#rx-evolv

[japanesecarssince1947]

1999 Mazda RX-Evolv Concept

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www.tumblr.com/germancarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/frenchcarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/englishcarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/italiancarssince1946 & www.tumblr.com/japanesecarssince1947 & www.tumblr.com/uscarssince1935 & www.tumblr.com/swedishcarssince1946

[pacificalab]

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For as long as I remember being alive, I've loved cars. One of my earliest car memories was a big toy car of a first generation RX-7 that my dad got me from Japan. I want to say it was all plastic, big, made a clicking sound when you rolled it around, and the pop-up headlights worked like the real car. Over the years, I've had many favorite cars--Countach, C4 Corvette, CR-X, RX-7--some of them commiserate with the era I grew up in. Cars that I desperately and realistically wanted, however, have been few; these are cars that I actually really really obsessively wanted to own and drive myself. One of these was the SN95 Mustang Cobra (yes, rolling my eyes), and another was the RX-8.

The SN95 Mustang--the one sold from '94--was veritably one of the worst sports cars ever sold...if it can be called a sports car. Indeed, most people, including auto journalists, would call it a "pony car" and not consider it a sports car. I would agree, yet at the same time, Mustangs have always been sporty, small, RWD coupes with relatively exciting styling. (And how do you define sports car these days? By the strictest definition, the only true sports cars are the likes of Miata or Caterham/Lotus Seven; is the Porsche 911 then just a piece of meat?) As a sports or sporty car, the SN95 Mustang was bad on paper and in practice. It was quite unsophisticated. For one, it had a shitty suspension setup, with solid-axle out back. Its Fox platform chassis was from the '70s; other examples of Fox cars include the Fairmount, a blight of an American sedan driven by the likes of colonel Decker in The A-Team. The engines also sucked. At launch, the GT had a pushrod 5.0L V8 that dates back to the '60s. This was quickly replaced with a more modern SOHC 4.6L. Both put out 215hp...in a time when the Camaro Z28 was putting out 275hp for a lower price. Cognizant of this disparity, Ford's Special Vehicles Team (SVT) produced a high performance version, the Cobra. Sadly, the Cobra was still underpowered at 240hp.

Why did I like this car at all? Well, you have to admit, the Mustang is an American icon...or so it was advertised. And most people agreed; for most of its life, the Mustang outsold its competition. It also had good looks. The SN95 Mustang may be unsophisticated underneath, but it was very pretty to look at. It'll never go down in history as a timeless design classic, but with a good balance of boy racer decorations and dynamic coupe lines, it certainly seemed attractive at the time. It also sounded great, its exhaust producing a perfectly-tuned rumble. All look and no speed then? Sort of, but the SN95 did improve over its life. In SVT tune, the 4.6L produced an impressive 305hp, and then to a supercharged 390hp. The last SN95 Cobra even had an independent rear suspension. Throughout high school and college, I loved these Mustangs. I loved both the coupe and convertible, and I would ogle at Cobras when I took our Explorer in for service. The later Cobras, when in white, would sport black Ford ovals instead of blue, and I thought that was so cool. It was the Cobra that I desperately wanted; a 4.6L first series in Chrome Yellow. Occasionally I'd see one in the classifieds, and it still stirs me up. And then there were the Saleens, exclusive and highly tuned Mustangs *manufactured* by Saleen in Irvine, CA (before they got trashy). These cars were beautiful, some outrageously powerful, and all very expensive; to me, they were modern day equivalent of Shelby Mustangs from the '60s. I got over the Mustang after the SN95. The newer ones are too retro, too big, too heavy, and too sluggish. The styling looks nice in sketches but in real life is too clunky and derivative. They are cartoon-ishly oversized, and when I drove an S197 GT at Irwindale Speedway at launch, it was quite unexciting. The Mustang was a page from my past. It was a car I idolized when I was in high school, when most of the kids around me were idolizing Civics and Integras. It's nothing but memory now.

The Mustang may be the high school sweetheart, but I definitely feel more connected and close to the RX-8. I've always liked Mazdas, and the FC RX-7 was one of my favorite cars as a kid. Tamiya made a superbly detailed model kit of the FC, and I've built at least three of them in my childhood. I also know a lot about the development of the RX-8, more so than most car geeks. Its origin traces back to the RX-01 concept car from '95. When this car was shown, I didn't get it at all. The FD RX-7 was still around (although barely by then in the US), and the RX-01, billed as a simple 2+2 sports car, didn't make sense to my young feeble mind. It was less powerful than the FD, and it didn't look as good (although I like it a lot now). It may have had +2 seats, but it didn't seem any bigger or more accommodating than the FD. The creation of this car was interesting though, for it shows that even back then Mazda engineers were aware of the danger of FD's halo status and keen on bringing back the formula of the original RX-7--simple, affordable, lightweight rotary sports car. This was also genesis for the side-port rotary engine that would find its way into the RX-8. The RX-01 never saw further development. When the next rotary concept car, the RX-EVOLV, was subsequently shown, I really liked its suicide doors and four-seat layout. It had a wholly different philosophy than the FD, more akin to a luxurious and comfortable GT. Indeed, it was fairly large and spacious, more so than the subsequent RX-8 concepts. It was also very loopy and fantastical, the kind of thing that never sees production. The RX-EVOLV was the first time the door system was explored. The decision was for the next RX to be a sports car instead of a large GT. The suicide doors would allow genuine 4-seat configuration. By the time the red RX-8 concept car was shown in 2001, I was pretty blown away. It was a very nice and original design, very Japanese in its edginess but also a bit European in how tidy it was. The RX-8 name was also very exciting; there had been RX-2 to RX-5, and now I may be here to see the next evolution in the RX line after 7. By this time, the RX-7 had been long gone from the US but remained in Japan, where it developed nicely. In fact, it was a car that made you wish you were Japanese just so you can have it. The RX-8, ostensibly, would be brought to the US if it sees production; this was indeed very exciting. Later that year, another RX-8 concept was shown, this time in close-to-production trim, and yellow (I LOVE yellow cars). I remember the issue of Road & Track with this car smack on the cover. The first time I saw it, it was a bit shocking. Those front fenders are motorcycle-like, and the front grille was like nothing else. It was a very dynamic design that took the theme on the red RX-8 concept a bit further; it looked almost Italian. It was absolutely gorgeous and captivating; I loved this car. In that issue, Sam Mitani drove the prototype and had very positive reviews; there was also a photo-laden profile of the original Cosmo Sport. I was hooked. I carried this magazine everywhere and took it home with me on break from school. I was wandering around the airport when a guy asked me if the car on the cover was a Ferrari or something; this really happened. Then began the long and painful wait for the production car, which didn't appear until two years later. I read the accounts of people who were invited to previews and drove it on the track. I remember the pre-orders and the big book about the development of the car Mazda would send out to owners, along with little models, keychains, etc., and how I so wished I was one of them. I remember configuring the car on Mazda's website countless times, my favorite was Lightning Yellow 6MT with sport package and nothing else, about $28.5k. I also remember going to the Mazda dealer immediately after hearing that the cars have arrived, and how my jaw was probably on the floor the whole time. I've never followed a car so obsessively and wanted one so badly.

Today, eight years after the RX-8 was launched, I'm still quite a fan of the car. I own an '04, a fairly spartan 6-speed model, and love it to no end. The layout and the sophisticated suspension are optimal and have few equals. And that engine, well, love it or hate it, it's like nothing else. Gas mileage can suck, but drive it right and you can get 24mpg. The interior isn't Audi-fancy or luxurious; the money was spent in the right places. With perfect amount of room and a nice ride (few can tune suspension like Mazda), it's everyday friendly, leaps more so than the FD I used to have. When it redlines, it beeps to let you know. And it's so beautiful. It's full of quirks, but it truly is a sports car like no other. Likely the only car that could entice me away would be Mazda's next RX. 2009 saw the mid-life refresh, with a facelift and slight modifications. The engine has a new oil-metering pump, and the transmission is new. As a nod to its heritage, the RX-8 also got a "handling special," the Type RS in Japan or R3 abroad, both fittingly named. They have Bilstein shocks, firmer suspension settings, larger wheels, an aero kit, and Recaro seats. The car remains one of the most excellent sports cars in the driving dynamics department, especially for its price; power and drag racing are not its forté, but for track days, drifting, and canyon carving it's top-level equipment. Unfortunately, the RENESIS engine saw little development. Some people were anticipating a high performance MAZDASPEED version that never came to be. The RX-8 did see a fair amount of victory on track, again a nod to its heritage. It's a favorite for amateur and semi-pro racing, and the pros won it big time with the RX-8, with the Speedsource team bagging Mazda's 23rd win in endurance racing at Daytona in '10. Would I get an R3? Fuck yeah! But I'm also quite happy with my car. 2011 is the last production year of the RX-8. If we're lucky, there'll be a new RX soon. As a closing note, here's another nice nod on the latest RX-8 to its heritage: the wheels of the Type RS/R3 is of a very similar design to those on the RX-01 (photo above). Incidentally, Porsche recently had a similar wheel design on their 911 GT3 RS. Mazda had it first.