Despite the race-car façade, you'll still find automatic climate control, lights, wipers and and one-touch power windows inside. There's a Bluetooth phone interface too, as well as steering wheel mounted audio controls for the Bose 6-CD changer audio system.

Rolling along
R3's ride isn't terrible as far as rolling on nineteens and track-ready Billstein dampers is concerned- but it still won't impress any of your passengers with comfort levels. Road and engine noise can become tiresome on long trips.

The stiff ride's benefits are obvious the instant the steering wheel is twisted. The reaction thereafter is fast and sharp- with a quick steering ratio accompanied by loud and clear feedback from the tires. Weighting is ideal to help the car feel locked into the road but light and agile at the same time. Pushed, R3 rips through corners like a plasma cutter through tin-foil.

Cornering hard, keeping the throttle on too heavily sees a touch of understeer, and lifting off gets the rear end to squirm a tad- nothing intimidating. At the end of the day, its super sharp, very grippy and really easy to drive hard.

The Mazda RX-8 R3 is a four-person go-kart.

Powerful and precise brakes back up the handling, with pedal feel that almost completely replicates the precision found in the steering.

An engine like no other
Get the Renesis engine spinning its rotors past about 6000 RPM, and its silky hum escalates into a smooth, siren-like wail. Power is delivered linearly between just off idle and just under the 9000 RPM 'shift-me-please' beeper.

Sound effects aren't raspy, throaty, reedy or even mellow. It's more a persistent, creamy-smooth buzz that escalates into a mechanical shriek on demand.

With 238 horsepower to the rear wheels, RX-8 is by no means a neck-snapper, but there's plenty of sauce for spirited driving. One of the industry's all time best six-speed manual transmissions handles gearchange duty.

If you're an RX-8 fan, you already know that fuel consumption is questionable at best. My personal average was about 14.5L / 100km- in the same ballpark as many more powerful V8 cars driven similarly. Highway mileage drops off to about 10L /100km of premium, which is slightly more reasonable. That amount of fuel for 238 horsepower is excessive, but it's worth it in terms of thrills, excitement and sound effects from under the hood.

If an unconventional car that's ready to handle your favorite passengers or race-track is a priority, there's nothing else like the RX-8 R3 for the price. Think of it as a four-person go-kart.


Photo Credit : Justin Pritchard