Test drive Mazda RX-8 2003-2008 compartment
RX-8 is an explosion of emotions
Cars of an unusual design are gradually becoming exotic. Total unification, the use of common platforms and the desire of manufacturers to maximize the cost of developing the model and re -assembly of production lead to the fact that most modern cars differ in the main design. But Mazda RX -8 is a car something! An unusual body type, an unusual engine type, an unusual design, an unusual layout scheme - it seems that this is the most unusual Mazda in the history of the company ...Exclusive in a square
Mazda RX -8 is a very unusual car. A simple listing of its design features can cause only one thought - is it generally a serial machine or another Japanese concept car? No, the car is serial, and in Europe it has been sold for about a year. Moreover, this is the third generation of the Mazdovsky compartment of the RX series. And most importantly, a worthy heir to the magnificent traditions laid down by the founders in the eighties, finally reached Minsk. And today we have on the test - the first in the Republic of Belarus Mazda RX -8!
So, with regard to unusualness ... Mazda RX-8 is the only serial car in the world, under the hood of which is a two-section rotor-piston engine. And before this, the only predecessor of the eight was the only Mazda RX -7 sports coupe in the world. True, there are also vases with rotary piston engines, but their production volumes are not compared with the Mazdovsky ...
The rotary -piston engine (abbreviated - RPD), it is also the Vankel engine, and is fundamentally different from the usual piston engine with the Otto cycle. The usual ICE is based on the progressive and revolutionary movement, that is, the engine works due to the course of the piston, which transfers the charge from ignition of the crankshaft. In the RPD, everything is completely different: it works only due to rotation of the rotor. He also has his own compression cycle, his own phase of ignition, his working cycle - but all this happens differently than in the engine with crankshaft and pistons. The rotor in the cross section has the shape of a rounded triangle, and with the help of an eccentric shaft and a gear fixed on the engine housing, the rotor makes complex planetary movement, rolling the stator (engine body) with its ribs. We will not explain more details, because all the information you are interested in on this can be found in Internet - including on Mazdovsky sites. We only add that the full four-stroke cycle of the rotary piston engine occurs behind 120 degrees of rotation rotation, and therefore the engine volume in the catalogs is indicated in a rather strange way. In fact, the working volume of each of the two sections is 654 cubes, which gives a volume of 1.3 liters. But in the catalogs it is necessarily indicated that this engine is equivalent to a 2.6-liter six of a conventional design.
For the eight, a new generation rotor-piston engine, called Renesis, is proposed. He is better than his predecessor in many ways: lighter, works at higher speeds, more environmentally friendly. And besides, the designers have seriously worked on an increase in the resource. If for the previous generation of the RPD, a mileage was declared to a overhaul of 200,000 kilometers, then for the current renosics, designers promise a mileage no less than that of gasoline analogues with a high degree of forceout.
True, the current generation of vankels has less torque and power. Under the hood, the Mazda RX-7 stood a 265-horsepower engine with two sequentially installed turbocharges, which developed a torque of 294 Nm at 5000 rpm. And the new reneisis is available in three versions - 190, 231 or 240 hp. And in the most powerful version of the torque is 216 nm. True, now the maximum power and the maximum torque are achieved at higher speeds. The speed limiter is included at 9000 rpm, and the peak of torque falls at 7500 rpm - as in modern sports motorcycles! The version on which we traveled was much more manual - it develops a power of 231 hp, and the peak of the torque (211 Nm) falls on 5500 rpm. But still the maximum turns are impressive. By the way, the engine on the Mazda RX -8 is located within the base - it is located just behind the front wheels. And the gas tank is in front of the rear wheels, that is, also within the base. Thus, the car has optimal weighting along the axes, so it is completely devoid of any unnecessary energy when changing the trajectory of movement - this developers achieved this.
The second extraordinary Mazda RX -8 is its body that is not amenable to the usual classification. It looks like a compartment, but there are four doors, and this means that in front of us is a sedan. But ... the rear doors open against the move - how do you like such a fuck? It turns out that Mazda RX-8 is a sedan compartment ...
However, no matter how this body is called there, it is a real revolution in the class of sports cars. Already in what, and in the convenience of landing on the rear chairs, the avant-garde Mazda RX-8 gives odds to all competitors. Sedans do not count, because they look completely different. And the RX -8 seems to be a real compartment, and only when you open the rear doors, your faces begin to stretch out around the car gathered around the car ...
The rear doors can only be opened when the front ones are open. And vice versa, until you close the rear, it is impossible to slam the front doors - after all, the lock is on the side of the back door! And the rear door hides a vertical side rack in itself, which, together with protective beams in the doorway, forms a powerful safety frame. Thus, it turns out that there are still side racks in the Mazda RX-8, only they are opening.
Naturally, the conditionally four-door Mazda RX-8 is very comfortable for the rear passengers. The process of landing in the rear seat no longer resembles a complex acrobatic trick, you just open the back door, throw your leg through a high threshold, and you are already in the cabin. Sitting in the rear chair, you can independently close the rear door - for this a special pen is provided. And also the services of the rear passengers have a small box hidden in the central armrest, and two cup holders integrated into the central tunnel. In general, it is convenient to sit in the RX-8 from behind. But it’s boring, so I'll go behind the wheel ...
And here is much more interesting. The three -spoke bagel, with the keys of the distance control of the audio system, is sheathed with soft skin. Moreover, as in the entire salon, the skin of two colors. Before the eyes of the driver are three deep black wells. You turn on the ignition, and the arrows hang in the dark, and then dials appear. Beautiful and read great. In the central well, two devices are located at once - an analog switch tachometer and a digital speedometer - as in modern sports bikes! True, later it turned out that such a scheme is not very convenient - in the movement the speedometer is completely not read.
At the central console, the gaze does not linger - beautiful, of course, in deep black color, but does not attract much attention. But the gearbox lever is just super! Short, literally 13-15 centimeters, cool, and in the head - a stylized triangle reminiscent of the rotor. The moves are minimal, the clarity of turning on is amazing! Anyway, you know, it's nice to take up such a stylish joystick.
What is it? An incomprehensible handle resembling the hilt of the sword is to the right of the lever. This is a samurai sword. You will damage the car - you can immediately do Harakiri for yourself, - the representative of the dealer jokes. But it really could have been the handle of a samurai sword - you never know what we can choose for self -defense in our troubled time wealthy people. In fact, everything turned out to be easier: in such a strange way, the Japanese designed a handbrake lever. Jokes ...
Along the entire Mazda RX-8 cabin, a powerful ridge of the central tunnel passes. It is quite high, which creates a certain supercar surroundings, but the height of the tunnel is not a reason for discomfort - you do not hurt with your hand. Such a high tunnel is made for a reason: in it passes a carbon-plastic cardan shaft, which, due to the unusual layout of the car, passes much higher than in other models.
Personal plane
Enough theory, it's time to travel. The key to start, and after a couple of seconds of the work of the RPD starter, it started. It turned out that it turned out that engines of this type are starting a little longer than ordinary motors - they need two to three seconds to start. At idle speed, the motor gives a little vibrations on the steering wheel and the body, and if the revolutions are increased, then the vibrations immediately disappear.
A highly substituted engine loves high speeds, so there is nothing strange in the fact that for a confident start you need to gasp a little. True, at this moment it is important not to overdo it, otherwise the adhesion will convey too much torque to the rear wheels, and they will break into the slip. You should not worry: the wheels will be able to make only half a turn, and they will quickly be strangled by a dynamic stabilization system, the submission of which is also the anti-circus system.
But if you turn off all the collars ... But before you do it, stop the car, drown out the motor and ask yourself the question: can you manage with an evil rear-wheel 2-horsepower car? And try to honestly answer this question, remember whether you are perfectly owned by high -speed steering techniques, do you have enough experience and reaction to knock down a starting skid? If after that you will not disappear the desire to experiment, you are mercy on the track ...
So, by pressing the DSC OFF button, you turn off the insured electronics. Now everything happens differently: honestly. With gas and clutch, you need to handle carefully, especially in turns. Yes, and a quick start now no longer seems to be a funny adventure: you will get positive emotions later when you remember this trip, but for now your only task is to prevent the car to turn. And if you will spin the motor in a part-time and then abruptly throw the clutch, this is exactly what will happen: a barely noticeable turn of the steering wheel gives the goat axis, and it sharply begins to overtake the front. The natural reaction of an inexperienced driver on this action will be the discharge of gas and immediately - an attempt to correct the drift. This will be a mistake: you need to do one thing, that is, either to lose gas, or try to adjust the skid. And the Mazda RX-8 will respond to this insolence with an indicative performance: after reducing the engine speed, the rear axle will instantly gain normal adhesion to the asphalt, and the front wheels turned towards the drift will make the car rummaged to the side. The second mistake will follow immediately: the driver is again trying to adjust the skid and at the same time hits the brakes with all its strength. As a result, the car, without passing five meters, freezes in the middle of the road, across the strip. Pulse - for two hundred, hair - on end (it is good that I have a short haircut), and emotions whip over the edge ...
Now is the time to do the same with which we started driver exercises. Stop, drown out the engine, and ask yourself: how, you don’t need a diaper? If necessary, then give your rights back to the traffic police and buy yourself a travel card to all types of transport - with such conceit and with such a reaction you are simply dangerous at the wheel. And go out of the steering wheel: Mazda RX-8 is not your car.
Well, even if after the first lighting you can control your reflexes and emotions and you have enough experience to notice and analyze errors, you are mercy on the warm -up circle. Only first turn on the DSC back - it’s more reliable and calmer. You will receive the pleasure of driving such a supercar anyway, and with electronic insurance you can try everything without risk for yourself and others. So, let's go to learn to steer on Mazda RX-8!
First we start correctly. The revolutions - about 3000 rpm, and slowly let go with the clutch. At the time of the start, when the clutch is sharply turned on, the gas can be slightly omitted - then the electronic strands will not have to be reduced in order to avoid slipping of the drive wheels. After the clutch is turned on, gas can be used bolder. Oh, it turns out normally - torque is still not enough to tear the rear wheels into the boxes, but the acceleration is already good. Touching, gas - into a polish, we enjoy the acceleration and song of the motor for a couple of seconds, and then quickly, very quickly switch to the second. This can be done even with a half -extended clutch - the moves of the gearbox lever are so small that the switching itself occurs almost instantly.
On the second RX-8, it easily and very quickly accelerates to 100 km/h, and if you did everything right, you should meet the passport 6.4 seconds. But the acceleration is more impressive (the machine accelerates very evenly, albeit quickly), and the sound of the motor - in the second gear, the song of high revolutions lasts a few seconds, for which our rotary Mazda manages to attract the attention of all those located within a kilometer radius. Pedestrians turn around, passing cars quickly go to the right row, and the oncoming cars blink by headlights - hello to airplanes!
With switching to the third gear in the city, you have to wait: the speed is already too high. And if you try to keep the engine speed in the optimal area of \u200b\u200b3000-8000 rpm, then for the third transmission this will correspond to a speed of 120-160 km/h. How do you feel? Complete delight: the speed is not at all felt, but the time to lower your eyes and make out what numbers there jump on a digital speedometer is not enough: you need to follow the road. And also - hold the steering wheel with both hands. Firstly, because the steering is quite sharp - from the stop to the stop it turns out exactly three turns. And secondly, because thanks to the optimal weight-to-axle weight and located within the wheelbase, the Mazda RX-8 engine reacts to the drill movement instantly, without any delay. In the literal sense: at a speed of 120 km/h, we can simulate snakes with sharp movements of the steering wheel right and right, and Mazda, like a formula-1 car, will scour the front, repeating your movements. The information content of the steering is very high: the deviation from the straightforward trajectory guarantees an increase in reverse effort on the steering wheel - it is especially nice to feel this on a running turn of 130 km/h.
More bold maneuvers cause completely different feelings. The first is to find the limit of the capabilities of this car - I just do not have enough experience for this. The second - if I manage to bring the car to the breakdown, I can argue that I will immediately want to return it back - because such evil cars are lost simply suddenly. As they say, I want, and pricks, and the dealer does not tell ...
But everything turned out to be much easier: Mazda RX-8 was still lost and almost went into uncontrolled rotation. Moreover, all this happened in a harmless, in my opinion, situations when I swayed the car in front of the entrance to a wide turn. Naturally, the purpose of the buildup was an attempt to disrupt the car into skidding, but I would never have thought that this would happen so easily and quickly. I go to the left bee at a speed of about 80 km/h, slightly throw the car to the right and immediately, with a slight discharge of gas, sharply turn to the left. And I feel - swam, swam Mazda! The rear axle slightly moved to the right, but since at that moment, I no longer made a single movement or the gas or a steering wheel, after a couple of seconds of the Mazda RX-8 swimming, I again felt for the trajectory. True, in fairness it is worth noting that all this disgrace occurred on wet asphalt, moreover, with the collar disconnected.
Everything cleared up when they decided to find out the brand of tires. Well, yes, of course, who could doubt! During the Mazda RX-8 test, we once again be able to make sure that Bridgestone Potenza is helpless on the wet coating. The first time they surprised at the all -wheel drive Subaru Impreza WRX, and now - on the rear -wheel drive Mazda RX -8. Maybe on dry asphalt they are magnificent, but, as luck would have it, it was raining during both tests. And we were lucky to make sure that neither on braking, nor on acceleration, and even more so when the potus turns passing, he does not really try. Therefore, we return to the beginning: a system of dynamic stabilization - turn on, speed - do not exceed! At least - strongly ...
It is a pity that it is on such an unpleasant note to part with Mazda RX-8. We were just used to the car, began to study her habits, learned to control her at least a little, and then we have to return this beauty. And what can you do - a client car, already sold, but not yet insured. Therefore, you will have to be content with what we have ...
However, looking at our dull faces (those who drove only a couple of times looked especially sad), the representative of the dealer hastened to calm the offended press. This car is, so to speak, for seeding, and in the summer, to the solemn opening of the new Mazda auto center, another RX -8 will certainly be brought. Many guests are expected from Japan, including high Mazdovsky ranks, and just the flagship car will act-this will be the real tests will be held on it. And the car, as solemnly promised to introduce the hollpies of a car, will be the right color ...
Pavel Kozlovsky
A source: Autogazet / N 14 (453) dated 21.04.04
