2005 Mazda RX-8 Review

The sleek Mazda RX-8 breaks a lot of sports car rules, but does so successfully.

The RX-8 is the only genuine four-door sports car with decent rear seats -- and the only one with the compact, powerful rotary engine exclusively used by Mazda.

Mercedes-Benz unveiled its tantalizing 165-mph C-111 prototype sports car with a 280-horsepower rotary engine in 1969, but it was never produced. General Motors abandoned rotaries in the mid-1970s because it was easier and cheaper to meet emissions and fuel economy standards with piston engines.

While shorter than the small Porsche 911 two-door coupe, the RX-8 has clever packaging: Its two short rear-hinged back doors and rather long 106.4-inch wheelbase allow room for two medium-build adults under 5 feet, 8 inches tall or two children in separate rear bucket seats.

Athletic moves are needed to get in and out of the back, and agility is required to enter or leave the highly supportive front bucket seats because the car is low and has high door sills. But, what the heck, this is a sports car.

The RX-8 has no center roof pillars and looks like an exciting two-door coupe. Its back doors have no exterior handles and are virtually hidden. They don't open or close independently of the front ones, but that's not much of a problem.

Trunk room is decent, with usable space if the optional compact spare tire isn't ordered -- although the cargo opening is small and high. With no spare, you get an emergency tire inflator, which is something that never gives me much confidence in any car.

Mazda sold small, sporty rotary engine sedans in the early 1970s, and built its RX-7 sports cars for 17 years through 1995, when the car became too costly. The unique engine has rotors that spin inside housings instead of pistons that move up and down in cylinders.

If anyone has doubts about the rotary, consider that Mazda won the fast, grueling 24-hour race at Le Mans, France, with a rotary engine sports car in 1991. That made it the only Japanese automaker to ever win that historic event.

The rotary almost makes piston engines seem like antiques. Besides being extremely light and compact, with few moving parts, the RX-8 twin-rotor engine produces an amazing amount of power for a tiny 1.3-liter engine: 197 horsepower with a four-speed automatic transmission and 238 horsepower with the six-speed manual gearbox in my test RX-8. (Mazda has no automatic that can handle the higher revs of the 238-horsepower version of the engine.)

A tachometer that reads to a lofty 10,000 rpm is a tip that most power is developed above 4,500 rpm, although keeping revs above 6,000 rpm is no chore. The RX-8 thrives on race-car-style revs, so a driver must keep his foot down and be in the right gear for fast acceleration with the manual transmission. It zips to 60 mph in just 5.9 seconds with the manual gearbox.

The automatic-transmission version costs $25,375 and the manual model is $26,875. Both are well-equipped, with such items as air conditioning, six-speaker AM/FM/CD audio system, cruise control and power windows, locks and mirrors.

Some options are pricey. For example, my test car had the $4,250 Grand Touring package, which contains leather upholstery, power driver's seat and heated front seats and outside mirrors. A $3,775 Touring package for the automatic transmission RX-8 has the sport suspension and the bigger wheels and tires of the manual-transmission version, besides a power sunroof and a Bose sound system.

Being a sports car, the RX-8 almost demands the manual transmission. The manual shifter is a delight to use, although jerky starts await a driver who doesn't pay attention and let the long-throw clutch pedal up just right and feed the engine the correct amount of fuel with the accelerator.

For that reason -- and I almost hate to say it -- an RX-8 with the automatic transmission will make life easier for those who mostly drive in congested areas. And the automatic does have a manual shift mode, with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters.

The RX-8 only weighs about 3,000 pounds, but is no fuel miser in the city with either transmission because fuel economy never has been a rotary engine strong point -- despite its small size. The RX-8 gets an estimated 18 mph in town, but 24 mpg on the highway with the manual transmission and 25 with the automatic.

The rear-drive car's feathery weight allows sharp responsiveness that heavier sports cars can't duplicate -- not to mention unflappable handling.

The steering is rather heavy, but has a natural feel and is very quick and direct. The brake pedal feels good, and stopping distances are unusually short. My test car's ride was supple even though the RX-8 manual transmission model has a firmer sport suspension, larger 18-inch (vs. 16-inch) wheels and wider 45-series tires without much sidewall area to help cushion road shocks.

The RX-8 arrived for 2004, so the few changes for 2005 include the addition of a few more colors and optional Sirius satellite radio.

This solidly built car's reasonably quiet, cheery-looking interior seems as if from a more expensive car, although there's a digital speedometer incorporated in the tachometer instead of a regular one expected in a high-performance sports car. The cockpit is artfully designed, but audio system and climate controls should be larger.

The manual hood prop is used instead of smooth hydraulic hinges, and a big plastic cover doesn't allow even a peek at the rotary engine. The RX-8 is more practical for daily use than most rivals, and there's nothing out there like it.

2005 MAZDA RX-8

PRICES
$25,375-$26,875

LIKES
Fast. Sleek. Four doors. Powerful rotary engine. Sharp handling.

DISLIKES
Needs high engine revs. No regular speedometer. Small trunk opening.