RX-8

I openly admit that I am impressed with the Mazda Rotary series. Mazda in Japan took an engine (the Wankel) that NSU could not make work in the NSU Ro 80, and turned it around (I stopped the temptation to say they rotated its fortunes).

Initially it was not plain sailing for Mazda. The early rotary engines were well known for being thirsty and wearing out the seals on the rotary piston, but Mazda persevered where NSU did not, and made the thing work. Not only make it work but make it work sensationally well. I watched an episode of Top Gear, the UK TV motoring series the other night (thanks for the tape, Alan) and presenter Jeremy Clarkson, not known for lavish praise, was just in awe of the new RX-8. 9,000 rpm from a standard road engine, producing 250 bhp from a nominal 1.3 litres swept volume is a large number of neddies.

Mazda RX-8

However, the 1.3 litres is not quite correct, as you cannot calculate the capacity as you would a normal reciprocating engine, each piston having three ‘cylinders’ that it sweeps every revolution. All very tricky, but whatever, the Mazda rotaries return the horsepower. I was one of the first racers in Oz to throw away his Lotus Twin Cam and install a Mazda 12A rotary in its place. The difference was enormous, and the reliability was incredible. From those days on (1980) I have been a faithful convert, even to the point of buying a second hand RX-7 as my daily drive car. It never missed a beat either, and in two years of ownership I spent absolutely zero on repairs. (I replaced it with an MX-5 Mazda which was also dead reliable.)

Wheels magazine in Australia runs that country’s COTY awards (Car Of The Year) and the winner was the RX-8, beating the new BMW 5 and Z4, Nissan 350 Z, the Audi A8 and a host of others down-under.

The main reason for the RX-8’s garnering the top prize was the fact that it has brought in a new category of car - the 2/4 door sports coupe.

With the tricky ‘suicide’ doors for the rear, it has all the advantages (and looks) of a sportscar, but has rear doors and (usable) rear seats. I always called the rear seats on my Porsche 911 series the jump seats for two legless midgets, and while the RX-7 series did have slightly larger rear seats, my children grew out of the space by the time they were five years old. Perhaps I had large children.

No, the RX-8 goes a long way towards being the right car for all reasons (and seasons) and despite our down-under correspondent John Weinthal not finding it his cup of tea writing, “Drawbacks - for some - will be the relatively torque-free rotary engine and its great thirst. On the other hand it sits far back and low in the body. This contributes to the outstanding handling, and the rotary sounds fantastic nearing its 9,300 rev limit. For my money, however, the rotary still delivers more as a talking point than as a must-have benefit. The RX-8 ensured a very special motoring week, but I am unsure that its large novelty appeal would endure.”

For my money, the RX-7 endured where many said it would not, and the RX-8 will do likewise. Mazda deserves all the accolades that the RX-8 will get. Including mine.

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6.9 billion to be spent on road safety Read an item the other day that the government will spend 6.9 billion baht on road safety as the road toll costs many hundreds of billions, according to some pollie or other. With the 6.9 billion they will buy more speed guns and breathalyzers and let’s hope it works. If they can do something about the road toll (one of the worst in the world) then fine. Only thing is I still don’t think they are looking hard enough at the statistics. With 80 percent of fatalities from motorcyclists falling on unprotected heads, there’s a good place to start and I doubt if speed guns and breathalyzers are going to dent those statistics. As I have written somewhere else about helmet standards I won’t repeat it, but if every motorcycle rider and the passenger(s) were wearing good helmets, that were done up correctly, the road toll would fall by about the same 80 percent. And it wouldn’t cost 6.9 billion. What did we learn from Imola? Well the first thing we had learned by Saturday evening was that Michael Schumacher can make mistakes and Michael Schumacher can be beaten in Qualifying. A brilliant lap by Jenson Button gave himself and BAR their first Grand Prix Pole position. The second thing we learned was that whilst Michael Schumacher might have been beaten in Qualifying, he wasn’t beaten in the race. Another totally dominant performance by the German, faultless in every respect. Jenson Button - “I couldn’t have done it without my Mum.” We also learned that McLaren Mercedes are still in deep doggy-doo, with Raikkonen needing yet another engine. The fourth in four meetings. As reported in the pulp press, Hans-Ulrich Maik, managing director at Mercedes -Ilmor (the engine designers/builders) was given the DCM (Don’t Come Monday) and Martin Whitmarsh moves from being managing director of McLaren Racing to take over the operational management of the entire McLaren-Mercedes F1 programme. Nobody’s head is safe as there is reputed to be a question mark over the future of technical director Adrian Newey, following the team’s catastrophic start to the 2004 season, despite Raikkonen scraping into the points in 8th place. Hero to zero in five months! Chief designer Mike Coughlan and executive director of engineering Neil Oatley, are also said to be under pressure to deliver. With Montoya already having signed to join McLaren Mercedes next year, he must be wondering if it was such a smart move! Montoya and Schumacher Williams BMW were always in the top half of the field, but not in a position to do anything, other than crash into people, if your name is Ralf Schumacher. A complete replay of the Sato incident, but this time with Alonso. Other than the first lap, Montoya wasn’t anywhere either. 3rd from go to whoa, other than some wheel banging on the first lap with Schumacher (the elder). This provoked some heat in the press room afterwards, with Montoya accusing Schumacher of pushing him off. The drivers were shown a video clip of the incident and Jenson Button was asked for his opinion. The Englishman, in true diplomatic styles, said he didn’t see the incident. Asked about the fact that he appears to be attempting to go around the outside of the Ferrari, Montoya replied, “I’m amazed, I actually got in front of him when we were braking,” he studied the TV monitor and continued, “oh no he didn’t see me there (laughter). No chance. You’ve got to be either blind or stupid not to see me. But you know it is racing.” Asked if the move was “optimistic”, Montoya said, “I’ve done it before and it has got quite a lot of grip. I managed to get above my position there and when I was driving out of the corner he just pushed me wide. I’ve done it before at the Nurburgring passing him on the outside. You know he had very little grip on the first few corners. I understand he has got to defend his position, but how far do you go to defend your position, that’s the question. Or how far are you allowed to do so.” Asked about the gesture he made to Schumacher on the ‘slowing down’ lap, Montoya replied, “I just said ‘what happened, what were you thinking’. That’s all.” At which point Schumacher said, “I thought you were congratulating me.” “I never do,” said Montoya! So I think Big Schumi’s off the Colombian’s Xmas card list. Personally I would consider the tactics just hard close racing. There was wheel banging, no car damage (only ego) and manoeuvres that Montoya uses all the time (especially on Little Schumi). What else did we learn? Well, we saw why Rooby Baby Barichello is always going to be number two at Ferrari. When one driver is unchallenged in the lead and the other slips backwards from 4th to 6th, you have the answer. Barichello may be a ‘good’ driver, but he’s not outstanding. Renault? While 4th and 5th for Alonso and Trulli looks good on paper, Alonso only passed Trulli in the pits, the site of most of the action, other than lap 1. It was, unfortunately, another high speed procession. Jaguar? We learned that Mark Webber can qualify quicker than the car can do. He lost engine power after lap 15 and it was a long slow frustrating race for the Aussie. Jaguar have still got a long way to go before they are competitive. Klien, their second driver, was nowhere at any time. Dull, dull, dull! Money well spent I notice that Bangkok and Pattaya are moving into the digital countdown traffic lights that are all the go in Malaysia, according to those who went to KL for the Malaysian GP. These are a great idea, and the best ‘traffic calming’ measures I have seen. When you know you have only another 33 seconds to wait, there’s no need to get feisty, and when you are 100 metres away and there’s five seconds to go, there’s nothing to be gained by rushing. Let’s have more and see them universally used throughout Thailand. The small change left from the 6.9 billion (above) would be well spent.

Autotrivia Quiz Last week I asked who imported a 3.5 horsepower Peugeot in 1896 and won a gold medal with it in the Thousand Miles Trial? The answer was The Hon. Charles Stewart Rolls. Later to become famous as the Rolls of Rolls-Royce. So to this week. I will also say that it is a hard one - but do try. I want to know where the chequered flag, denoting the finish of a motor race, came from. Why was it made of alternate black and white squares, and when was it introduced? For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected] Good luck!