A Mazda RX8 sporty car, seen on a car market in east Beijing in 2012. The good Mazda was dusty and fitted with a hefty body kit. The kit included a completely new nose, wider side skirts, a new rear bumper, and a big wing on the back.
It was painted in matte black with a red hood and darkened windows. The car stands on shiny 7-spoke alloy wheels with red brake calipers.
The Mazda RX8 was manufactured from 2003 until 2012 with a major facelift in 2009. This is an original pre-facelift example.
Power came from the famous 1.3 liter four-cylinder rotary engine. This engine delivered 209 hp and 222 Nm (pre-facelift model). Most amazingly where the rpm numbers: peak power came in at 7200 rpm and peak torque at 5000 rpm. The Mazda RX8 was therefore not an easy car to go fast in. But fast it was: with a top speed of 220 km/h and a 0-100 in 6.4 seconds.
The interior was in great shape and completely original. The ‘circled’ center stack and the racy handbrake are ultra cool. The leather seats are original too, combining black with bordello-red leather.
The Mazda RX8 was officially sold in China from 2004 until 2010. They kept it simple and offered just one trim level. Price in 2004 was exactly 380.000 yuan for the six-speed manual version and 390.000 for the 5-speed automatic.
The RX8 had rear hinged rear ‘suicide doors’. The big wings looks quite all right on the Mazda, and fortunately the owner didn’t delete the V-shaped fog light in the bumper. He did change the exhaust pipes though, going for the biggest pipes that could possibly fit.
julian