2009 Mazda RX8 R3 Review
Logical Fun - All in One!
By: Nathan D. Adlen
There I was, sitting on my sofa watching the minutes tick by. I just couldn’t bring myself to stay near the window and watch as the shiny Mazda RX8 R3 sat alone – waiting. Then, I heard the black cloud of my day ring my doorbell. It was the driver who was here to pick up the Mazda RX8 I had driven (in sheer bliss) for a week. I thought about unleashing my dog upon him and telling his employers, “(sigh) Well, he never showed – I guess I’ll keep the RX8 for another week.” Unfortunately, my moose of a dog would simply shower him in doggie kisses.
What a sweet, well thought out and exciting car to drive.
There are 2 things that make the Mazda RX8 a very unique vehicle. The 1.3 liter rotary engine is the heart of its individuality. For those of you who do not know, the Mazda RX8’s rotary engine (called “Wankel”) has no pistons. A large triangular shaped, thick alloy, spinning rotary takes the place of pistons that would normally move the crank. Instead of the shaky up-and-down movement of a piston with valves, the rotary wastes little motion as it spins rapidly after the spark (that would normally cause a combustion explosion to move a piston down) spins the rotary. As it spins, hugging the inside of its chamber, in a slightly off kilter pattern from the next rotary (there are 2), it makes contact with the combustion inlets and spins around an eccentric shaft.
Without going into further detail, this spinning rather than pulsing piston movement, creates a very smooth, high RPM engine that takes very little space for the amount of power it produces. The lightweight, 1.3 liter engine (232 horsepower and 159 lbs feet of torque for manual transmissions –automatics are far less) is smaller than the Mini and Honda Fit’s engine. This type of power-plant creates a savage racing car.
The second thing that makes the Mazda RX8 so unique is the seating and door arrangement. This is a real 4-door sports car. Behind the passenger and driver’s door are small, reverse opening doors. Much like those in extra cab trucks (and the Toyota FJ and Honda Element) these small doors create a larger opening for rear passengers to sit in the deep rear buckets. Upon first glance, these seats may appear small, but they were large enough to accommodate a 5’9” rear passenger with a 5’10” passenger in the front seat. It easily held my child’s booster seat and was a comfortable angle for buckling her in, with the exception of width (it was very hard to access the seatbelt clip given the girth of the booster).
Even the trunk is surprisingly large (for a sports car).
The suspension is one of the best in the business with tight (yet forgiving) coil springs, huge 19 inch wheels on sticky, summer rubber and superb steering feel. Add to all of this a chassis that is as tight as a drum, a limited slip rear differential, exceptionally balanced weight distribution and you have the makings for a great machine. I loved the short throw 6-speed manual and thrilled at the linear accelerator.
There is a bit of a learning curve, especially with the Mazda RX8’s R3 package. The R3 is an upgrade race package that lowers the suspension, tightens the springs, enlarges and stiffens the footprint and special trim for additional down-force. The peaky (near 9000 rpm redline!) 1.3 liter takes some getting used to. The inexperienced will stall trying to get the Mazda RX8 moving on the street. If you use track logic and bounce it into gear at 5000 rpm, you will have no trouble.
The Mazda RX8 R3’s other enhancement is the front Recaro seats. These are real racing seats that are a tad narrow and hard. Extracting yourself from theses seats (especially if you have additional girth – like me) is tedious. I recommend avoiding the R3 trim level and sticking to the Grand Touring with the easier, travel friendly seats, unless you race every weekend.
The 2009 Mazda RX8 R3’s look is slightly more comprehensive than last year’s RX8. With a cleaner, meaner front end and much better looking quad circle taillights, the overall look is less cumbersome than the original RX8. I think it is rather handsome and unique, especially with the attractive, yet massive 19 inch, aluminum alloy wheels. This is look will be as timeless as the last model RX7 which many people still consider one of the best looking sport cars around.
With prices ranging from less than $28,000 for a base model and a full tilt, loaded Mazda RX8 R3 at less than $34,000 – these cars are a decent deal. With the industry being what it is, now might be the right time to pick up a (slow selling) RX8. If, however, you prefer to wait for something better, Mazda is working on a new rotary engine (code named 16X) that will debut around 2012.
Seat time is what the Mazda RX8 is all about.
When you begin to hit the corners, using the motorcycle-like high rpm engine to pull you out of corners with the smoothness of caramel, you will fall in love. I’ve driven far more expensive sports cars that offered less enjoyment and feel when cornering to be sure. This car communicates with you. I could feel the outer side of the tire as it began to loose grip (I was driving at 12/10ths) and all I had to do was let up on the accelerator a tad – all was well.
The torque is very low; you need to keep this puppy spinning at 5000 – 7500 rpm to truly push the envelope. The Mazda RX8 would most likely benefit from a turbocharger (like its older brethren did) to up the torque and spin to higher rpm faster. Still, having boost kick in when power-sliding around a corner might be unnerving. The Mazda RX8 exudes so much feel and allows amazing control that I was content without an over-baked engine.
I could blip the engine through down-shifts to get a good idea where I needed to push for the next gear. With such a high red-line, I could leave it in 2nd and 3rd all day in the canyons. Shifting the short-throw shifter is so much fun that I tried nearly every gear and enjoyed most results. This is one of the few cars I was confident enough with to heel/toe my way though corners that I had never traveled on before.
Brake feel and performance in the Mazda RX8 R3 is exceptional. Even better performance than the regular RX8’s to be sure. They have the same brakes (12.7 ventilated front and 11.9 ventilated rear), but the sticky, fat Bridgestone tires and slightly lighter weight seem to help on the R3.
Even in snow and ice, the Mazda RX8 R3 did surprisingly well. I was annoyed that it snowed my last 2 days of testing and thought the Mazda RX8 would have to sit in the garage. I was wrong. Despite the snow-unfriendly summer tires, the Mazda RX8’s supremely well balanced chassis was more forgiving than I expected.
On the downside, if you were expecting the wee little 1.3 liter engine to perform well at the pump – you’re out of luck. It’s not horrible, but the Mazda RX8’s thirst for premium fuel is noticeable. This IS a sports car and having an overall economy of about 15 mpg was acceptable to me. The nature of the rotary engine is to eat some oil as well. Topping off with oil about every 1000 miles is not unheard of. Once again, as a sports car – this is more than acceptable. If economy and ease of operation are what you want in a sports car (and you like Mazda) check out the MX5 “Miata” or the Mazda Speed3.
When all was said and done, the Mazda RX8 R3 spoke to me as a car lover. It is indeed a real driver’s machine and I seriously enjoyed driving the RX8 as much as a 911 Carrera. I might get more looks and nods with the Porsche, but the sheer enjoyment of canyon carving is equal when driving the Mazda RX8 R3.
I’ll miss it indeed.