There's a fairly long straightaway on the handling course at Mazda's Miyoshi proving ground that encourages a bit of leg stretching, but the sweeping left-hander that leads to it is blind because of hedges that surround much of the track.Luckily, the corner has broad paved shoulders so we could take a long, wide line, letting the new RX-8 drift comfortably across the track as it barreled onto the straight. Despite all this reinforcement and buttressing, the RX-8 is expected to weigh just over 3000 pounds./media/61/assets-image-020303123250jpg-photo-11174-s-inline-image.jpgp>Along with the high-powered six-speed model we will see here as a flagship in the spring of '03, there will be a lower-powered (about 207 horsepower) version with a five-speed automatic transmission.
A system of interlocking lateral and vertical beams forms a tough skeleton inside the door skins to provide decent side-impact protection. Mazda RX8 Pros And Cons The car has its fair share of praise and criticism. It's easy to say four-seat sports car, but what does it mean? According to Mazda's engineers and stylists, a center pillar would have added almost six inches to the car's length. On the plus side, the RX-8’s handling is otherworldly, amazingly neutral in the corners and completely predictable in rap… After looking at the sturdy bridge that connects the gearbox and differential unit and the robust shock-tower braces front and rear, not to mention two underfloor tunnel braces, we can believe it./media/61/assets-image-020303123250jpg-photo-11174-s-inline-image.jpgp>Besides, the unibody itself has beefy front frame rails that divide to join a backbone frame in the center and longitudinal rails on the sides. At an expected base of $27,000, the RX-8's value harks back to the early days of the RX-7./media/61/assets-image-020303123250jpg-photo-11174-s-inline-image.jpgp>Finally, for those utility addicts, there are cup holders fore and aft, and the trunk will hold two golf bags or two medium Samsonite suitcases. Our car experts choose every product we feature. An almost indiscernible vibration at the controls grows to a subtle trembling, as if the car were firing an ultra-light-recoil machine gun. For a while there we thought green zealotry had killed off the only viable gas-burning alternative to the ubiquitous reciprocating engine. This commenting section is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page. Yeah, we know that Nissan once called the Maxima a four-door sports car, but let's get real … In the process Mazda made the naturally aspirated 13B twin-rotor Renesis engine about as powerful (at a provisional 247 horsepower) as the previous-generation turbo motor. To further protect occupants, a roof gusset and floor crossmembers form a cage around the passenger compartment. Overview A unique sports car in many ways, the RX-8 is a two-plus-two with half-doors for easier access to the rear seats and a rotary engine underhood. Hey, they brought back the rotary, didn't they? Steering assist is by electric motor, and the interior is clad in three contrasting molded textures with optional color leather inserts on the seats and steering wheel. This system was designed to transfer crash loads while collapsing in a programmed fashion. At a comparatively short 174.6 inches, the RX-8 is exactly the same length as a Honda Civic four-door./media/61/assets-image-020303123250jpg-photo-11174-s-inline-image.jpgp>Despite its enlarged passenger cabin, the RX-8 is claimed to be twice as stiff in torsion and 1.7 times more resistant to bending than was the last-generation RX-7. But a brilliantly straightforward modification to the rotary engine's design has improved fuel economy by 20 percent, according to Seiji Tashima, the engineer in charge of the so-called Renesis engine project, and cleaned up emissions so they meet LEV II and Euro 4 standards.Mazda engineers simply moved the exhaust ports (there are no valves in a rotary engine) from where they had been on the peripheral face of the rotor housing and placed them on the side plates.