2009 Mazda RX-8 facelift gallery

I think it looks nice...

Sure, the overall look is good but the front bumper hangs so low that it is expensive damage waiting to happen. It needs an acoustic warning system to tell the driver that a curb or parking lot divider is too high to park nose first against.

People don't think of these things until they drive out of the dealer's lot with their new car and wreck the bottom of the front bumper soon afterwards. The 2008 Mercedes C-Class has the same problem. I avoid these cars like the plague and am beginning to wonder if an auto industry conspiracy is afoot to get customers quickly fed up with their new purchases so that they are compelled to trade in sooner than later.

Consumers should also be warned about alloy wheel spokes that stick out too far to avoid curb damage, lack of proper seat height adjustment for the front passenger which leads to banging ones head against the roof when entering or exiting the vehicle, short seat cushions, uncomfortable firm feats, extra-mushy seats made with cheap foam, inherently-out-of-balance 90-degree V6 engines, spare tires mounted under SUV floors exposed to winter salt and mud instead of being in a proper wheel well inside the vehicle etc. etc.

Mazda has one of the best looking coupe's on the market with the RX8.

Still strikingly handsome after all these years, one the benefits of doing a design so 'forward thinking' from the start - increased market longevity.

But next time they'd better bring something really fresh/new...

i liked the old one better, this looks horrid

In black or white and without the spoiler it is a nice looking car.

But do these things really burn oil as much as they say?

when they have alot of mileage , they do

Wankel engines use oil to lubricate the apex seals of the rotors. It would seem that a separate oil resevior would be a better way. (As Suzuki did with its attempt at a wankel motorcycle in 70s). Maybe they were concerned that an apex seal resevior might get run dry and ruin the engine. Or, that the average joe/jane wouldn't be too keen on the idea of having another maintenance routine. From the few folks I know that actually own an RX8, they had no idea the thing was supposed to use oil at time of purchase. I wonder what the owner's manual has to say about it?

Speaking of which, I saw a black 997 Turbo... behind a black Audi S6. Both had their LEDs on. It looked über-cool.

yeah..the 3rd gen rx7 was a great car..im actually looking to buy one now, but most are boosted, used and abused

I owned an 04 RX8.I hope Mazda has ironed out the reliability problems.While all covered under warranty I had to take my car back to the dealership 5 times for engine ECU reprograming,replacing the air/heater mixture switch,a front suspension recall,poor rear sealing of the tail lamps.In addition the car lived up to it's reputation for burning lots of oil and lousy gas mileage.Actually when I put in a REVI AIR INTAKE from Racing Beat the car got slightly better gas mileage. Also the car had a nice ride and great handling. But I had had enough and traded it in for an 06 Mini Cooper S. I have no regrets.

One thing I don't understand is companies like Mazda and Honda who are offering so-called "performance" versions that only have a suspension, braking and appearance package added. Why not boost some hp in the car as well. Honda has the Mugen Civic with no added hp and a handling package. Now the RX-8 gets the same. Give it a few tweaks under the hood to give a slight advantage since 90% of us never take our cars to the track.

That said, the freshen up looks good, 238hp is still a decent number. But I would like to see the RS version get a bump to maybe a solid 250-260. Or why not come out with an efini edition like the RX-7 had. I still think the last gen RX-7 was the sexiest of all.

The Mugen Civic is not a Honda brand name. You can buy it at a Honda dealer, but Mugen is its own company.

I dont like:

The TL Type-S styled rims
The 'vent' above in the wheel arch
The Saturn-Skyish new front end

I do like:

The new Recaro seats
The tailights, but not anymore than the old ones

Excellent freshening! Although, honestly, the RX-8 didn't need it. It doesn't fail to catch my attention, but I barely see them.

adamsaf:I agree.