Zoom zoom ... ?? Oh yeah!

If you read my last review, you know I’d just taken a rather disappointing test drive in a Mazda3. When I returned, the salesman (a really entertaining guy) met me with a grin, hoping I’d loved it. When I gave him my honest impression and told him I hadn’t … he looked a little stunned, then laughed, shook his head and said “Oh sweetheart … we are going for a ride. C’mon … “

He took me up the hill to the display stand and pointed at the phantom blue RX-8 sitting there in the sunlight.

Oh … my … god …

Pictures don’t do this car justice. It is breathtakingly gorgeous. I’ve seen them on the road before and stared, but up close … it’s beautiful. We’d looked at the one in the showroom already … a copper red one that was top of the line and over $35,000 so I had only swallowed hard and quickly moved on to other options. But now the salesman was determined to get me to take a second look … and I was more than happy to let him.

This RX-8 was on the low end of the available spectrum, offering just the basics. It costs a little over $28,000 as a result. It comes with a 1.3 liter Renesis 2 rotary engine that produces 232HP and redlines at 9000 RPM. It does 0-60 in 5.9 seconds. (*takes a moment to savor that thought and grin*) This one had a manual 6-speed transmission, though surprisingly they offer a 6-speed sport automatic transmission as an option. The salesman seemed to think this was blasphemous though, and the horsepower and all the other goodies are significantly reduced on the automatic, so he may be right.

The gas mileage on this car is horrendous. It gets 18 city/24 highway … and according to the salesman you have to put the premium grade gas in it … so this one is going to cost you big time at the pump. Gas mileage is not why you buy this car though so we’ll just move along from that point.

He wouldn’t let me drive it for two reasons … first, he said I scared him … (*rolling on floor laughing*) … I told him that was the best complement I’d gotten in a long time. But the more significant reason is that it was a stick and I have never owned a stick and don’t know how to drive one. (Though after this experience you can bet that is way high on my list of things to do … so if anyone lives in the north Atlanta area and is brave enough to teach me … drop me an email and we’ll set something up.)

So he climbed behind the wheel and I got into the passenger side. (I’d already tried out the driver side as well.) This car is extremely comfortable. The seats are still fairly hard, but the support is better in all the right places. Everything about the seating on both the driver and passenger side just felt great. The arm rests in the center and the elbow room at the door was also in all the right places so you just felt like you belonged in these seats. It made me grin just to sit in it.

The backseat is also surprisingly roomy and my teenager loved it when she tried it out. (No, she did not go on the test drive in case you wonder about this later.) The back doors are also unique in that they are an extension of the front doors and open up backwards, providing one large opening on each side. This gives you plenty of room to climb in and out of the back seat , or to get larger items into the car in a pinch. I liked this design a lot.

Storage and amenities were fairly sparse on this model but it does have a sleek center console that runs full length front to back in the car, providing plenty of places to tuck little things. The trunk is tiny and won’t do at all for any real hauling, so this is not the car for anyone with a lot of cargo needs. It will hold a suitcase or two though and will certainly do fine for basic grocery or shopping bag needs.

The dash is well laid out and easy to find things on at a quick glance. Several controls are on the steering wheel as well, including the stereo volume, putting them at your fingertips so you don’t have to reach or search while you’re driving.

The stereo itself looks really cool. It has a round indented area with the power/volume forming a hub at the middle, so it looks like a CD. The whole layout is a really slick aesthetic design that makes you think the sound will be spectacular before you even turn it on. We only tried out the radio for a brief moment before we left, but the sound didn’t disappoint in the slightest.

He turned the key and started it up. Ohhhhhh wow … (*pausing to breathe in awe*) … the sound! The engine is unlike anything else on the road apparently. It’s a rotary design used in race cars which Mazda has patented, so it’s only available in this car. It has a very distinctive purr that is unbelievably sexy with just a touch of jet engine tossed into the mix. It’s absolutely intoxicating to listen to, and I’m not one that usually ever notices things like that.

He revved it up a few times, watched the grin spread across my face, and then pulled it off the display stand and down onto the street. We pulled around to that same light from my last review, but when it turned green, there was absolutely nothing tame about this car. My rockstar salesman had been a race driver once upon a time and he was determined to show me the full spectrum of what this car could do, so when he took off at that light … wow … I was in love.

Whipping onto the freeway ramp, we checked all the hiding spots for the police and then he merged into traffic at an unbelievably illegal speed. I have never had so much fun in my life. Rocketing down the road, he was drifting sideways between cars and doing all sorts of other things that would surely have landed us in jail (thus the reason why I haven’t named him, his dealership, or even what city it was in this review. No, it wasn't Atlanta.) The car did everything he asked from it and begged for more. Truly a “grin-factor-ten” car in every way.

The really amazing part about the freeway demonstration though is that the car felt perfectly safe the whole time. Now let me clarify what I mean … obviously there was nothing remotely safe about drifting sideways in traffic on a busy freeway … but the point is that the car never felt out of control or like it was in any danger of tipping or rolling over. It felt firmly planted on the road and well able to handle anything that was asked of it without losing control. This really impressed me.

We got off at the next exit and headed for that curvy back road I’d taken the Mazda3 on. Once again we got stuck behind traffic though so he was only able to show me the cornering ability of the car in a few places. The bits he did get to show me were excellent though. Handling is satin smooth and completely controlled. It hugged the curves and didn’t show any sign of danger, even though we were well above the acceptable speed limit. The brakes were very responsive as well and were able to stand the car on it’s nose if the need came up, which is did a couple of times, illustrating the point pretty effectively.

I could rave forever on this car but I’ll just stop here and say that by the time we returned to the dealership, I was head over heels in love with this car. Even that $28,000 price tag was starting to not be so obscene. (Actually, compared to other cars in its class that routinely start in the 30’s and 40’s … it IS well priced … or so I’m told.)

Would I recommend this car … yes, without any question. There was nothing whatsoever about this car (except the price) that I didn’t love with a passion. I can’t afford it … I know that … really I do know that … though I haven’t stopped thinking about it or wondering what I could do to try to afford it. Maybe selling a few of my organs … ? No? Okay fine. (*sulk*)

If you love speed and adrenalin … this is a car that will feed your soul and if you can afford the price, it’s absolutely worth a look.