USED Mazda RX-8 Coupe (03 - 11)

My car

I traded in my Carrera 4 for the RX8 because I wanted to add the fun back into the equation and it’s sure done that.

Yes, the driving experience is more remote than that of the Porsche but for the price it’s very tactile. The rotary engine needs thrashing to get the best out of it but this just adds to the enjoyment and to your overdraft as you’ll be lucky to average 20mpg.

The engine's smoothness and free revving reminds me of a six pot more than the roughness of a standard four cylinder engine and it can be driven sedately. However, because of the lack of low end torque you will be going up and down the gears a lot.

It feels great on a track or the road, with plenty of grip in the dry and lots of mid corner control. However, it can be a bit twitchy in the wet so beware!

It is also very reliable and practical and I happen to be one of those who think the styling is great. The only little gripe is the optional sat nav; basically it’s rubbish, so stay clear.

A top notch practical driver's car for the price.

My car

Main regret - trading it in after 2.5 years. Performance and handling are amazing for the price. Interior very practical and all the toys are standard. On the twisty stuff I can drive it at a sensible, safe pace yet the like of a friends Nissan 350Z couldnt keep up, it was all over the place.

Within safe speeds on a straight line (not that there are many in this country) it was just as quick as anything else but with a better ride and far more satisfying use of gears.

Having the correct wheels being driven (the rears) and not some banzai engine on a front-wheel drive hot hatch trying to kill you with torque steer all the time makes for a far more rewarding drive.

Excellent fuel consumption - no other sports car with this sort of performance at this price gets close. Averaged 25mpg on suburban, open road mix (what does the new BMW M5 get, 12mpg driven hard?). Reliability is up there with the very best (check out JD Power results). Never flooded once, but then I did drive it as dealer and manual instructed, and it takes a pretty incompetant driver to break it. Ignore the oil use myth, it's the same as similar cars - figure one litre every 2000 miles or so.

Resale values are excellent, better than many a BMW (look how bad hot hatches are in comparison). In fact, it was the best I've had on a new car. Mine was sold on by the dealer before I had even collected the new car!

So what did I get instead - another one - this time the PZ! £5k discount and residual thre

My car

I owned this car for three years. Performance and handling were both very good, especially braking. The cabin was practical and well finished. However it is a deeply flawed product.

Fuel consumption is appalling, with miniscule range between fill-ups. Reliability is distinctly iffy, with a serious tendency for engine flooding before repeated Mazda engine modifications.

Worst of all are the resale values, which are on a par with Korean cars. It would have been cheaper to own a Porsche. Avoid.

My car

I have just sold my RX8 after three years of ownership, and in summary I really have mixed feelings.

On the road the car handles fantastically, is very quick if lacking in torque at low speeds. It's been very reliable and has only been in the garage to replace (under warranty) the alloys, which had rusted, and to sort out the engine flooding issue which left me stranded a few times in its early days.

Practicality is excellent for a coupe - it has a decent sized boot, and the ski hatch has helped get longer items in the boot. I've had two adults in the back on numerous occasions quite comfortably.

Running costs have been my main gripe: I've never managed to get over 20mpg, with 17-18mpg more common. I appreciate it's a sports car, but its much worse than a number of other faster and more powerful sports cars out there.

On the plus side, oil has never been an issue, and insurance is reasonable, as is servicing.

However, I really fell out of love with the car and Mazda when I came to part-exchange it, with garages being very reluctant to give me even a reasonable part-exchange price, claiming that the cars were not as popular as they were, and that poor fuel consumption has affected values. Even Mazda themselves were guilty, so owners beware when it comes to part-exchange time!

I've now just handed it back after the three-year PCP was up, and cut my losses, and am going to look at a year-old Focus ST.