Mazda RX8 insurance for young drivers
Mazda RX8
The latest Mazda RX8 is a brilliantly concieved car, promising the looks and style of a sports coupe, and the practicality of a 4 door saloon. With front engined, rear wheel drive layout it promises a well balanced and sporting drive with room for the kids and the weekly shop in a spacious ( for a sports coupe) 290 litre boot.
The latest Mazda uses the same engine type as the original, that fabulous and crazy rotary piston design (using spinning rotors instead of the conventional pistons used in every other internal combustion engine on sale today). Although the original engine was criticised for reliabilty issues concerning the rotors, this modern rotary engine has proved robust and reliable (though it does have a thirst for engine oil). This rotary engine thrives on revs and is very sporting in nature, peak power is produced at a heady 8200rpm and you can thrash it up to 9000rpm through the gears (and pretend you are a formula one driver!) Popular with young aggressive drivers butcheck out costs of young drivers insurance before purchase – you have been warned!
However this is probably not the best car for driving in stop/start traffic or trips to local shops, there is little low down torque, this engine thrives on high revs and plenty of throttle – its made to be driven hard.
Inside the new RX8 is a nice place to be, take hold of that sporty leather steering wheel and the short throw, stubby gearlever and you instantly feel you are in a true sports car. The driving position is pretty good too, although the steering can be adjusted for rake only it was easy to get comfortable in the low slung seating.
As if using a rotary engine was not different enough, Mazda have managed to incorporate rear doors into the slinky “coupe” bodystyle.These are “suicide” rear opening doors and although small once in the rear seats there is space for two adults (unlike many other coupes in this class which are 2+2 seaters as opposed to true 4 seaters).
Running costs are a bit of a sore point for RX8 owners however, the 189bhp version is insurance group 15 and the 228bhp version is insurance group 16, depreciation is high with the RX8 only retaining approximately 49% of its value after 3 years, fuel consumption is high with official figures quoting 25mpg on combined cycle (although you wont get anything like that mileage if you drive this car the way iy is intended to be driven!) and there is also the costs of expensive fully synthetic oil toconsider as you will need to top up around 1 litre of oil for every 4 tanks of fuel! A real world cost of 56p a mile is quite high, however, this is a unique car, with striking coupe looks with 4 door practicality and a screaming rotary engine at a low purchase price of around #21000. The slightly high running costs are the only negative comment on this fantastic high performance sports car!
