eNews Volume 3, Number 1, August 24, 2007

Welcome to Cars & Places and eNews, our update on the automotive world and area happenings.

For a printable version of this week's eNews, click Here.

2007 Mazda RX-8

by Rick Trawick

We have to get this out up front, we like these Mazda sports cars. The RX-8 is the latest iteration of Mazda’s line of rotary powered sports cars, now celebrating their 40th anniversary of rotary powered cars. We even got the chance to drive one of the original Mazda rotaries, the 1967 Cosmo, but more on that later.

    The rotary engine in the RX-8 is a mighty wonder. Just 1.3 liters of displacement yields 232 horsepower and an engine willing to quickly spin up to 8500 rpm, all without the aid of supercharging. No vibration, no unpleasant noises and unfortunately little torque below 4000 rpm. Keep the rotors spinning where they are happy and the RX-8 will exhibit the zoom-zoom Mazda is always telling us about, below that and you will need to wait a bit for the fun. There is no trouble finding the right gear to keep those rpm’s up however as the 6-speed manual has been geared with nice progressive ratio steps and a great shifter with which to select them. There is always a gear for every situation. If you have been driving a 5-speed car for awhile, the smoothness of the rotary will make you forget you have another gear to shift into!

    As you would expect, the RX-8 is at home carving through corners of your favorite “short-cut”. The electric power steering is nicely boosted for easy parking work but gives excellent road feel at speed. A few months ago, I had an opportunity to drive several different cars on the Pocono Raceway road course. While the RX-8 wasn’t the fastest car I drove that day, it was the easiest and most enjoyable to drive at speed. Balanced is the word that describes the handling best.

    As with most sports cars, the RX-8 is low, making entry a bit more tedious than your average sports sedan, but the super-trick, rear-hinged doors (Mazda calls them Freestyle doors) make the back seats usable by real adults. Anyone under, say 5 foot 9 will find the back seat more than adequate for a trip out to dinner or around town. The rear doors make entry and exit as easy as the front passengers. And once inside it’s easy to get comfortable, grab the rotor-shaped shifter and get down to business. All of the secondary controls are within easy reach with radio and cruise control buttons right on the steering wheel. Then generous trunk will hold plenty for a weekend getaway at the penalty of no spare tire. An emergency kit of tire sealer and a small compressor is designed to help with a flat. In addition a full jacking kit is provided.

    Our test car was the top-line Grand Touring model which lists at $31,070 with the optional Sirius satellite radio and destination, our RX-8 topped out at $32,095.

1967 Mazda Cosmo Sport

by Rick Trawick

In the mid-60’s when Mazda first developed the production version of the Wankel rotary engine, they decided to put the futuristic engine in a sleek sports coupe. First shown at the 1964 Tokyo Auto Show the Cosmo was a sensation in the Japanese press. The first production vehicles were introduced in 1967 but few made it across the pond to America. When Mazda North America decided they wanted one to help celebrate the Mazda rotary’s 40th anniversary, a search was begun. After locating one close to the headquarters in California, talks with the owner were initiated and it looked like a deal could be struck. But when Mazda tried to finalize the transaction, the seller admitted they had sold the car to someone else! Apparently, Jay Leno wanted the car more than the folks at Mazda. So, back to the drawing board and another Cosmo was located. This car, in amazing condition was located in the Southwest. A deal was made and Mazda had their car, just in time for us to few it in mid-June.

    The dry climate has preserved the original car well. With less than 10,000 miles on the clock, this Cosmo is in a great, unrestored state. Your intrepid editor was able to take the Cosmo around the block. Although the car had just completed a trip from Arizona to Southern California, we didn’t press the Cosmo to its limits, but the 10A rotary was characteristically smooth. As with the Rx-8, keep your foot in it and you will quickly be looking at the tachometer redline. The four speed gearbox shifted smoothly but the shifter was in need of some new bushings, or maybe it felt that way because I was shifting with my left hand! Since this was a right-hand drive car the shift was on the “wrong” side. The wood steering wheel completes the vintage look.

    Taking a look at the styling, you can see a little mid-fifties Thunderbird, not that you will mistake it for one. The cockpit is laid out in a neat and compact arrangement. I had no trouble fitting into a comfortable driving position but those over six feet would find the space a bit cramped. The instruments are classic round gauges fitted to a flat panel mimicking British sports cars of the period. Sports car interiors have come a long way since the 60's!

    Keep your eye out for this Cosmo at an auto show near you!