What Car? Car of the Year 2006 - Best coupe

Mazda RX-8 (228bhp)
Price: £22,300
Target Price: £21,969

The RX-8's price has gone up by a couple of hundred pounds in the past 12 months, but that's neither here nor there for a car this good.

It has now claimed a hat-trick of awards from us, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever driven one. It not only meets all of our criteria for a top coupe; it blows them into the middle of next week and throws in a few more unexpected touches.

It manages to do it all in a different way, too. Its 228bhp engine is a rotary unit – the only one currently available to UK buyers. Instead of pistons moving up and down in cylinders, it has two triangular rotors spinning in barrels. Nominally, its capacity is a mere 1.3 litres, although a complicated equivalency formula means that it is officially rated at twice that size.

Who cares? Just listen to it wail and howl and feel how it comes alive as the revs rise. It needs to be revved to get the best from it, mind you, and it has a fish's thirst for oil as well as petrol, so it has only a limited range before something needs topping up.

Also unique among coupes is the four-door layout, with the rear doors opening backwards. They look tiny but give surprisingly good access to a remarkably roomy cabin, whose trim is on the garish side of sporty.

Somehow, though, it all seems appropriate, and there's a generous amount of equipment that includes electrically adjustable leather seats, a CD changer and climate control. The boot meets our requirements, too, although only just.

Primarily, the RX-8 is a sporty coupe for keen drivers, not a grand tourer. Handling is taut and agile, yet the ride is sufficiently supple to smooth its path. It's the best of what appears to be a dying breed amid the proliferation of folding-roof coupe-cabriolets. For the fact that it exists at all, true coupe enthusiasts should be eternally grateful.

Highly recommended
Audi TT 1.8 T (190)
Price: £20,310
Target Price: £18,894

BMW 630i
Price: £46,285
Target Price: £43,895

Nissan 350Z
Price: £25,500
Target Price: £24,931