| Mazda RX-8 231PS | ||
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Rotary Rocket Well, Alan's word is good enough for me, but all the same I was looking forward to seeing for myself. Sure enough, the RX-8 has four doors (the rear ones hinged from the back in a manner not seen in the mainstream motor industry for a very long time), and it is as sporty as you could wish for in anything which retained a decent level of real-world practicality.
The details are too complicated to deal with in a road test article, but in broad terms what Mazda has done is to measure the chamber created between each section of one rotor (654cc) and multiply it by the number of rotors (two). Rather prosaically, it describes the result as 654cc x 2, which to you and me equals 1308cc. Arguments have raged for decades about whether this is the right way to quote the size of a rotary engine, but it's generally accepted - certainly in motorsport circles - that you have to multiply by two again because of the way the engine works.
In the case of the RX-8, that takes you to 2616cc, which seem a reasonable figure when you consider how the engine actually performs. Mazda would no doubt prefer to claim that the RX-8 is enormously powerful for a 1308cc car, but it would be just as appropriate to say that it is also dreadfully dirty and monstrously uneconomical compared with other 1.3s. For CARkeys purposes, therefore, 2616cc it is. The same engine is available in two forms, the 230bhp one tested here being the more muscular of them. Full power isn't released until you reach 8200rpm, which sounds unbelievably high but is actually fairly modest for a rotary. The rev-limiter doesn't cut in until 9500rpm, by which time the generally subdued tone has become an unearthly scream. It's tempting to experience this as often as possible, though for social reasons you might be advised to make sure you're well away from the neighbours before you try it. The characteristics which allow rotary engines to rev so high also mean that they don't have much mid-range torque. In fact the RX-8 is reasonably quick at modest engine speeds, but it's not startling, and would feel gutless to anyone used to driving a powerful turbo diesel. Another feature of rotaries is that they are exceptionally compact. Almost every CARkeys road test of a Subaru has at some point mentioned the beneficial effects of the low centre of gravity gained by the flat-four layout of their engines. The RX-8 goes on better, because its engine is not only very low, it's also very narrow. So what? Well, in most other cars the engine is a large lump of metal whose mass has to be catered for by the suspension. In the RX-8 you can hardly feel that there is an engine under the bonnet at all (in fact it's occupying a small space just behind the front axle). When tackling interesting country roads you get the impression that the suspension is carrying the structure of the car without being compromised by the weight of the power unit. This gives Mazda's suspension people an enormous advantage: all other considerations aside, the rotary engine allows for a very well-balanced chassis because of its compact dimensions. I suppose it would still have been possible to get the set-up wrong, but that's not the case here. The RX-8 turns in to corners with amazing sharpness and will accept bootfuls of throttle on the exit with only the occasional hint that the back end is in any way struggling to stay under control. The Bridgestone Potenza rubber must be playing a part in this, of course, but not necessarily a dominant one. Through its own efforts, Mazda has created one of the most beautifully poised sports cars I've driven for a long time.
The interior is neatly designed and apparently - as far as it's possible to tell in a new car - solidly put together. The instruments emphasise the feeling of sportiness, principally because the largest of them is a revcounter right in the middle of the panel with zero at the six o'clock position. I felt the effect was spoiled by the fact that the minor gauges (fuel level and so on) are not sporty at all, and I didn't particularly like the fact that the speedometer is digital. This may be a personal thing, but I prefer analogue, and if I had to choose any instrument to be digital the speedometer would be right at the bottom of the list. I've left the seating arrangement till last because I find it the least convincing aspect of the RX-8. Mazda seems to have been absolutely determined to make this car a four-seater in the same way that Nissan absolutely refused to have any truck with more than two seats in the 350Z. The rear seats in the Mazda are practical enough, though I couldn't sit in them with the front ones in a position that would allow me to drive the car. Only small adults or children need apply.
I realised this when I was sitting there. I closed the rear door but left the driver's door open. My head was touching the roof, my shoulder was up against the door, my knees were digging into the front seat, and my thigh was in contact with the cockpit-long transmission tunnel. If the driver's door had blown shut, it would have been completely impossible for me to get out. Mazda calls has given its door system the name Freestyle and describes it as - I quote - "completely safe", but I couldn't help imagining situations in which this would turn out to be tragically untrue. Price: £22,000 |
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In his launch report of the RX-8 range, Alan Douglas established beyond doubt that it was indeed possible, as Mazda had claimed to have done, to create a genuine sports car which also happened to have four doors..gif)
The key to its sportiness is the engine. Mazda is the only manufacturer to have continued taking Felix Wankel's rotor- as opposed to piston-based power unit seriously, even though for some time after the demise of the RX-7 it didn't actually sell any. Rotary engines are very special in a number of ways, of which we'll be dealing with the more important ones shortly. Lovers of trivia, however, will squeak with delight at a less crucial issue, which is that measuring the capacity of one of these things is a bit tricky..gif)
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With the more powerful of the two engines, this RX-8 also gets a six-speed gearbox (the 190bhp version makes do with five gears). The ratios are close, fifth out of the six in this car being the same as fourth out of the five in the other one. Top gear equates to about 20mph per 1000rpm, which is more relaxing than it would be with a piston engine, and the short gaps between all the gears sits nicely with the high-revving nature of the rotary. The shift quality is a little clunky in town but sweetens up nicely when you're zipping along country roads or enjoying a track day..gif)
Fair enough. I'm less happy with the method of entry. Famously, and as mentioned above, the rear doors hinge at the back, and they can only be used if the front ones are already open. This effectively reduces the chances of them springing open themselves to zero, but it also means that there is almost no way of getting out of the back without assistance.
