Do you remember Crazy Town’s hit song “Revolving Door” from the start of the 21st century? It goes like this: “Now ladies come, ladies go out my revolving door. Some ladies never come back, most come back for more.” My current life situation reminded me of those lyrics.
My current situation is sort of about ladies, too, but not in the way you’d think. You see, 10 years ago I got my first cat. I named him Apophis, as he was orange and was truly a tiny God of chaos like the Egyptians had. My ex wanted to keep him after he drifted apart, and I was catless all of a sudden. I now live in the countryside, and the cat I rescued last year just “parked” her four-week-old kitten under my bed for safety.
Are you starting to see the “revolving” part of life yet? I’ve got another for you, as we’re on Brotorheads after all. If you’ve read the story on how I bought my FC RX-7, you will know I considered a Mazda RX-8 first. But I didn’t like the idea of settling for “less”, as that’s the label that came to mind when thinking about the last rotary-powered vehicle to come out of Hiroshima. It didn’t have a turbo, and it just felt too civilized for my taste.
But spending more time talking to our fellow teammates made me realize that was maybe too quick to judge. Fast forward to 2025, Mike decided to rescue another RX-8 which one of our group members could no longer afford to keep. It’s a right-hand drive car, that was in pretty rough shape. Mike bought it, refurbished the interior, the brakes, suspension, wheels and the engine, thinking he’d get it ready for the next enthusiast looking to join our squad.
Living in Eastern Europe meant most people don’t want to deal with the “hassle” of driving a RHD car, and his efforts to find a new foster family for the car were to no avail even after lowering the price several times. At one point in 2025, we decided to organize a Brotorheads meet in Bucharest over at Asko Mazda’s showroom in Chiajna. They were organizing a test-drive featuring the new 6e, and we figured we might as well go and support them for the day.
Five of us got together in an almost exclusive celebration of red (with two different shades of it), and we had a blast driving some brand new Mazdas, eating Hiroshima pizza, and cruising together in the 8s for a bit. I just didn’t expect Mike would put me in the driver’s seat for the day. I was already sad about not driving my RX-7, and the 8 managed to put a big smile on my face.
About a month later, Mike sent me a photo of the car parked outside my local hypermarket with the message: “I’m sending you the keys via courier, can you pick the car up and drive it to your place?”. I was beyond excited at the thought of being able to drive it on my local touge, and I even managed to put together a short video of the whole experience up to this point. It had such a big impact on me that I decided to build a garage to protect the car from the elements over the winter. As it was on summer tires, I didn’t risk taking it out for several months in a row.
Come spring, I got a phone call from a potential customer: “I want to come see the car next week, can we arrange for that?”. We got the car insured, but the customer never followed through on his request. I thought to myself: “I might as well drive it, as it would be a shame to keep it parked.” I could barely sleep the night before taking it to Table Japoneze’s “Banked” grassroots drift event at Merisani.
Even I’m not safe from the “rotary anxiety” that the Internet loves to spread around. “Will it survive the four-hour trip? Will the baby be ok in the back seat? Will I spend a ton of money on gas?” All these questions haunted me for the night but didn’t outweigh the enthusiasm that had gotten over me. I was about to finally get a real taste of what the RX-8 was all about, as I had only previously driven it in the big city.
Funnily enough, I got random police check just 500 meters from my house that morning, but everything was fine. The leather seats in the car are great and have such a premium feeling to them. My wife was extremely comfortable in the back, as you get a snug fit with the center console. Getting the baby seat inside is so easy thanks to the way the doors open (which still shocks many people). The wheel is great, and so is the shifter.
The car felt beautiful driving at both normal speeds and going up in the rev range. I am still a supporter of the idea that the RX-8 is one of the most underrated sports cars out there. And I couldn’t stop looking at it every time I walked away. The most boggling thing about it is that it only costs about 5,000 euro, and I don’t think there’s something more exciting out there in the same budget.
And while I think MX-5s are nice too, they’re not nearly on the same level: less power, less sex appeal, half the number of seats, smaller trunk and no rotary engine. I forgot about the fuel consumption figures, but it was something in the 12 liter/100 km range with mostly normal driving and a few occasional sprints.
Of course, there was constant refilling of the oil catch can to make sure the engine always has efficient lubrication, but I don’t mind the process or the extra cost. The only thing I can complain about is not being able to fit a baby stroller in the trunk, but that happened for two reasons: I have a big, off-road ready stroller, and Mike relocated the car’s battery in the trunk, so there’s that. Ever since that trip, I’ve added some more km to the odometer by driving around my village.
I even picked up my mechanic’s kid on his 11th birthday from school: you should have seen how many pupils gathered the car to try and figure out if it was a Porsche or not. I can also say that the RX-8 slides nicely in the wet with the traction control off, but I would rather not push it on public roads like that any longer.
Right now, it’s waiting for another visit to the gas station, and perhaps a drive to my hometown or the Transalpina touge. I keep thinking that it would be the perfect replacement for my RX-7 if I decide to convert the FC to a drift car/time attack machine in the near future. So, I might just write more stories on the topic soon. I think I’ve fallen in love with it, even though it’s a 192 bhp, RHD version. Also, white wheels for the win, am I right? Get in touch if you’d like to own this, or maybe even rent it for a day through Romania!
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