Mazda RX-8 Luxury 2008 Review

Road Test - Mazda RX-8 GT & Luxury

RX-8 Luxury auto
RRP: $57,165
Price as tested: $57,165
Crash rating: TBA
Fuel: 95 RON PULP
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 12.1
CO2 emissions (g/km): TBA
Also consider: BMW 125i coupe, Honda S2000, Mazda MX-5, Nissan 350Z (more here)

Overall rating: 3.0/5.0
Engine/Drivetrain/Chassis: 2.5/5.0
Price, Packaging and Practicality: 3.0/5.0
Safety: 2.5/5.0
Behind the wheel: 3.0/5.0
X-factor: 4.0/5.0

About our ratings

Mazda's RX-8 has been recently updated with a facelift, a new six-speed automatic option and a revised model range (see our launch review here). The sporty hardtop 2+2 rotary-powered thingy is now available in three different varieties: the standard model, the sporty 'GT' and the upmarket 'Luxury'.

For this review, the Carsales Network tested the overtly sporting RX-8 GT and the more comfortable RX-8 Luxury. In our assessment, the RX-8 in either form is a vehicle likely to polarise opinion. Some will regard it as unequivocally satisfying for its sporting competence and looks, while others will fail to acquire a taste for it.

Leaving aside styling and practicality, which are largely subjective measures according to the viewpoint of the beholder, the RX-8 is still a mixed bag. It's not an especially effortless car to drive, for example -- although nor is it particularly demanding by sports car standards.

The 'Renesis' rotary engine has a flat torque curve and will happily dawdle around town at 2000rpm, but will scream its head off at up to 8500rpm before an audible tone prompts the driver to shift up a gear or back off. It's an enjoyable engine which sounds angry as a swarm of bees, with a bit of a bass note to it as well.

Mazda appears to have set up the GT's gearing with a lowish first ratio -- to suit off-the-line acceleration -- and close ratios for the six-speed manual box. You'll find that the final drive ratio and the close transmission ratios combine to allow the driver to select fifth from as low as 50km/h (with the engine running at 2000rpm), but sixth is only just running above 3000rpm at 100km/h in sixth, so the ratios are pretty well chosen for the nature of the car and its engine.

As already mentioned, the torque curve for the rotary is flat and feels acceptably brisk from about 3000rpm up to the redline at 8500rpm. This is where the RX-8 seems to have an advantage over its rivals -- once you're in an intermediate gear, you can hang on to it for longer before you need to change up, despite the gearing being so close and the final drive being as low as 4.777:1.

By comparison with the GT, the RX-8 Luxury's six-speed auto provided very smooth shifts and was quite responsive when faster shifting was required. As with the manual, the ratios were well chosen for the application and despite the engine not being a slogger, the combination of rotary and six-speed auto worked together like a team.

It should come as no surprise that the RX-8 GT's ride is never going to be favourably compared with that of a Peugeot 308, but the secondary ride is not bad over the sort of smaller undulations experienced on a typical suburban street or some of the better country roads. Over larger bumps, the RX-8 will make you wince, but that's the price of owning such a car.

The RX-8 GT makes up for its ride with a suspension set-up that feels like a cross between old-fashioned, tied-down rear-wheel-drive sportscar and a modern-day, dependably taut sports sedan with complex and sophisticated IRS -- and the latter is what it basically is.

Fitted with Bilstein dampers and that multi-link system at the rear, the RX-8 GT never provided a moment's worry with camber change once the car began spearing through corners at higher speeds.

It's a vehicle that requires a higher level of commitment to corners to give of its best. In that context, it's neutral, responsive and utterly flat, inspiring peace of mind in the driver that the RX-8 will not transgress at anything other than insane speeds. This reviewer -- anticipating the vehicle would be a little softer riding and quieter, even in GT form -- was surprised to find that the RX-8 felt as much like a rotary-engined MX-5 as it did.

Ride quality is simply better in the RX-8 Luxury -- and without significant detriment to handling and roadholding until you're travelling at break-neck speeds.

The electrically-assisted steering was the one fly in the ointment with the RX-8. Although it provided reasonable feel for a steering system of its type, it probably won't satisfy drivers who have spent up to the Luxury-Car-Tax threshold on an out-and-out sports machine. Buyers with that sort of cash to spend will find the RX-8 to be relatively practical and can be driven in traffic every day, although the auto-equipped Luxury variant is better in this regard than the manual GT.

The GT's gearshift was pleasant to use and the lever provided swift and short throws for fast gear changes, but the clutch take-up was close to the floor and this initially hampered smooth gear changes.

Fitted with the six-speed automatic transmission and paddle-shift facility, the RX-8 Luxury was virtually as quick as the GT -- both in a straight line and around corners. This is a vast improvement over the old four-speed auto RX-8.

An unusual set-up, the six-speed auto's sequential-shift facility at the steering wheel featured buttons for downshifts on the wheel spokes and paddles for the upshifts behind the spokes.

Both buttons and paddles turned with the wheel, and since the steering ratio was direct and the buttons and paddles were easily reached (by the thumb for the former and index/middle fingers for the latter), it was impressively easy to change gear rapidly and effectively. This feature alone almost makes the automatic a better choice than the manual box in the GT, although the manual's a nice-shifting box in its own right too.

There was no reach adjustment in the steering column and the height adjustment was barely adequate for drivers of average height to see the instruments in their entirety. Drivers with a longer trunk may find it more difficult to read the instruments.

By the standards of sports seats, the RX-8's were very comfortable for this reviewer, which suggests they would be quite comfortable and snug for the vast majority of the population. They did present some restrictions to the field of vision to the rear when backing or the rear three-quarter view for looking over the shoulder when joining freeways, etc. That's to be expected in a car like this, to an extent.

One of our colleagues felt the RX-8's interior was showing its age -- and that may well be so -- but probably the RX-8's worst vice is that the interior design is simple to the point of bland. The digital readout for the speedo clears up some space ahead of the driver, but Mazda has done nothing more than part-fill the smaller circular gauge to the left of the tacho with the engine temperature gauge.

It looks somewhat unfinished, like there's something that should be there, but is missing. Other than that, the instruments were easily read and control placement was up to the standard expected of Mazdas. Cruise control functionality, to use one example, was extremely straightforward, with the switchgear on the right spoke of the steering wheel. Similarly, remote audio controls (on the left spoke) were readily accessible and easy to use.

The RX-8 was surprisingly roomy. With average-to-moderately taller adults in the front, there are still adult levels of legroom in the rear. Headroom for the RX-8 GT was also better than one would anticipate from a 'coupe', although it's near the ceiling for taller adults.

The RX-8 Luxury's added features made it a bit more amenable. Among those features was the sunroof, which ate into the available headroom and this reviewer would prefer to do without it in this car, for that very reason.

We're in two minds about the suicide doors for access to the rear seats. They certainly made access easier than is the case for traditional coupes, but being unable to open the rear doors without opening the front first is a 'swings and roundabouts' catch, if you carry a couple of little people around -- and let's face it, they're the ones most likely to squeeze comfortably into the back of an RX-8.

And the main (leading) doors didn't close with a solid feel to them -- there was a bit of a quiver running through the side of the car when you closed them with enough force to secure properly -- slamming them closed, in other words.

NVH was generally low, but the tyres of the GT were pretty raucous across coarse bitumen and there was always a level of rumble, even on smoother roads.

Summing up, the RX-8 is a car that flies a little below the radar in terms of its public profile, but it's a good'un.

We love the 'ripping up corrugated cardboard' engine note and it's fast once the revs are up there. In the corners, it's genuinely fun, and aesthetically, it still turns heads.

As icing on the cake, it remains a reasonably practical proposition for everyday use and is well capable of carting around two adults and two kids in a proper level of comfort.

If we had a choice, we'd opt for the Luxury model with the automatic transmission -- but without the sunroof.

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