The last Wankel
08/27/2022
The Mazda RX-8 was presented in the USA as early as 2001, the first cars were then built in 2002, but it was 2003 before local car testers were allowed to sit in the Wankel sports car with the unusual door configuration.
Since then, these counter-rotating auxiliary doors have also been available on the Fiat 500e, and in the first decade of the new millennium BMW also offered such a door on the Mini Clubman, but the Mazda had a short rear door on both sides to make it easier to climb into the rear seats. And it did so to a limited extent.
The main attraction of the RX-8, however, was of course the Wankel engine, which enabled a low and central center of gravity. Automobil Revue tested the Nippon rotary sports car in the late fall of 2003 and managed the sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in an impressive 7.1 seconds. The subsequent braking to 0 km/h was no less impressive at 35.5 meters. The top speed was based on the factory specification (235 km/h), while the average fuel consumption was 13.6 liters per 100 km, 9.6 on a consumption run.
As expected, the Wankel was not an economy artist, but it was relatively quiet, e.g. only 70 dB(A) at 120 km/h, regardless of whether you were driving in 5th or 6th gear. While the smooth running and revving pleasure were much appreciated, the AR test editors criticized the low torque and not inconsiderable oil consumption (approx. 1 liter per 2000 km?), as well as the lack of headroom at the front. The final verdict on the 48,470 franc car was: "A very special car that you should definitely drive before you talk about it."
Which, by the way, I did at the time: I owned one of these 231 hp four-seaters for a while, but soon replaced it with a V6 because I simply liked the sound of it better.
If you would like to read again how the RX-8 drove back then, please refer to the test report in AR 52/2003 .
From now on, all 52 issues of Automobil Revue from 2003 are completely searchable and readable online .
