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When you do start her up, you hear a unique, melodious whirring. The engine revs to “only” 7500 rpm; at a speed where most piston engines would self-destruct, the RX-8 is creamy smooth, with no discernable vibration. The whir turns into a buzz like a nest of angry hornets. It's so smooth that another buzzer has to warn you that it’s time to shift up. There’s sufficient torque from idle, but the real punch comes in, together with the hornets, at about 5000 rpm. This engine runs hot. The center console, the bulge in the front passenger foot well, and the trunk all get a dose of rotary roasting. Leave some coins in the cup holder and you won't be able to hold them; your Frapuccino will be steaming after a short drive. As for the automatic gearbox, it's a conventional four-speed. You can toggle up and down the gears by tipping the shift lever or using the steering wheel controls. Pull on either of two paddles behind the wheel for ups hifts, and press on the steering wheel buttons for downshifts. It's a clever arrangement, and allows for completely tactile shifting, but we'd still prefer the six-speed manual that mates to a more powerful 9000-rpm engine. Wheels at the corners, 50-50 weight distribution, and low center of gravity provide obedient handling. The steering ratio is quick; you change lanes with just a flick of your wrists. The 45-ratio 18-inch tires grip like mad; there’s no drifting out of your lane even on the tightest flyovers. The ride is firm but still compliant, with no harshness even on sharp road impacts. Brakes are reflexively quick, a mere stab at the pedal providing stomach-churning deceleration. The red bodywork looks like it was poured over the mechanicals, particularly the cycle-type front fenders. As with the interior, there are rotary cues throughout, from the shape of the wheel spokes to the triangular duct near the dual exhausts. The RX-8 is the tantalizing bit of hardware that Mazda Philippines has not yet decided to release here. We'll hazard a guess that this car can be priced at less than P2.5 million, as generously equipped as our test car, which had the 18-inch wheels, bigger brakes, xenon headlamps, power driver’s chair and moon roof. Hopefully they will pop in the six-speed and the 238-hp engine to complete the package. Mazda and the rotary engine are inseparably linked, and together they took the overall win at the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 1991, a feat that hasn’t been duplicated by any Japanese manufacturer. The company wasn’t satisfied by just plopping the unique rotary into its sports car; it engineering a totally new approach, and in doing so, broke the barriers of what a sports car can do. It’s like finding out that your supermodel girlfriend can write a novel, handle your finances, and carry a conversation equally well. Lust gives way to love so easily. |
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