2005 Mazda RX8 Driving Impressions
The RX-8 has great balance and precise turn-in. The suspension is soft enough for daily comfortable use and not as stiff as say, the Nissan 350Z, which corners like a race car but pays the price with a stiffer ride.
The electronic stability control (Mazda calls theirs DSC, or Dynamic Stability Control) works well. The RX-8 wasn't completely forgiving when driven hard on an autocross circuit. With too much throttle it would understeer, or plow the front tires, although it should be noted that most cars would have been hopeless under the same abuse. At first we were surprised that the DSC didn't intervene and correct this, so we repeated the experiment until we felt the DSC kick in. What we learned is that the DSC is programmed to tolerate small errors but saves you from the big ones. In other words, it will let you get away with two feet of understeer in a curve, but not six feet. |