This is the one I've been waiting for....

AutoWeek's Roatary Spin

:edited to get link at the top

 

What I'd like to put here is the icon from the rx7 forum with the monkey wanking it. But the maturity level of this forum is somewhat above that. So how bout, "That is really sweet. I can't wait for that issue".

 

I took a look at the article on their site, and they like the RX-8. Alot. They take issue with designating it as a 'sports car', but the article basically boils down to goodness on the behalf of Mazda. The future of this car is looking very bright indeed. On a similar note, Car and Driver posted it's review of the v-6 powered Mazda6 s. They heaped similar praise on it as well. Apparently, the 6 is only 0.5 of a second off the Altima's sprint to 60 mph, impressive considering the power deficit the 6 is working with. With the Protege garnering priase and awards, the 6 shaping up to be the sleeper mid-sized hit this year and the RX-8 garnering much praise, Mazda should be cheering. Not only that, but they continue to make money in the face of their parent company, Ford, posting yet more losses. Go Mazda Go.

Matt
1979 SA22C
"No rotor, no motor."

 

From the article: The front seatbelts are attached to the front seats, not the rear doors. That'll make egress fro rear passengers easier if they need to get out while the driver stays in.

Cool.

-Patrick

 

There's a new forum in town, and this thread belongs in it...

---jps

 

OK Velociti. You're right. My remark was brief and not real intuitive. However I couldn't link the article as it's not out yet. Autoweek always premiers there next issue in the upper left of their site to promote subscriptions. Hence the image only. Those of us with AutoWeek subscriptions watch your mailboxes!

But I'd still like to see the 'wanking monkey' anyway.

 

Here's the article.

 

YES! Its been a tough fight, but looks like this car is finally getting the recognition it deserves, im happy for mazda it always seemed to me they were the "lil engine" (forgive the pun) that could. ill b getting the 2005 model which is in the year 2004 for those who dont realize car years are always 1 ahead........ I CAN'T WAIT I hope they dont do anything major to the car till then ............... BAH I WANT MY RX-8 :p

 

Hey Herc, [insert subject line]

 

I found the link by going to autoweek and searching on rx-8. Perhaps Herc had a more elegant method?

Brian

 

Ditto.

Just copied and pasted the link after

 

My fault. That wasn't my intent at all...my response was just incoherent. I'm looking foward to the article since my brother sends down all his R&T's and Autoweeks. Sorry. Meanwhile let me find you the wanking monkey....

 

So what is the word on final horse/torque specs? They seem to vary between 240-250 and 155lb/ft to 162lb/ft.

Hopefully Mazda hits the 250/160 mark.....

 

I think Autoweek missed the point. The RX-8 looks like a sports car, accelerates 0-60 in under 6 seconds, handles better than anything else on the market in its price range with that 50-50 weight distribution, and has a back seat that will hold two adults. Where is it written that a real sports car cannot seat 4 people? If the RX-8 looked like a coupe, I'd be OK calling it that. But it doesn't look like a coupe. It looks like a sports car.

 

Since the Evolv concept and announcement that the RX-8 would go into production, the media to this day still has an identity crisis with this car. Is it a 2+2 Coupe? A 4-door sports car? Or is it a Sports Sedan to be regrettably compared to the FWD Mazda6 s? Should the back seats be ripped for storage to pigeon-hole it as a couple? As said in the article, if you don’t look over your shoulder you could swear it was such a car.

 

I'm guessing 247 HP and 159 ft. lb.; that seems to be the figure that has consistently popped up in the (more reputable) articles.

 

As good as the article was, there were a couple of comments that bothered me about it. I don't understand why Mandel couldn't see more beauty in the RX-8. I guess it's just a matter of preference, but most everything about the styling of the RX-8 (with the exception of the sedan-like rear window, instead of something more coupe-like) screams beauty and sports car.

Mandel also mentioned that it wouldn't likely be competitive with European auto makes. What? If you're just talking performance and fun-to-drive factor, I would expect the RX-8 to blow the doors off of anything from BMW or Mercedes minus those with a "M" or "AMG" in the title.

 

So it sounds like there will be a sport model/package with the big rubber. Hmmm, similar strategy to the Miata option packaging? I wonder who predicted that months ago... :D

Has Mazda suddenly changed the name of the powerplant, or what? Its Renesis, right? Or am I going nuts?

Promising. A few other articles complained about understeer, but the AutoWeek article (the most credible source yet) says its basically neutral in everyday driving, and better yet, oversteer is easily induced.

I don't want to start a flame war about the 350Z vs. RX-8 styling. All I want to say is this: I find it very interesting how 99% of the people who like the RX-8's styling don't like the 350Z's styling, and vice versa. I can't think of two other cars that have people so clearly on one side of the fence or the other.

I just like this quote.

 

Toadman, the opening paragraph is as follows:

Mazda is trying hard to spin its new rotary engine-powered RX-8 story, and we’ll have none of it. Neither should you: RX-8 is a sports car as Godzilla is a house pet

Autoweek is wrong, wrong, wrong. The RX-8 is a sports car with a back seat.

 

and so would i... not only in terms of go, but also in price.... hmmm...
but Ice, this comparison, to SPORTS SEDANS has always been the right sort of comparison: i agree with Dutch on just about everything in the article, opinion wise (i've not experienced the 7 or the 8 for nostalgia to "wash over" me... ), and i sense that the "sports car" terminology isn't really something to loose sleep over... it's all about perspecitve, right?? what does sports car mean to average Joe American?? well, it depends on what Joe American's average car is... if it's a Camry, then i suppose Mazda could pull the wool over his eyes... if he's used to burning around in something small, tight, and two-doored, maybe not...

regardless, Dutch DOES say right at the bottom: "...full of sports car excitement"
is that statisfactory??

 

Hey I'd be very happy if my car insurance did not call the RX-8 a sports car

 

:D

 

The styling doesn't "wow?" What car is Autoweek looking at? I've been drooling over this car since the RX Evolve first was shown, and it's "wow" factor hasn't diminished one bit for me....and it's been like three years since the RX Evolve!! Three years is an eternity in automotive design.

I'm one of the lucky few who has seen an RX-8 on the road (in Dearborn, MI....lucky me works for Ford!), and in person, it looks very Ferrari-ish. There's nothing "Japanese" about its styling. Will everyone like it? Of course not. That's not the point. The point is, there are enough people out there who are very anxious to put one in their garage.

The argument about it not being a sports car is silly. In today's world of automotive cross-overs (AWD wagons, luxury trucks, minivans, PT Cruisers, etc), why can't a sports car have four doors and seat four adults? Why should we be bound by the "classic" definition of a sports car that is rooted back in the first half of the 20th century? A sports car should rather be defined by one simple mantra: Is It Fun To Drive?? The old MG "sports cars" were horribly underpowered and were technological dinosaurs even by the standards of their day, but they put a big smile on your face when you drove them, as the RX-8 surely will.

But I do agree with bwayout......I'd be really happy if State Farm calls it a four-door sedan for insurance purposes!

 

Toad, I'm hoping that the RX-8 will hold its own with the Boxster, Z, and S2000. I will be disappointed if it gets comparison-tested with the G35 coupe and the WRX. A 10,000 RPM redline and a 50-50 weight distribution is sports car country, and I am still annoyed that Autoweek went out of its way to argue this point in their opening sentence.

 

the article said it isnt as visually appealing but i dont know whats not to like about its looks. a four seater cant be much more sleek than that. i dont know how much more you can expect.