TTAC Photochop: New Mazda RX-8

Andrei Avarvarii
by Andrei Avarvarii

I still have a crush on the Mazda RX-8. I've always found it daring, innovative and meaningful. The opposite four-doors layout looks very cool, offers reasonable practical and doesn't mess-up the coupe silhouette. I've wondered why no other manufacturer has adopted that solution. The MINI Clubman is a start, but there's still no other 2+2 doors coupe available. Although initially very innovative and exciting, the RX-8's design is starting to get a visible layer dust (the recent face-lift didn't help much). I tried to picture a fresh zoom-zoomed RX-8. The later Mazda concept cars have a very futurist look; they seem to be quite far from a production vehicle. However, some of the exotic organic lines of the Nagare, Ryuga or Taiki could be grafted on the next Mazda coupe. I think the original game of the first RX-8 was the essence of its success and Mazda should try to maintain that.

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Andrei Avarvarii
Andrei Avarvarii

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  • Chaparral Chaparral on Mar 16, 2008

    No thanks. Give it a "faster" back. The C-pillar is the most awkward bit of the car now and this doesn't improve it. The new nose is pretty terrible, it's badly overstyled. I know the trend is this way but it doesn't fit here - the overstyling on modern cars is an attempt to hide a lot of fat, which the RX8 doesn't have. I bet it would look great with a very plain "bullet" front end. The high nose is ungainly, it looks like the car needs all that radiator area to cool a ten- or twelve-cylinder engine. The styling should take advantage of a cool and unusual engineering feature. Also, those wheels are absolutely enormous. The car's too light to need 17" brakes, so why the 20" wheels? Rotational inertia counts a lot against you when you've got a rotary. You also want to save as much "plain" weight as you can, in order to make up for the lack of torque and to help with the energy efficiency.

  • Chaparral Chaparral on Mar 16, 2008

    The cars that are styled best are the ones that are styled least. When was the last time you saw a stylist on the outside of an airplane? Yet they're almost all beautiful. Mercedes 300SL Triumph TR2 Lotus Eleven Lotus Elite Jag XK-E Ferrari 250GTO Lotus Elan Ford "Mustang" concept car Shelby/AC/Ford Cobra Daytona Ford GT40 Chaparral 2E McLaren M8B Porsche 911 Lotus Esprit Honda CRX Mazda Miata Lotus Elan M100 Ferrari F355 Lotus Elise and Exige, MkI and II Noble M12 Radical SR3 and SC3 Caparo T-1 Sports cars need a longer shelf life than mainstreamers. Be timeless, not trendy. Take the risks in the engineering, get the setup right, then go with whatever styling the packaging and aerodynamics give you.

  • Steven Lang Steven Lang on Mar 16, 2008

    Straight from Waterworld... I wonder what it runs on?

  • Jurisb Jurisb on Mar 17, 2008

    ugly. The sides near the headlight look unfinished not aligned with anything. Sidelines on the door look - unsure, german like, not confident. And at what place is the front bumper connected to the fender cladding or fender? the rear door glass line slopes down, ugly. While the rearview glass has a different angle again. should have left the original door rims, they were much better. At what place the hood opens exactly? Well, pretty average. more stress on average.

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