First of all, I would like to say that Mazda is right; the RX-8 is not a replacement for the 3rd generation FD3S RX-7. The RX-8 is much more refined vehicle. It has better road manners, won't rattle your teeth out, is more predictable, has a nice smooth linear acceleration curve, but, it does not have the raw horsepower and torque of the FD RX-7. The RX-8 is a non-turbo rotary through and through. Is it a Sport Car? In the purest sense, no, but behind the wheel you forget all about definitions, and feel the light, nimble car, who's rotary engine beckons to be revved hard.

From a hard launch, above 5000 RPM, the car will wheel hop, but not as bad as the FD3S. Running up the gears is easy, and the six speed is well matched to the power output of the RENESIS engine. The power shines from 4000-9000 RPM. The RENESIS is so silky smooth, with the windows down, and radio turned up, it is hard to tell if you are in 2nd gear running at 7000 RPM, or 4th gear at 4000 RPM.

On the autocross, the car handled almost completely neutral, it was easy to push the front, then whip the back around, the power band was right on, no suprises like a FD3s RX-7 second turbo kicking in to spin the rear-end around. The DSC (traction control system) lets one get a fair way around before kicking in, but I don't think we got it to engage on the autocross once.

On the track, the RX-8 shines. We were allowed to go full out on the world famous Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. Again, the car was very predictable, the brakes were more than adequate, no with fading. The seats did their job well, and kept us from sliding around. In-fact, they did it so well, we didn't even think about the seats until we were out of the car. Coming out of the corkscrew, into turn 9 "Rainey Curve" was the only time I felt the traction control kicking in, although I do admit I wasn't pushing the car as hard as I could have on the other curves. And I didn't see the track times posted anywhere (I don't know if they even had the clocks running) so I could not do a comparison. But the RX-8 stuck to the lines well, anybody from an experienced racecar driver to an amateur would have a great time pushing the limits of this car.

The DSC, or traction control, cuts both fuel and spark to the engine, and applies the brakes to correct any slippage. The experience isn't jarring like other automotive manufactures systems, but it is noticeable when it does kick in... and once done, you are pointed in the correct direction instead of spinning around and loosing control. There is a button to turn-off the traction control, if you wish. As the DSC is a duel stage system, it will still engage when the ABS comes on but, it can be turned completely off by pressing and holding the DSC button for seven seconds, and then the system is completely disabled.

One advantage of having the RX-8 press event at Laguna Seca, is it's proximity to one of the greatest roads in the world, California's Highway 1. For lunch, we drove from the raceway to the world famous Nepenthe Restaurant, about an hour's drive south. The 8’s ride was comfortable, and the suspension did a wonderful job of both handling the corners, and keeping the ride smooth. With the windows down, and radio on, the sound of the rotary disappears, but with windows up, and radio off, the roar of the RENESIS is a wonderful sound to hear.

Having driven the car, experiencing it on the track, and on the open road, here is my short list of complaints:

1. Lack of analog speedometer is annoying. In my experience, if you look at a speed limit sign, you look at the speedo for that number, and can immediately tell if you are over or under that number. With the digital speedo, you first see the speed limit sign, look down, and read the digital readout. You must then do some simple math in your head (is 72 greater than 65?)

2. Quiet exhaust. I know many people like quite cars, well; this is quite a quiet rotary. I personally love the sound of the exhaust, and can't wait to put an aftermarket system on, and experience the full roar of the RENESIS.

3. Slight bulge in the passenger footwell. The engine sets so far back, the bulge is a little large in the passenger side. However, as a 6 foot guy, I could stretch my legs all the way down, and not touch the firewall with my toes, it was only the fact that my left leg was at a different elevation than my right.

4. It will be very difficult to upgrade the radio to an aftermarket system. The Bose system, while great in reproducing sounds, and really does sound great, does not offer the upgradability that many audiophiles crave. I am sure there will be aftermarket companies that will offer a new center section to house a DIN size radio, but from the get-go. However, it would be nice if the base model had a regular DIN Style radio, which could be swapped out for an aftermarket system, and in turn, the base model center console could be swapped into a higher model to allow for aftermarket systems to be put into place.

Enough of what I didn't like, here is what I did like. The power delivery is similar to the 1st and 2nd gen N/A RX-7's, there is just much more of it. The 9000rpm redline comes fast, while the car doesn't push like the FD3s, it does spin-up quickly. When first driving it, we were waiting for the turbos to spool up and kick off; instead we received an extremely linear power curve. Throttle response is immediate, no delay in power delivery when the pedal is mashed.

The styling is excellent. Although we'd like to see the white come to the states, the RX-8 looks good in every color we've seen it in.

One last thing we'd like to mention, we've heard this car doesn't photograph well, and looks much better in person. This may be true, however I remember when the FD3s RX-7 first came out in 1992. There were folks that didn't like the styling, and others, including myself that though it was a nice looking car. That 'nice looking' turned into 'excellent looking' after I saw my first one. From that point on, photographs served as reminders of the curves of the cars. I suspect that as more and more people see the car's curves, and become accustomed to seeing them on the streets, the negative comments will decrease.

So, back to the question of if this is a sports car or not. Well whatever new segment this car is in, it will have the word "sports" in it... Sports Saloon? Sports Ride? 4Door Sports Car? Rotor Sports? I'm sure there will be some debate, for years, as to how exactly this car should be categorized. Hopefully the debate will make people go out and drive the car, and they will be impressed enough to forget what the debate was in the first place.

As mentioned in the introduction, this was the opinion of Dan Mazzella, one of the two rotorheads at RotaryNews that were invited to the Long Lead Press preview at the Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. The other report from Berny Herrera is forthcoming.