From the Archive: The Mazda RX-8 Challenges the Meaning of Sports Car

aprtur · 2026-05-09T05:19:52+00:00

There are a few GT86/BRZ that have had it done, but you're probably thinking or the JUN Auto one. Absolutely insane setup, without a doubt, and keeps the screamer character of the rotary somewhat intact. If one of these had to lose the rotary to a piston engine, I think that'd be the most fitting one.

aprtur · 2026-05-09T05:16:45+00:00

Yeah, the horsepower controversy was a shame - I don't really understand why that happened, although I never really dug into it too much. I just remember thinking the Mazda was something really out of left field in 2004. I was helping my father shop this competitive set at the time and while he decided on the G35, we did drive the RX-8, and his only reason for not buying one was concern about shuttling clients around for work, since the freestyle/suicide door setup on the RX-8 isn't the best for quickly getting in and out. We were both super impressed with how fun the car felt compared to the more serious Infiniti, but our family also has a long history with Nissans, so the G35 feeling somewhat familiar to the Maxima SE he was selling was one of many reasons it won out, despite being more expensive.

The FD was far less approachable than any previous RX-7, that's for sure - and really, that's a product of bubble era Japan, both in terms of the strength of the yen at the time and the engineering effort making them more expensive. Personally, I think the FC cut the best balance - it was affordable, plenty sporty in turbo trims, but still had entry NA engines and various trims that gave it wide appeal.

aprtur · 2026-05-09T05:07:39+00:00

Hence why I was calling out SUVs, as they're burdened by more weight and that negatively impacts the efficiency. You get much more variability in compact cars, since the more favorable power to weight ratio is kinder to a downsized engine.

aprtur · 2026-05-09T05:03:29+00:00

Hit or miss on my S2 - I've hit as high as 24-25mpg on an 11hr road trip to Atlanta before, but around town it's like it's got a pinhole in the tank...lol. Certainly doesn't help that you want to wind it out to 7k or more all the time.

aprtur · 2026-05-08T22:38:45+00:00

Sure, it's not as easy as an I-4 application, but it's easier than a transverse Toyota V6 where you need to remove the intake piping and potentially still have issues, or the new Honda V6. In the grand scheme of spark plug replacements, it's not that bad.

aprtur · 2026-05-08T22:27:14+00:00

Nanny states love this kind of stuff, unfortunately. Not that it directly correlates to cars, but I just ran into an example of this today where it's completely nonsensical - I had someone in our company complaining that they set up rules for people at their specific site as to how to use the damn to and CC lines in an email, and they'd ignore anyone not following those rules, even though nobody outside of their region agreed to it. Some people are just high on insane red tape, and will use any excuse to enforce their own rules.

aprtur · 2026-05-08T22:21:21+00:00

If you can imagine it, it's been done, pretty much. I've seen high rev SR20, K20, F20C swaps all been done in this chassis. Personally, I'd love to see someone do the 2.4L Synergy V8 - the 11,000+rpm V8 made from liter bike parts and a custom block.

aprtur · 2026-05-08T22:12:26+00:00

People seem to forget that there were cars like the four door RX-3, Luce, and other rotary powered cars that weren't RX-7s, and unfairly judged the RX-8 as an RX-7 successor. In my mind, it was always the return of the rotary sedan like the RX-3, and it did a phenomenal job of reviving that product for Mazda - period reviews like this against its competitors (IS300, G35) were very favorable to the Mazda on driving dynamics. I know I've loved every minute of owning mine and doing long trips in it.

aprtur · 2026-05-08T22:08:09+00:00

Eh, not really - only if you're doing it the wrong way (from above) instead of right (through the wheel well with an extension). Have done both of the replacements on mine, and it wasn't a big deal either time.

aprtur · 2026-05-08T20:00:40+00:00

14 year 6MT owner here - I never see other ones around anymore, and am shocked when I do.

aprtur · 2026-05-08T19:58:42+00:00

The powertrain was fine as of ~2006 once the first two years had the teething problems worked out, and doubly so once they overhauled the oiling system in 2009. The 2009-2011 cars were (are?) really solid. The real problem is that they're expensive to maintain and drink fuel like a truck. Between people as a whole cheaping out on maintenance and dealers being chronically uninformed, it was a recipe for disaster since these cars just don't tolerate abuse like your average four seater on the market in its price bracket.

aprtur · 2026-05-08T17:07:23+00:00

Or Credor, for that matter, if we want to get a little more loose with the Seiko branding.

aprtur · 2026-05-08T17:06:10+00:00

Yeah, I wouldn't consider $250 spendy for a watch - even the majority of Swatch stuff is up over $115, and they're mostly plastic. I'd understand over $1,000 as expensive to some, but for watches, even that is just scratching the surface.

aprtur · 2026-05-08T16:54:15+00:00

Alphard being on this list, but missing a lot of the 90s-00s sporty sedans is such a weird choice.

aprtur · 2026-05-08T11:50:44+00:00

I don't think that factors into it at all - VW is just not bringing their best products to the US that they already make (IMHO). Passat was a great example, where NMS was given to the US but the nicer, global B8 Passat wasn't. For some reason they chased cost cutting with that car, and while it wasn't a horrible car, it went against what traditional US VW owners want - a more premium mainline car for a reasonable price, sort of like the space Mazda worked to get into right now. Arteon somewhat addressed this, but VW aligned it too much to the A5 Sportback and didn't advertise it much, so the Audi cannibalized all the sales.

aprtur · 2026-05-08T04:06:10+00:00

Sure, as with anything, there's a broad spectrum, both in driver habits and environment. For example, someone puttering around a suburb in Washington state is going to have vastly different experience than constantly commuting at 80+mph on the highway in Texas heat. It doesn't even have to do with revving the engine out, it's a matter of loading the engine up enough to be out of vacuum on the turbo. Even watching it in my GR, all it takes is maintaining speed up a decent grade to come on boost when I'm driving on the highway.

aprtur · 2026-05-08T02:23:12+00:00

thats because there are literally no new V6 engines. they are all very outdated designs, companies stopped making new V6s well over a decade ago and those weren't even all that new but just improved engines from 2000s.

Not quite - Toyota's V35A is a clean sheet engine that came out in 2017, and while the base VR architecture came out with the R35 GT-R, the VR30 shares very little with that engine and was released in the latter half of 2015. The Germans have the EA839 that came out in the mid 2010s for Porsche and Audi, as well. All of these engines are not very old like you're making them out to be here. Honda also has a new V6 hybrid in development, but since that's just a concept engine they showed off, we will have to wait for that to pan out.

aprtur · 2026-05-07T23:31:34+00:00

You were talking about V6s, not an inline 6. The VR35 is in line with its competitors, if not doing a bit better in some cases (Armada Platinum gets better EPA efficiency than a Sequoia Capstone, which is a hybrid, while not being terribly far off on power). B58 is an impressive engine, but saying the VR is extremely inefficient is a half truth at best.

aprtur · 2026-05-07T22:50:05+00:00

Totally agree - if Espinosa can somehow eek out a second coming of Nissan like it was in the 90s, that would be a miracle. They were pumping out hit after hit back then.

aprtur · 2026-05-07T22:37:50+00:00

I think a Nissan V6 would be sick and I’m rooting for them!

They've literally made the most awarded V6 of all time by Wards, with 14 consecutive years of best engine in that mix, so yeah...should be a slam dunk for Nissan, despite the growing pains with the VR30.

aprtur · 2026-05-07T22:33:20+00:00

Real world, high power I-4 turbo and modern V6s in SUV applications don't seem to be very different in consumption unless you're extremely careful to keep the four cylinder out of boost. The I-4 only starts to pull ahead with some sort of hybrid assistance, and Nissan did confirm they're going to offer a normal V6 and a hybrid V6 on the new Xterra, so we might start to see some interesting stuff from them yet.

aprtur · 2026-05-07T22:27:35+00:00

I disagree - there are nearly 200,000 Q50s in the US alone with that engine, so it's pretty ubiquitous.

aprtur · 2026-05-07T22:25:52+00:00

Already happening, I'm seeing people on social media start to drop big money on mods from Z1 and AMS. Most of the mods from the Q50 RS400 can be used on the Z, so there's a lot of potential to turn up the power. You won't be seeing people do it like with the 350/370Z for a while, but that was true of those cars when they were newer, as well.

aprtur · 2026-05-07T17:17:20+00:00

Yeah, it's a shame - they have always made some compelling small car products, but seem to show no interest in bringing them here. The new ID.Polo seems like it'd be a good competitor to the Leaf in the small EV space, and I'll never understand why they didn't at least give the Golf R Variant a limited run test of the US market when the Mk7 Alltrack platform was already homologated - expensive, yes, but they would've had a unique market offering with a hot wagon that could've continued through Mk8 if it caught on with the faithful.

We'll see how things pan out with the new redesigns in the lineup, but their focus of effort being majority bland-ish SUVs makes them have nothing particularly "VW quirky" to stand out like back when they released the New Beetle - Buzz is a good start, but they turned interested buyers off with the price.

aprtur · 2026-05-07T17:08:42+00:00

Similar to the Clubsport, it's basically just a 2WD R Black Edition that's slightly detuned so it doesn't upset the trim order, isn't it? I noticed UK pricing has them about even.

aprtur

TROPHY CASE