2010 Mazda RX-8 R3 - Automobile Magazine
The Mazda RX-8's chassis is superb. Precise turn-in, balance, and grip, the RX-8 has it all. The low torque numbers (159 lb-ft @ 5500 rpm) mean you need to rev the living daylights out of it for any power, but the rotary engine has no problem climbing the tachometer to numbers a conventional engine can only spit oil at. On paper, a... ) But like Mazda's other great sports car, the Miata, the RX-8 is a vehicle for which the stat sheet does little justice. It turns in well, displays no body roll, and then sticks and sticks and sticks, finally losing traction in a progressive, predictable manner. That's 200 pounds lighter than the very lithe 370Z and nearly 800 pounds less than the not-so-lithe Camaro. Much of this lightness, of course, comes from the compact rotary engine, which, for all of its torque-deficient, oil-using quirkiness, is absolutely splendid in this application, whirring right up to its 9000(. ) rpm redline. Even if Mazda plans to continue offering something like an RX-8 in the future, the rotary's shortcomings might just do it in. Impending CAFE regulations leave little room to justify such an inefficient engine just because it's lovely, and Mazda,... Source: www.automobilemag.com
