2007 Mazda RX-8

Sports car or sports coupe? With the 2007 RX-8, there seems to be a fine blend of the two Sports cars are typically low-slung, sleekly styled and designed to seat just two adults. Sport coupes are typically bigger and seat four full-size people. The RX-8 is a true sports car that seats four adults. Apart from that distinction, the RX-8 also features a pair of pillar-less rear-opening doors that allow access to its surprisingly roomy backseat. If that's not distinctive enough for you, consider that the RX-8 is the only production car in the world with a rotary engine. The RX-8 drives like a sports car, with perfect 50-50 weight distribution for balanced handling and a high-revving engine. It's a true four-seat sports car, and its small but powerful rotary engine makes this possible. Safety features that come standard include frontal and side-impact airbags for the front passengers, and curtain airbags front and rear. The Mazda RX-8 is a carryover from 2006. While little has changed in terms of actual hardware, Mazda has significantly revised the RX-8 model lineup for 2007, from a single trim level with four major option packages to three separate trim levels with one option package.

RX-8 Power

 All '07 models are powered by a 1.3-liter twin-rotor rotary engine. The RX-8 Sport comes with a choice of six-speed manual or six-speed paddle-shift automatic transmission. The RX-8 Touring comes with manual automatic transmission and adds Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) with traction control.  The manual and automatic models are two different cars. The RX-8 comes in two variants: the MT with a 238 horsepower rotary engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission and the AT with a 212 horsepower rotary engine mated to a six-speed automatic. The six-speed automatic comes with steering-wheel mounted paddle controls for semi-manual shifting. Extremely smooth and simple, the rotary has been developed by Mazda for over 40 years. The RX-8 features the latest and by far the best rotary engine design, which Mazda calls Renesis. It also keeps the four-seat RX-8's center of gravity low and the curb weight down to just 3,045 pounds, more than 500 pounds less than even the lightest version of the two-seat, 3,578-pound Nissan 350Z.

Mazda RX-8 Driving

 The Mazda RX-8 handles like a true sports car, with great balance and precise turn-in. Greatly benefiting the RX-8's handling is its perfect balance, with 50 percent of its weight on the front wheels and 50 percent on the rear. The compact size of the rotary engine makes it possible in a four-seater. Downshifting is redefined by the rotary engine, especially when paired with the brilliant close-ratio six-speed gearbox. When the automatic is equipped with the sport suspension and 18-inch wheels (standard on the manual RX-8), the brake rotors measure a massive 12.7 inches in front and 11.9 inches in rear, with increased ventilation ribs for more resistance to fade. The optional Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) works effectively, yet allows the driver to work the tires without intruding. The RX-8 wasn't completely forgiving when driven hard on an autocross circuit.

2007 RX-8 Design

 The Mazda RX-8 is about the most aggressive shape possible on an automobile. From the side you see big, sharp wheel arches; plus a non-functional black mesh angled vertical vent behind the front wheel. The front and rear doors open in opposite directions, which Mazda calls the Freestyle door system. With no pillar between the doors, this allows very easy ingress and egress for the rear-seat passengers. As with similar systems in pickups, the front door must be opened before the rear door can open.

Inside the RX-8

Even large adults find the rear bucket seats in the RX-8 comfortable, with plenty of elbow room thanks to the transmission tunnel/console that separates them. Getting into and out of the rear seat is easy. Due to the high front seatbacks, rear-seat passengers can't see much out front without leaning inboard, but they can see out the side windows. A vertical compartment door opens to the rear seat area to allow the carrying of skis and such. The pillar-less door configuration allows loading of large, awkward items into the back seat area that simply cannot be handled by other sports cars and sedans.  The Mazda RX-8 cabin is comfortable and surprisingly roomy. The stereo and climate control knobs are integrated; redundant controls are on the steering wheel spokes. 

 Lineup '07

The RX-8 Sport comes standard with cloth upholstery; air conditioning; AM/FM/CD stereo with six speakers and steering-wheel mounted controls; cruise control; power windows, mirrors and locks; leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob; floor and overhead consoles; rear window defogger; variable intermittent windshield wipers; and an alarm with immobilizer. Automatics drive on 225/55R16 radials on 16-inch alloy rims; manual-shift models get 225/45R18 high-performance tires on 18-inch rims.

The RX-8 Touring comes with high-intensity discharge headlamps; fog lamps; power sliding glass sunroof; auto-dimming inside rearview mirror with Homelink; and a 300-watt Bose nine-speaker sound system with AudioPilot noise compensation and an in-dash, six-CD changer. Additionally, automatic Tourings upgrade to the manual model's sport suspension; limited-slip, torque-sensing differential; and larger wheels and tires.

Grand Touring adds leather seating with matching synthetic leather door panels, heated front seats, eight-way power for the driver's seat, heated outside mirrors, and Mazda's advanced keyless entry and start system. The Grand Touring automatic benefits from the same handling upgrades that come with Touring automatics.

Conclusions

In the 1970s Mazda's rotary engine seemed poised to conquer the automotive world. Small, smooth and powerful, it promised a new generation of faster, cleaner and more efficient cars. The latest model in this series, the ingeniously engineered 2007 Mazda RX-8, drives like a sports car, with a high-revving engine and perfect 50-50 weight distribution for balanced handling. The RX-8 is surprisingly practical. In short, the RX-8 is a true four-seat sports car. It's the small but powerful rotary engine that makes all this possible. In addition to two more gears, the six-speed automatic also brought steering-wheel mounted paddle controls for semi-manual shifting; and allowed the engine to be tuned closer to its manual-transmission specification, narrowing the performance gap between the auto-shifting and shift-it-yourself versions.For more research, read a Mazda RX-8 Car and Driver Review.