Mazda RX-8

Mazda RX-8 specs

Car type	Coupe
Curb weight	1400 kg (3086 lbs)
Introduced	2002
Origin country	Japan

Performance

0 - 100 kmph	6.6 s
0 - 200 kmph	30.5 s
Est. 1000 m	28.8 s @ 197.0 kmph
Est. 100 - 200 kmph	23.9 s
Est. 0 - 60 mph	6.1 s
0 - 100 mph	17.4 s
Est. 1/8 mile	10.4 s @ 82.0 mph
1/4 mile	14.5 s
Est. 1/2 mile	25.2 s @ 118.1 mph
Top speed	234 kmph (145 mph)
Est. max acceleration	0.48 g (5 m/s²)

Powertrain specs

Engine type	Renesis R2
Displacement	1.3 L (79 ci)
Power	231 ps (228 bhp / 170 kw)
Torque	216 Nm (159 lb-ft)
Power / liter	178 ps (175 hp)
Power / weight	165 ps (163 bhp)/ t
Torque / weight	154 Nm (114 lb-ft)/ t
Transmission	6 speed
Layout	front engine, Rear wheel drive

Mazda RX-8 0-60 and acceleration in miles per hour

0-10 mph	0.9 s
0-20 mph	1.5 s
0-30 mph	2.1 s
0-40 mph	3.0 s
0-50 mph	4.2 s
0-60 mph	6.1 s
0-70 mph	9.0 s
0-80 mph	12.9 s
0-90 mph	17.5 s
0-100 mph	22.1 s
0-110 mph	26.3 s
0-120 mph	29.5 s

Mazda RX-8 quarter mile and acceleration in feet

300 feet	6.6 s @ 62 mph
1/8 mile	10.4 s @ 82 mph
1000 feet	13.7 s @ 94 mph
Quarter mile	16.4 s @ 102 mph
2000 feet	21.3 s @ 112 mph
1/2 mile	25.2 s @ 118 mph
3000 feet	27.3 s @ 120 mph
3500 feet	30.0 s @ 124 mph

Mazda RX-8 acceleration times in kilometers per hour

0-10 kmph	0.6 s
0-20 kmph	1.0 s
0-30 kmph	1.4 s
0-40 kmph	1.8 s
0-50 kmph	2.2 s
0-60 kmph	2.7 s
0-70 kmph	3.3 s
0-80 kmph	4.2 s
0-90 kmph	5.2 s
0-100 kmph	6.6 s
0-110 kmph	8.4 s
0-120 kmph	10.7 s
0-130 kmph	13.3 s
0-140 kmph	16.1 s
0-150 kmph	19.0 s
0-160 kmph	21.8 s
0-170 kmph	24.5 s
0-180 kmph	27.0 s
0-190 kmph	29.0 s
0-200 kmph	30.5 s

Mazda RX-8 distance acceleration in meters

100 meters	6.9 s @ 103 kph
200 meters	10.4 s @ 131 kph
300 meters	13.5 s @ 151 kph
400 meters	16.3 s @ 164 kph
500 meters	18.8 s @ 173 kph
600 meters	21.0 s @ 180 kph
700 meters	23.1 s @ 185 kph
800 meters	25.1 s @ 189 kph
900 meters	27.0 s @ 193 kph
1 kilometers	28.8 s @ 197 kph

The Mazda RX-8 is a unique sports car in many ways. The Mazda RX-8 is a two plus two with half doors for easier access to the rear seats and has a rotary engine underhood. Though the rotary could use more power, its light weight endows the RX-8 with a near perfect balance and brilliant transient response. Unfortunately, it guzzles both fuel and oil.

Mazda has a long history of breaking with convention, but few did so with as much conviction as the Mazda RX-8, and it’s arguably even more fascinating now than it was at launch in 2003.

Proper rear-wheel drive, naturally-aspirated, manual-gearbox sports cars are few and far between as it is these days, even if you completely ignore unique aspects like the RX-8’s Wankel rotary engine and its coupe-esque, suicide-doored body style. At launch it went toe-to-toe with cars like the Honda S2000 and Nissan 350Z, while we also pitched it against other mechanically quirky rivals like the Subaru Impreza WRX and Volkswagen Golf R32.

Today the RX-8 is spectacularly affordable, and while the risks of buying used examples are greater than with many of its contemporary rivals, the rewards are high too. If you can stomach the fuel bills - don’t expect a great deal more than 20mpg in any sort of use - the RX-8 offers a unique and entertaining driving experience.

Central to the RX-8 - and implied by Mazda’s RX designation - is its rotary engine. Dubbed the Renesis, it was a heavily evolved version of the two-rotor 13B used in the RX-7, featuring exhaust ports in the side of each rotor housing rather than on its periphery, and new rotor seals - a longstanding weak point of the rotary design.

Unlike the RX-7 (which had ceased production in Japan in 2002, but had long since disappeared from sale in Europe) the Renesis was naturally-aspirated rather than turbocharged, but still capable of producing 237bhp at a free-spinning 8500rpm. A lower-output 189bhp version was also available. The former was attached to a six-speed manual gearbox, while the latter got a five-speed with different ratios.

Underpinnings were closely related to the third-generation Mazda MX-5 - indeed, engineers used MX-5 prototypes to develop the drivetrain. Suspension is double-wishbone up front and multi-link at the rear, and Mazda managed to keep weight relatively low, with a 1300kg figure - the more conventional and less powerful contemporary 1.8-litre Mazda 6 was 1345kg.

The standard car was priced at £21,995, which seems like a bargain today, particularly given the sleek coupe bodystyle - which actually hit a four-door, four-seat layout, the rear row accessed via rear-hinged half-doors usable only after the front pair were open. The interior couldn’t quite match some German alternatives for quality but a low-slung driving position and uniquely-styled dashboard made the RX-8 feel special inside - and by coupe standards it was practical too.

Several special editions came and went during the RX-8’s production run, but most interesting to us was the PZ. Developed by Prodrive (which, aside from its rallying and racing success, also later worked wonders on the Alfa Romeo Brera), changes focused on improving the car’s handling further. Power of it actually remained the same, but OZ racing wheels, Bilstein dampers with Eibach springs, and a fruitier exhaust all of these are made for a more serious sports car. £25,995 secured one on its launch in 2006.

2008 brought about more significant changes, with a facelift to better reflect Mazda’s corporate look of the time, a higher specification, revised geometry and chassis stiffening, and a shorter final drive. The RX-8 lasted until 2010 in the UK, when it was withdrawn from sale based on emissions standards.