MSN Autos review article by Ann Job (different from her previous article).
09-20-2003 | 09:49 PM
#1
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MSN Autos review article by Ann Job (different from her previous article).
This is another review written by Ann Job, who had a different article of hers posted on here about a week ago. She refined and updated her original review, adding mention of the HP debacle
This one was written for MSN Autos website.
Read the original article here.
In the Driver's Seat with Ann Job
2004 Mazda RX-8
------------------------------
Pros:
Unique rotary technology
Great fun on winding roads
More room in back seats than expected
------------------------------
Cons:
Confused interior
Purists may prefer real sport coupe
Not the sleekest or prettiest exterior
------------------------------
Summary:
Overall rating is 8.75
------------------------------
Mazda returns to rotary power with its 2004 RX-8 sporty car. The
successor to the popular RX-7, the RX-8 is a fun road machine. It
differs from its predecessor because it has four seats and four
doors.
------------------------------
You know what I kept thinking as I drove Mazda's new RX-8?
What delicious temptation this nicely balanced, rotary-powered,
sporty car offers.
Realize I'm not necessarily talking about driving race-car fast in
this new, 2+2 car.
Sometimes in my test drive, the 2004 RX-8 felt good darting around
a slower car in the city. Other times, it traveled winding roads
like it was glued to the pavement. Sometimes, it was just nice to
be able to snag a small curbside parking spot in San Francisco in
this 14.5-foot-long car.
Introduced in summer 2003, the RX-8 is the long-awaited successor
to Mazda's RX-7, which was a sporty two-seater with a rotary
engine that went out of U.S. distribution after the 1995 model
year as sales lagged.
A key reason for the sales problem: An RX-7 price tag that had
gotten up to around $38,000.
The RX-8, with its more modern features and new-generation
Renesis rotary engine, not to mention a back seat for two and golf
club-toting trunk, has a starting manufacturer's suggested
retail price that's some $12,000 less.
Specifically, at introduction, an RX-8 with automatic transmission
had a starting manufacturer's suggested retail price around $25,000.
A version with the six-speed manual started at more than
$26,000.
Rotary history
No other automaker offers a mass-produced passenger vehicle with a
rotary engine.
The rotary internal combustion engine is firmly entrenched in
Mazda history. A four-rotor engine helped Mazda become the first
Japanese carmaker to win an overall victory in 1991 in the famous
24 Hours of Le Mans.
Rotary engines work by handling intake, compression, combustion
and exhaust, one after another, via a turning, triangular-shaped
rotor in a cocoon-like combustion chamber.
Rotaries are compact power plants, known to be smooth and high-
revving, which was consistent with the RX-8 tester with manual
transmission, whose redline was at 9000 rpm.
Torque isn't necessarily the best. The manual RX-8 with 1.3-liter,
twin-rotor, naturally aspirated rotary that I drove was rated at
159 lb-ft of torque at 5500 rpm. This moves the RX-8 from 0 to 60
miles an hour in an estimated 6.4 seconds, not exactly a top
number among sportst-ers.
In comparison, a 2003 Mazdaspeed Protégé with a turbocharged four
cylinder could put out 160 lb-ft of torque at a low, 3500 rpm.
A big "oops"
Horsepower is better. Embarrassingly for Mazda officials, they had
to restate and lower the RX-8's horsepower numbers in late summer
2003 after discovering they had publicized the
numbers for the Japan engine, not the U.S.
engine which had to comply with U.S. fuel efficiency standards.
For the record, the RX-8's rotary is capable of 197 horsepower
with automatic transmission and 238 horses with six-speed manual.
Mazda officials have offered to buy back cars from people who
purchased an RX-8 believing the earlier horsepower numbers. If a
buyer chooses to keep his or her RX-8, the company can provide
free maintenance during the warranty period and a $500 credit for
gasoline.
Sadly, this is not the first time Mazda had this issue. In 1999,
the company restated the horsepower on its Miata roadster.
Four doors and four seats
Purists may cringe, but Mazda wanted to make the RX-8 a usable,
sporty car and so installed two, small, rear-hinged doors (a la
those on Saturn's Ion) to access the two, separate, rear seats.
Note there's no stationary pillar here between these front and
rear doors, which Mazda officials refer to as "freestyle" rather
than the common lingo, "suicide doors." Reportedly, adding
such a stationary pillar would have added nearly 6 inches to the
overall length of the RX-8.
I was skeptical about the rear-seat accommodations but found it
relatively easy to climb into the RX-8 back seats. I also found a
lot more leg and head room than I expected, especially if the
front seats are up a ways on their tracks.
A company spokesman noted the hip point for rear-seat riders is
about 3 inches higher than that for the front-seat riders, helping
explain why exit and entry back there is less cumbersome than
expected.
I still wouldn't want to ride back there on a long trip, because
the rear window pillar is thick and blocks views out and the tall
center console set atop the car's prominent center tunnel between
the two seats is confining.
About that styling
I wasn't too impressed by the RX-8's styling, inside or out.
Exterior styling has a lot of odd bulges here and there, including
a couple on the roof.
It's quite a different approach to a sporty car than, say, the
sleek and tautly pulled sheet metal of the Nissan 350Z.
Inside the RX-8, there's a similar sense of confusion as a couple
air vents and the center stack in the dashboard have a round
theme, while here and there, Mazda designers interjected softly
triangular shapes designed to be reminiscent of the rotary engine.
The test car's fabric seats, with side-ribbed material, and the
optional floor mats that had a different kind of pattern, added to
the helter-skelter feel. The seats were very comfortable.
Odds and ends
The speedometer in the RX-8 is a digital readout tucked inside the
tachometer. There is no analog speedo gauge.
The rotary engine isn't on display in the engine compartment. In
fact, it's covered by a black plastic cover. So is the RX-8 battery.
The rotary has a different sound than a regular internal
combustion engine--not as "buzzy" as a four cylinder and not as deep
in tone as a V6.
This one was written for MSN Autos website.
Read the original article here.
In the Driver's Seat with Ann Job
2004 Mazda RX-8
------------------------------
Pros:
Unique rotary technology
Great fun on winding roads
More room in back seats than expected
------------------------------
Cons:
Confused interior
Purists may prefer real sport coupe
Not the sleekest or prettiest exterior
------------------------------
Summary:
Overall rating is 8.75
------------------------------
Mazda returns to rotary power with its 2004 RX-8 sporty car. The
successor to the popular RX-7, the RX-8 is a fun road machine. It
differs from its predecessor because it has four seats and four
doors.
------------------------------
You know what I kept thinking as I drove Mazda's new RX-8?
What delicious temptation this nicely balanced, rotary-powered,
sporty car offers.
Realize I'm not necessarily talking about driving race-car fast in
this new, 2+2 car.
Sometimes in my test drive, the 2004 RX-8 felt good darting around
a slower car in the city. Other times, it traveled winding roads
like it was glued to the pavement. Sometimes, it was just nice to
be able to snag a small curbside parking spot in San Francisco in
this 14.5-foot-long car.
Introduced in summer 2003, the RX-8 is the long-awaited successor
to Mazda's RX-7, which was a sporty two-seater with a rotary
engine that went out of U.S. distribution after the 1995 model
year as sales lagged.
A key reason for the sales problem: An RX-7 price tag that had
gotten up to around $38,000.
The RX-8, with its more modern features and new-generation
Renesis rotary engine, not to mention a back seat for two and golf
club-toting trunk, has a starting manufacturer's suggested
retail price that's some $12,000 less.
Specifically, at introduction, an RX-8 with automatic transmission
had a starting manufacturer's suggested retail price around $25,000.
A version with the six-speed manual started at more than
$26,000.
Rotary history
No other automaker offers a mass-produced passenger vehicle with a
rotary engine.
The rotary internal combustion engine is firmly entrenched in
Mazda history. A four-rotor engine helped Mazda become the first
Japanese carmaker to win an overall victory in 1991 in the famous
24 Hours of Le Mans.
Rotary engines work by handling intake, compression, combustion
and exhaust, one after another, via a turning, triangular-shaped
rotor in a cocoon-like combustion chamber.
Rotaries are compact power plants, known to be smooth and high-
revving, which was consistent with the RX-8 tester with manual
transmission, whose redline was at 9000 rpm.
Torque isn't necessarily the best. The manual RX-8 with 1.3-liter,
twin-rotor, naturally aspirated rotary that I drove was rated at
159 lb-ft of torque at 5500 rpm. This moves the RX-8 from 0 to 60
miles an hour in an estimated 6.4 seconds, not exactly a top
number among sportst-ers.
In comparison, a 2003 Mazdaspeed Protégé with a turbocharged four
cylinder could put out 160 lb-ft of torque at a low, 3500 rpm.
A big "oops"
Horsepower is better. Embarrassingly for Mazda officials, they had
to restate and lower the RX-8's horsepower numbers in late summer
2003 after discovering they had publicized the
numbers for the Japan engine, not the U.S.
engine which had to comply with U.S. fuel efficiency standards.
For the record, the RX-8's rotary is capable of 197 horsepower
with automatic transmission and 238 horses with six-speed manual.
Mazda officials have offered to buy back cars from people who
purchased an RX-8 believing the earlier horsepower numbers. If a
buyer chooses to keep his or her RX-8, the company can provide
free maintenance during the warranty period and a $500 credit for
gasoline.
Sadly, this is not the first time Mazda had this issue. In 1999,
the company restated the horsepower on its Miata roadster.
Four doors and four seats
Purists may cringe, but Mazda wanted to make the RX-8 a usable,
sporty car and so installed two, small, rear-hinged doors (a la
those on Saturn's Ion) to access the two, separate, rear seats.
Note there's no stationary pillar here between these front and
rear doors, which Mazda officials refer to as "freestyle" rather
than the common lingo, "suicide doors." Reportedly, adding
such a stationary pillar would have added nearly 6 inches to the
overall length of the RX-8.
I was skeptical about the rear-seat accommodations but found it
relatively easy to climb into the RX-8 back seats. I also found a
lot more leg and head room than I expected, especially if the
front seats are up a ways on their tracks.
A company spokesman noted the hip point for rear-seat riders is
about 3 inches higher than that for the front-seat riders, helping
explain why exit and entry back there is less cumbersome than
expected.
I still wouldn't want to ride back there on a long trip, because
the rear window pillar is thick and blocks views out and the tall
center console set atop the car's prominent center tunnel between
the two seats is confining.
About that styling
I wasn't too impressed by the RX-8's styling, inside or out.
Exterior styling has a lot of odd bulges here and there, including
a couple on the roof.
It's quite a different approach to a sporty car than, say, the
sleek and tautly pulled sheet metal of the Nissan 350Z.
Inside the RX-8, there's a similar sense of confusion as a couple
air vents and the center stack in the dashboard have a round
theme, while here and there, Mazda designers interjected softly
triangular shapes designed to be reminiscent of the rotary engine.
The test car's fabric seats, with side-ribbed material, and the
optional floor mats that had a different kind of pattern, added to
the helter-skelter feel. The seats were very comfortable.
Odds and ends
The speedometer in the RX-8 is a digital readout tucked inside the
tachometer. There is no analog speedo gauge.
The rotary engine isn't on display in the engine compartment. In
fact, it's covered by a black plastic cover. So is the RX-8 battery.
The rotary has a different sound than a regular internal
combustion engine--not as "buzzy" as a four cylinder and not as deep
in tone as a V6.
Last edited by Squidward; 09-20-2003 at 10:05 PM.
09-20-2003 | 10:05 PM
#3
Momentum Keeps Me Going
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 5,036
Likes: 4
From: Colorado
From the MSN site:
"Today Ann is recognized as one of the nation's leading auto journalists and is a juror for the annual North American Car and Truck of the Year awards, composed of a select number of automotive journalists from around the country."
I have to say that this shows (once again) how total dim bulbs can profess to be 'auto experts', believe their own hype, obviously get others to believe their BS, and proceed to write reviews so lame, they should be mightly ashamed of their lack of having a clue, but they probably simply don't know enough to be!
So so sad. Bring on the **annual North American Car and Truck of the Year awards** Ann!
"Today Ann is recognized as one of the nation's leading auto journalists and is a juror for the annual North American Car and Truck of the Year awards, composed of a select number of automotive journalists from around the country."
I have to say that this shows (once again) how total dim bulbs can profess to be 'auto experts', believe their own hype, obviously get others to believe their BS, and proceed to write reviews so lame, they should be mightly ashamed of their lack of having a clue, but they probably simply don't know enough to be!
So so sad. Bring on the **annual North American Car and Truck of the Year awards** Ann!
Last edited by Spin9k; 09-20-2003 at 10:14 PM.
She's still a twit - it was the 2001 Miata.
09-21-2003 | 02:46 AM
#6
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 290
Likes: 0
From: Edmonton
review
0-60 in 6.4secs..................well, that is close to the estimates I have seen from 5.9 to 6.4, but how can she say that is not fast??.........all other reviews loved the performance...................I wonder if she got it out of second gear...........:D
only review I have seen as well that did not like the styling or interior..........and why bring up the Protege???........like come on...........it is nowhere close to being as fast in the 0-60 or 1/4mile times................oh well.................
only review I have seen as well that did not like the styling or interior..........and why bring up the Protege???........like come on...........it is nowhere close to being as fast in the 0-60 or 1/4mile times................oh well.................
09-22-2003 | 05:52 PM
#9
Administrator
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 21,958
Likes: 115
From: portland oregon
biting my tongue lest i use some very bad words to describe this woman! Ann Job, the rx-8 is not the succesor to the rx-7!! got it?!
hmm, Ms. Job? and what was the 0-60 time of that protege? lets see that's 1 less lbs-ft of T but alot quicker for the 8. that's not good? and estimated? don't care to measure for yourself? some journalist you are.
and the rest of the article is simply copy and paste from her previous article. must be nice to write one article and get payed for it from several different companies.
was rated at
159 lb-ft of torque at 5500 rpm. This moves the RX-8 from 0 to 60
miles an hour in an estimated 6.4 seconds, not exactly a top
number among sportst-ers.
In comparison, a 2003 Mazdaspeed Protégé with a turbocharged four
cylinder could put out 160 lb-ft of torque at a low, 3500 rpm.
159 lb-ft of torque at 5500 rpm. This moves the RX-8 from 0 to 60
miles an hour in an estimated 6.4 seconds, not exactly a top
number among sportst-ers.
In comparison, a 2003 Mazdaspeed Protégé with a turbocharged four
cylinder could put out 160 lb-ft of torque at a low, 3500 rpm.
and the rest of the article is simply copy and paste from her previous article. must be nice to write one article and get payed for it from several different companies.
Last edited by zoom44; 09-22-2003 at 08:22 PM.
09-22-2003 | 06:57 PM
#10
mostly harmless
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 3,440
Likes: 0
From: Greater Vancouver Area, BC
oh yeah, autojournalists 
she has valid points, some subjective points (which i think are never presented well, as one side is always biased over the other in editorial media like this), and some "where the hell did you learn anything about cars in the first place?" points.
in short, i hate autojournalists, short of Berny and Dan (with whom i think it'd be cool to work :D).
wow, the mice we have in our house we're trying to kill... should i instead be investing in tiny typewriters??
she has valid points, some subjective points (which i think are never presented well, as one side is always biased over the other in editorial media like this), and some "where the hell did you learn anything about cars in the first place?" points.
in short, i hate autojournalists, short of Berny and Dan (with whom i think it'd be cool to work :D).
Originally posted by zoom44
mice be nice to write one article
mice be nice to write one article
09-25-2003 | 09:43 PM
#12
I see you
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 558
Likes: 0
You know, I have never liked her reviews.
Put a ferrari tag on it, and the "confused" style becomes "sleek sexy italian goodness"
She futher proves her ineptitude by attacking the rotery theme in the car, which ALL of us love!
And I think she is confusing the z with her battery powered date!
She is off of my xmas list, no cheese log this year!
Put a ferrari tag on it, and the "confused" style becomes "sleek sexy italian goodness"
She futher proves her ineptitude by attacking the rotery theme in the car, which ALL of us love!
And I think she is confusing the z with her battery powered date!
She is off of my xmas list, no cheese log this year!
09-25-2003 | 09:51 PM
#13
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 22
Likes: 0
Are you guys really this insecure? Did anyone notice that she rated it 8.75 (assuming out of 10)?
She's automatically a bad journalist because she doesn't like the exterior or the interior? Or because she called the Rx-8 a successor to the Rx-7? God forbid someone who doesn't read this forum may get confused given the naming convention.
Grow up.
She compared the Protege to show that the rotary doesn't produce a lot of torque, which is true. And compared to the Z06, Mustang Cobra SVT, Subaru Impreza STI, and Evo 8, 6.4 seconds isn't exactly a top number, but that doesn't really matter, right? Since the Rx-8 isn't about 0-60 times, right? And she never actually said 6.4 seconds wasn't fast.
Learn to take criticism. It seems as though some people are getting way to worked up over stuff like a review they don't agree with. Hell, she *liked* the car.
More generally, I think a lot of people on this forum take things too seriously. It's a car, not a religion.
She's automatically a bad journalist because she doesn't like the exterior or the interior? Or because she called the Rx-8 a successor to the Rx-7? God forbid someone who doesn't read this forum may get confused given the naming convention.
Grow up.
She compared the Protege to show that the rotary doesn't produce a lot of torque, which is true. And compared to the Z06, Mustang Cobra SVT, Subaru Impreza STI, and Evo 8, 6.4 seconds isn't exactly a top number, but that doesn't really matter, right? Since the Rx-8 isn't about 0-60 times, right? And she never actually said 6.4 seconds wasn't fast.
Learn to take criticism. It seems as though some people are getting way to worked up over stuff like a review they don't agree with. Hell, she *liked* the car.
More generally, I think a lot of people on this forum take things too seriously. It's a car, not a religion.
09-25-2003 | 10:22 PM
#16
uhhhhh....hello?
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,024
Likes: 0
Last edited by P00Man; 04-16-2011 at 08:18 PM.
09-26-2003 | 11:22 AM
#18
I see you
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 558
Likes: 0
Originally posted by bdclary
More generally, I think a lot of people on this forum take things too seriously. It's a car, not a religion.
More generally, I think a lot of people on this forum take things too seriously. It's a car, not a religion.
09-26-2003 | 07:55 PM
#20
mostly harmless
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 3,440
Likes: 0
From: Greater Vancouver Area, BC
Originally posted by mikeb
I dont think I'd say the car is a religion
I dont think I'd say the car is a religion
religion?? definitely. i worship the motor.
09-29-2003 | 07:16 PM
#22
Registered User
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,505
Likes: 0
From: Toronto
09-29-2003 | 07:42 PM
#24
Pro Audentius
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 294
Likes: 1
From: Colorado Springs
As good a review as could be expected, I guess. Actually, Csaba Csere from C&D referred to the RX8's profile as "bulbous" in his review Rotary Revival