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First Drive

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Mazda RX-8 R3

Test date 16 July 2008  Price as tested  £24,995

What is it?

On first glance the R3 looks like a simple facelift on the RX-8. New front grille and bumper, new rear lights, bigger bore exhaust tailpipe and a little tweak here and there.

Except the changes go a little bit deeper than cosmetic. The engine has the same power output but the oiling system has been substantially modified with a bigger sump and new pump. Hopefully this will have cured the rotary Mazda’s thirst for oil. The steering has also been changed, dampers revised and the shell made 5.4 per cent stiffer.

The thing is, will we notice?

What’s it like?

I hadn’t driven an RX-8 for at least a couple of years and within a few minutes on empty roads I was a bit taken aback by how good it felt.

Better, in fact, than I remembered. The rotary engine is as rev-happy and exciting as ever, but now the steering feels sharper, the turn-in more precise and the body more tightly controlled.

The R3’s 19in alloys and 40 profile tyres look great but also look as though they might ruin the ride. They haven’t. The Bilstein dampers are well tuned to balance handling and ride.

The car itself has been improved more than the sum of the changes. It’s sharper, nimbler and even more fun to drive than before. With Recaros, cruise control, Bose audio and several other gadgets as standard, the R3 is good value, too.

Should I buy one?

Yes, because its days could be numbered. The rotary engine is still a thirsty engine (24mpg combined is not that clever), but that’s its nature. It also revs to 9,000rpm and sounds like no other engine. All car enthusiasts, and certainly all lovers of the internal combustion engine, should experience the rotary once in their lives.

Colin Goodwin

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