Rotary Motion
By Damien O'Carroll | 30 September 2008, Driver Magazine
The Mazda RX-8 has been given a mild face-life along with some suspension modifications. We revisit an old friend.
I want one. That is my first impression after driving the updated Mazda RX-8 on a winding piece of back road. It is simply the cheapest, easiest car to have serious fun in today. Think of it as a bigger, less frantic Honda S2000, or a more powerful, grown-up MX-5, and you get a rough idea of how much fun it is.
Here is a bit of a tip for you: if you have a bit of spare cash lying around and you want to drop it on a car that, after a few years of having a hell of a lot of fun with, you can squirrel away for a while, safe in the knowledge that it will most certainly become a future classic - then buy a Mazda RX-8.
Seriously, do it. You’ll thank me for it in twenty years time when clean, unmolested original examples of the RX-8 become as hard to find as... well, clean, unmolested, original examples of the original RX-7...
The RX-8 was originally release in 2003, when it caused something of an impact with its mix of adventurous coupe styling, while retaining almost sedan-like access thanks to its innovative rear-hinged rear doors (don’t call them suicide doors... ) and of course, its rotary engine.
In 1957, German engineer Felix Wankel launched the engine that would bear his name and be the source of schoolyard jokes for the next 50 years. Ten years later Mazda launched a car that used that engine, and would go on to become the only manufacturer to keep it in mass production to the present day. And keep the jokes going.
Legend has it that the principles of the modern rotary engine were conceived in a dream Wankel had when he was 17, although the basic concept of the rotary engine goes back much farther than that. The rotary engine - which converts rotary motion directly into driving force and has an almost perfectly smooth operation - had been attempted countless times by people since the 16th century.
Felix Wankel was the first person to make it work, however, and in 1964, some 39 years after his dream, the first production rotary engine appeared in the unfortunately named Wankelspider, a pretty little convertible sports car from German manufacturer NSU, who had worked in partnership with Wankel to develop the engine.
At the 1963 Tokyo Motor Show Mazda had a near production-ready version of the rotary engine on show in the gorgeous Cosmo Sport, but it would be another four years of development before it would be on sale.
When it eventually did go on sale, the Cosmo Sport boasted the new 982cc (491cc x 2) 10A twin-rotor engine with 82kW. The R100 Coupe followed this in 1968, with the same engine. Following a succession of small coupes and sedans fitted with rotary engine (R130 Coupe, RX-2, RX-3, RX-4) in the late 60s/early 70s, Mazda decided the rotary was the way of the future and started fitting it to all manner of vehicles.
In 1973 the Rotary Pickup was released exclusively to the US market, and in 1974 the Parkway Rotary 26 bus appeared, powered by a twin-rotor 13B that produced 100kW. In 1975 arguably the biggest disaster to use a rotary engine appeared - the Roadpacer. The Mazda Roadpacer was basically a Holden Premier, shipped to Japan without an engine, and fitted with a twin-rotor 13B. The problem was the Roadpacer weighed 1,575kg. Acceleration was poor and fuel consumption was terrible. Contemporary reports suggest a truly horrifying 26L/100km...
Originally intended as transport for high-ranking Government officials, the Roadpacer was expensive and thirsty, and was not a commercial success. Production ceased in 1977 with a dismal 840 units sold - some came to NZ as used imports and possibly still exist!
During this time Mazda was fully committed to the rotary engine, but unfortunately this was just as the energy crisis of the 1970s struck. The company had all but eliminated piston engines from its products by 1974, and this proved to be a decision that nearly led to its collapse. The rotary engine had a reputation for being thirsty, and customers - stung by skyrocketing oil prices - stayed away in droves. This led to the rotary being relegated to sports car use (in the RX-7 and Cosmo), severely limiting production volume.
In 1991 Mazda became the first Asian car manufacturer to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. The 787B racing car was powered by the quad-rotor R26B engine that produced 522kW, and is the only non-piston powered car to win the legendary race, and is likely to remain so - shortly after the 1991 race the FIA outlawed the use of the rotary engine in GT racing. Mazda failed spectacularly to make the most of this historic win however, and the rotary engine continued to struggle on as a low-volume oddity.
Today the only production car in the world with a rotary engine is the RX-8. And if that fact alone isn’t enough to make it an instant classic, then the fact that it is also an impossibly huge amount of fun to drive should.
Mazda has given the RX-8 a few visual tweaks, most noticeably around the front end, with a more aggressive bumper design which also plays down the original’s "pursed lips" look, but has also played around with the RX-8 where it really counts - the engine and suspension.
The 1308cc RENESIS engine has had what Mazda calls "major modifications" to improve low-end power (a rotary weakness) and smoothness (a rotary strength), while a new six-speed automatic transmission has replaced the previous five-speed. The six-speed manual remains in the line-up.
In the few days we had with the six-speed manual RX-8 it proved to be flexible and willing around town, and an absolute blast out on open roads.
With 170kW and 211Nm, both coming in relatively high up in the rev range (8200rpm for the power and 5500rpm for torque) the RX-8 doesn’t sound that overly impressive on paper, but out in the real world it is a different story.
The engine pulls happily from surprisingly low in the rev rang and is, of course, turbine smooth and progressive right up to 9000rpm. A characterful rotary buzz is a constant companion higher up in the revs, and that is where you will want to be, because that is where the true fun is with the engine coming ever more to life the higher you take it.
But it is the chassis that is truly special. Ride quality is exceptional for such a sporting car, and the handling is more fun than a particularly funny clown stuffed in a sack and beaten with a fun-stick.
There is no doubt that the RX-8’s chassis could take a whole lot more power, but here’s the thing - it doesn’t actually need it. It has the perfect amount of power to exploit the potential of the fantastic chassis, but not so much that it will catch out an unwary/careless driver.
There is a harmony about the way that everything works together in the RX-8 - the smooth, high-revving rotary; the slick six-speed manual transmission; the complain, willing chassis - it all adds up to one of the best driving experiences for the money available today.
