Review Friday January 31/02 - Brampton Guardian (Canada)
01-31-2003 | 05:15 PM
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Review Friday January 31/02 - Brampton Guardian (Canada)
Mazda RX-8 - a totally new sports car that offers seating for four people
Only 700 cars expected here
ROB BEINTEMA, Special to The Guardian
The all-new Mazda RX-8 rotary engine sports car will arrive here in May with a price tag in the $35,000 to $40,000 range.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greatness is born out of determination and difficulty, a fact attested to by anyone who has ever aspired to build a great car. Just ask the GM engineers who battled bean counters to build the latest version of 'Vette, the Dodge designers who birthed the Viper from concept to creation, the Nissan team that fought to bring the "Z" back to life.
Or ask the Mazda team that finally returned a rotary engine-powered RX into the sports car niche where Mazda belongs, with the long-awaited introduction of the new 2004 Mazda RX-8.
The Mazda RX-8 is a new, capable and unique 4-door, 4-seater sports car harnessing up to nearly 250 horses under the hood, able to comfortably carry four adult passengers and offering new levels of safety, engineering innovation and design excellence, both inside and out.
So, yes, I think it qualifies as a great car.
And behind every great car, there are at least a few good stories.
"Here's one," Hiroshi Kinoshita, a Mazda powertrain engineer told us through an interpreter when we were deep into our cups after dinner and a long day of driving the RX-8.
"At one point in the early '90s, we were down to just seven engineers, a tiny group in such a big corporation. We usually stayed late, often working on our own time, trying to build a better rotary engine," he said.
He smiled as we joked about "seven samurai" but I think the description was apt as that small team of believers in a back room skunkworks worked to fan the flame of rotary engine philosophy while Mazda wrestled with the bigger picture of turning its economics around.
Those engineers stretched and re-welded a Miata platform, installed the new "RENESIS" (Rotary Engine Genesis) engine and rolled up the garage door to expose their new, rudimentary concept to the light of day.
"Then we took four of our top executives for a ride," he finished with another smile. And the rest, as they say, is history.
A history that you wouldn't have expected to be so difficult to continue. After all, rotary engine potential had been best exemplified by the 1991 Mazda 787B, the first Japanese sports car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans against the best of Mercedes, Porsche and Jaguar. Le Mans actually changed the rules to outlaw rotary engines the following year.
And Mazda had originally launched the rotary engine sports car lineup with the '67 Cosmo Sport, followed by the Luce Coupe and three successful generations of RX-7 sports machines.
But for all its beauty and performance plus points, the RX-7 was an over-priced, leaky mess with bad seals, poor emissions and lousy fuel consumption rates due to an exhaust/intake overlap. And, it was a handling handful, as I remember learning at the wheel of a turbo-powered '95 RX-7.
"Some cars lull you to sleep," I wrote at the time, "while this thing makes you want to reach for a whip and chair."
"But we wanted to make the RX-8 a brand new sports car,
\\
not just a follow-up to the old RX-7," said Noboru Katabuchi, RX-8 Program Manager. "It's a mix of RX-7 performance blended with the more benevolent behavior of the MX-5 Miata while offering the benefits of 4-door seating."
Why 4-door, 4-passenger seating in a sports car?
"It's part of Mazda's philosophy to always introduce something new," Katabuchi answered.
Think of the Miata that re-introduced British-style roadstering at an affordable price, the MPV that added innovative adjustable seating and put the "mini" back in minivan, and the funky Protege5 that redefined hatchback convenience and sporty styling.
So too, the RX-8 creates a whole new category of vehicle that removes the usual sports car limitations. Now you can reap the benefits of sports car performance and still take your friends out to dinner or pick up the kids from karate class.
Other companies have tried it before. Porsche once knocked off a one-of-a-kind stretched 928 that's still floating around as a collector's item. But other ungainly concepts either outgrew their sporty proportions or only offered cramped 2+2 configurations.
The 2004 Mazda RX-8 has evolved through two concepts-- the 1995 RX-01 and the 1999 RX-EVOLV -- and manages to maintain its lean performance-oriented character while offering real second-row seating.
Okay, some of us bigger back row boys require rack-forward compromise from the front row but the rear seats are surprisingly comfortable and roomy enough for the average-size adult.
You sit deep in a dark and discreet interior that Mazda itself describes as "comfortably snug". A three-spoke sport steering wheel frames a triple gauge display with digital speedo reading inset in the centre-located tachometer.
The overall feeling is one of high quality. "Takumi" as the Japanese put it-- craftsmanship.
That craftsmanship is reflected on the outside of the car as well, through the smooth contours, the snake-like front face, the swelling fenders and in the exterior fit and finish.
When you see all four doors wide open to a pillar-less entry, you can't help but wonder about side impact safety but the rear-hinged rear aluminum doors have steel inserts, creating in effect, a "B" pillar when the doors are closed. The RX-8 has aced all the impact crash tests. Combined with roof and floor crossmember reinforcements and a longitudinal backbone that runs along the transmission tunnel, the new RX-8 tests out about twice as stiff as the former RX-7.
That body rigidity shows up in handling and performance but that brings us back to the performance raison d'etre of the RX-8 - the rotary engine.
The 1.3 L RENESIS engine consists of two 654-cc rotors and engine architecture that capitalizes on a side exhaust port configuration. That allows for 30 percent more intake port area, better breathing, less emissions, more power and better fuel economy.
The engine responds with a roar when prodded, a uniquely progressive growl that my co-driver and I eventually could only compare to the sound of an airplane engine. Two versions will be offered-- a standard 207 hp model and a high power unit making 247 hp. Both run on regular gas although premium is preferred.
And the engine is the story behind this car in more ways than one. The RENESIS' smaller size not only allows enough room to make a four-seater sports car, its low profile shape also encourages engine placement lower and further back, which, along with moving the fuel tank forward and under the rear seat, pulls the car's weight closer to the middle and lowers the centre of gravity. All of which, ba-da-bing, once again, improves performance and handling.
I test drove a 6-speed high-power version of the RX-8, climbing coastal mountain roads, squealing around an autocross and lapping within the high-speed confines of the Laguna Seca Raceway. It's a racetrack as unique as the RX-8 itself, with hills, hairpins and the famous "Corkscrew", a left-right downhill drop that's the automotive equivalent of jumping out of a four-story window.
The 2004 Mazda RX-8 sucked up the worst punishment I could dish out in each and every driving environment and came back asking for more, all while providing predictable handling, great style and hours of driving comfort.
Performance, personality and practicality. At a price to be announced at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto but expected to range between $35-40K. Only 700 cars are coming to Canada this year, starting in May, and I expect they'll be snapped up as they arrive.
If it sounds like I'm hot on this car, you're right.
Y'know, it used to be you would go to the dealer, stare at the sports car for a while and then, reluctantly, turn your back on it and settle for the sedan while the salesman assuaged your regrets by assuring that your new car was, after all, "really like a four-door sports car".
Yeah, well, now you can actually buy a real one.
Only 700 cars expected here
ROB BEINTEMA, Special to The Guardian
The all-new Mazda RX-8 rotary engine sports car will arrive here in May with a price tag in the $35,000 to $40,000 range.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greatness is born out of determination and difficulty, a fact attested to by anyone who has ever aspired to build a great car. Just ask the GM engineers who battled bean counters to build the latest version of 'Vette, the Dodge designers who birthed the Viper from concept to creation, the Nissan team that fought to bring the "Z" back to life.
Or ask the Mazda team that finally returned a rotary engine-powered RX into the sports car niche where Mazda belongs, with the long-awaited introduction of the new 2004 Mazda RX-8.
The Mazda RX-8 is a new, capable and unique 4-door, 4-seater sports car harnessing up to nearly 250 horses under the hood, able to comfortably carry four adult passengers and offering new levels of safety, engineering innovation and design excellence, both inside and out.
So, yes, I think it qualifies as a great car.
And behind every great car, there are at least a few good stories.
"Here's one," Hiroshi Kinoshita, a Mazda powertrain engineer told us through an interpreter when we were deep into our cups after dinner and a long day of driving the RX-8.
"At one point in the early '90s, we were down to just seven engineers, a tiny group in such a big corporation. We usually stayed late, often working on our own time, trying to build a better rotary engine," he said.
He smiled as we joked about "seven samurai" but I think the description was apt as that small team of believers in a back room skunkworks worked to fan the flame of rotary engine philosophy while Mazda wrestled with the bigger picture of turning its economics around.
Those engineers stretched and re-welded a Miata platform, installed the new "RENESIS" (Rotary Engine Genesis) engine and rolled up the garage door to expose their new, rudimentary concept to the light of day.
"Then we took four of our top executives for a ride," he finished with another smile. And the rest, as they say, is history.
A history that you wouldn't have expected to be so difficult to continue. After all, rotary engine potential had been best exemplified by the 1991 Mazda 787B, the first Japanese sports car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans against the best of Mercedes, Porsche and Jaguar. Le Mans actually changed the rules to outlaw rotary engines the following year.
And Mazda had originally launched the rotary engine sports car lineup with the '67 Cosmo Sport, followed by the Luce Coupe and three successful generations of RX-7 sports machines.
But for all its beauty and performance plus points, the RX-7 was an over-priced, leaky mess with bad seals, poor emissions and lousy fuel consumption rates due to an exhaust/intake overlap. And, it was a handling handful, as I remember learning at the wheel of a turbo-powered '95 RX-7.
"Some cars lull you to sleep," I wrote at the time, "while this thing makes you want to reach for a whip and chair."
"But we wanted to make the RX-8 a brand new sports car,
\\
not just a follow-up to the old RX-7," said Noboru Katabuchi, RX-8 Program Manager. "It's a mix of RX-7 performance blended with the more benevolent behavior of the MX-5 Miata while offering the benefits of 4-door seating."
Why 4-door, 4-passenger seating in a sports car?
"It's part of Mazda's philosophy to always introduce something new," Katabuchi answered.
Think of the Miata that re-introduced British-style roadstering at an affordable price, the MPV that added innovative adjustable seating and put the "mini" back in minivan, and the funky Protege5 that redefined hatchback convenience and sporty styling.
So too, the RX-8 creates a whole new category of vehicle that removes the usual sports car limitations. Now you can reap the benefits of sports car performance and still take your friends out to dinner or pick up the kids from karate class.
Other companies have tried it before. Porsche once knocked off a one-of-a-kind stretched 928 that's still floating around as a collector's item. But other ungainly concepts either outgrew their sporty proportions or only offered cramped 2+2 configurations.
The 2004 Mazda RX-8 has evolved through two concepts-- the 1995 RX-01 and the 1999 RX-EVOLV -- and manages to maintain its lean performance-oriented character while offering real second-row seating.
Okay, some of us bigger back row boys require rack-forward compromise from the front row but the rear seats are surprisingly comfortable and roomy enough for the average-size adult.
You sit deep in a dark and discreet interior that Mazda itself describes as "comfortably snug". A three-spoke sport steering wheel frames a triple gauge display with digital speedo reading inset in the centre-located tachometer.
The overall feeling is one of high quality. "Takumi" as the Japanese put it-- craftsmanship.
That craftsmanship is reflected on the outside of the car as well, through the smooth contours, the snake-like front face, the swelling fenders and in the exterior fit and finish.
When you see all four doors wide open to a pillar-less entry, you can't help but wonder about side impact safety but the rear-hinged rear aluminum doors have steel inserts, creating in effect, a "B" pillar when the doors are closed. The RX-8 has aced all the impact crash tests. Combined with roof and floor crossmember reinforcements and a longitudinal backbone that runs along the transmission tunnel, the new RX-8 tests out about twice as stiff as the former RX-7.
That body rigidity shows up in handling and performance but that brings us back to the performance raison d'etre of the RX-8 - the rotary engine.
The 1.3 L RENESIS engine consists of two 654-cc rotors and engine architecture that capitalizes on a side exhaust port configuration. That allows for 30 percent more intake port area, better breathing, less emissions, more power and better fuel economy.
The engine responds with a roar when prodded, a uniquely progressive growl that my co-driver and I eventually could only compare to the sound of an airplane engine. Two versions will be offered-- a standard 207 hp model and a high power unit making 247 hp. Both run on regular gas although premium is preferred.
And the engine is the story behind this car in more ways than one. The RENESIS' smaller size not only allows enough room to make a four-seater sports car, its low profile shape also encourages engine placement lower and further back, which, along with moving the fuel tank forward and under the rear seat, pulls the car's weight closer to the middle and lowers the centre of gravity. All of which, ba-da-bing, once again, improves performance and handling.
I test drove a 6-speed high-power version of the RX-8, climbing coastal mountain roads, squealing around an autocross and lapping within the high-speed confines of the Laguna Seca Raceway. It's a racetrack as unique as the RX-8 itself, with hills, hairpins and the famous "Corkscrew", a left-right downhill drop that's the automotive equivalent of jumping out of a four-story window.
The 2004 Mazda RX-8 sucked up the worst punishment I could dish out in each and every driving environment and came back asking for more, all while providing predictable handling, great style and hours of driving comfort.
Performance, personality and practicality. At a price to be announced at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto but expected to range between $35-40K. Only 700 cars are coming to Canada this year, starting in May, and I expect they'll be snapped up as they arrive.
If it sounds like I'm hot on this car, you're right.
Y'know, it used to be you would go to the dealer, stare at the sports car for a while and then, reluctantly, turn your back on it and settle for the sedan while the salesman assuaged your regrets by assuring that your new car was, after all, "really like a four-door sports car".
Yeah, well, now you can actually buy a real one.
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