just 1308cc, but there are two ways of measuring the size of a rotary unit, and I prefer the one which gives a figure of 2616cc.
If you go for the 1308cc option you can fairly say that the RX-8 has the most powerful 1.3-litre engine available in the UK, but you then have to accept that it is also by far the dirtiest and least economical. The fuel consumption and CO2 figures have never been an RX-8 strong point, but now (perhaps largely because the R3 is heavier than the car it replaces) they are even worse at 24.6mpg combined and 299g/km, the latter statistic putting the RX-8 firmly into the highest category of VED with a tax bill of £400, rising to £440 from next April.
And don't go thinking that you'll actually achieve 24.6mpg. I picked up the test car 27 miles after its tank had last been filled, and the petrol warning light came on at just over 250 miles. Even with a very charitable estimate of how much fuel had been consumed, I doubt that I had managed more than 20mpg during that time.
You're probably thinking that I was enjoying myself too much, over-appreciating in the strange song of the rotary engine as it soared up to the 9000rpm limit. Well, there was a certain amount of that, but in the same period I also pottered through a couple of villages, cruised gently down a motorway within the legal speed limit, and wandered through some back roads enjoying the scenery more than the car.
I certainly wasn't going hard for anything like the full 250 miles, so I reckon that anyone who consistently beat 20mpg would be treating the RX-8 very gently indeed.
And that isn't the way to experience the car at its best, though you can still enjoy yourself at low speeds. The best things about the rotary engine are that it is very compact, the centre of gravity is very low, and it can be mounted a long way back in the chassis. These are all good things, and they give Mazda a head start in making a proper sports car of the RX-8.
It was already very good in that respect, but more work has been done to create the R3. The suspension and steering have been revised, and one result of this is that the R3 is quite soft but very well damped, which is just what you want in a high-performance road car.
The only slight glitch is that the low-profile tyres spoil the ride, which would be much better if that cleverly-tuned suspension had the right rubber to work with, but apart from that the R3 instantly feels like a properly-handling machine even from very low speeds.
As you start tackling corners with real gusto, though, you need to put significant power through the rear wheels to maintain the balance of the car. The RX-8 has that power, but you have to send the engine spinning beyond 6000rpm in order to unleash it. This isn't particularly easy even on a race circuit, and on the road it's a noisy, tiresome process, and one which involves throwing bucketloads of fuel into the engine.
I'm talking from my head here. My heart says something quite different, namely that the RX-8 is just fabulous fun to drive quickly. It also provides a rewarding experience when you're not going so hard - it reacts so well, yet so smoothly, to steering inputs that even just a gentle run can be very satisfying.
There are a few annoying features. For example, I found the gearchange to be stiff and notchy, though that might have been because the test car had less than 1000 miles on the clock. The footrest has room for my toes but not my heel, so my foot lay at an awkward angle which soon led to a twinge of pain in my exquisitely formed left buttock.
And while I admire the thinking behind the rear doors, which hinge at the back, I'm not happy about the way they can't be opened unless the front ones are open too; the idea of being trapped inside, unable to reach beyond someone else's unconscious body to the front handle, is the stuff of nightmares.
The first time I ever drove an RX-8 I reckoned it would be fantastic for a weekend but not something I would want to live with for long (unlike Mazda's MX-5, which I would keep for ever). Several years on I still think the same. The R3 is a fascinating, deeply quirky car which provides an experience no other manufacturer can quite match. I can absolutely see why so many people want to buy one, and are happy to have done so, even though the decision to make the purchase is based far more on emotion than on common sense.
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