Read Rusty Blackwell's comments on driving the Mazda RX-8 40th Anniversary Edition.
I've heard people bagging on the RX-8 recently, but I still really enjoy driving this car: it's just so goshdamn balanced. Plus, it looks quite cool (even though the front end looks more like a cartoon face than just about anything this side of the movie Cars), and the rear seat is more useful than those of most other 2+2s.
This 40th anniversary (of the rotary) edition is a bit lame (fender badges and floor mats are all I noticed that were different), but I guess it's better than if Mazda had gone way overboard with tacky touches on this special edition. And, of course, it's commendable that Mazda has stuck with this oddball engine for that long.
Still, I wouldn't buy an RX-8 because of its consumption issues (fuel and oil) and the cold-start problems that we had with our long-termer (if our car ran for only a short time in subzero weather, it often wouldn't restart because the cold, unexpanded rotor seals would allow fuel to intrude into places where fuel shouldn't go - flooding the engine). But this car unquestionably deserves a great deal of respect as the bold and balanced driver's car that it is.