"Behaves like a race car, yet remains comfortable at any speed" Jack Ickx describes his impressions of the new Mazda RX-7. I must say that I was really excited when I first saw the latest Mazda RX-7. The rounded ,smooth shape makes it stand apart from its competitors. It is obvious that the past four or five years Mazda has devoted an enormous amount of time and effort into creating something new and unique. After having driven it, I am now looking forward to owning one. One of the reasons I have always been impressed by Mazda, especially after the win at Le Mans, is the rotary engine. The company philosophy is that racing improves the breed, and therefore the development of production cars, in this case the new RX-7. The rotary engine is unique in that Mazda is the only company that has been able to perfect this technology. It is also unusual these days to find race car components used in a production model. Also the Sequential Twin-Turbo rotary offers a fantastic range of power. It is equally at home at high speed on a race circuit or in the rush-hour traffic conditions of our major cities. Very few engines can deliver this type of flexibility. With a touch of the throttle you have excellent acceleration to transport you to another world and another style of driving. Such a world is that of the test track where I drove as fast as I could in both wet and dry conditions. The car was very easy to drive - extremely stable, with precise, predictable steering characteristics. Most sports cars today have a hard suspension with stiff springs, which can make them a little bit shaky and unstable and sometimes more difficult to drive. I think Mazda has achieved the perfect balance between sporty handling and comfort - assuring the capability of fast driving without the inherent discomfort of a real racing machine. I was particularly impressed by the precision of the steering. Correct positioning - left or right - can be achieved in a fraction of a second, without any sliding and with the car maintaining a nearly neutral attitude. Since it is a rear-wheel drive vehicle you always expect a little bit of oversteer, but in the Rx-7 that point is only reached if you are trying really hard, and even then it is perfectly controllable. On the test track I was able to indulge in heavy braking from high speeds. Braking was always very progressive without any grabbing or fading. The initial feel of brake pedal, smooth and progressive, is very attractive and inspires confidence. The suspension has been carefully thought out and set up. You can enter a corner very smoothly, add a touch of throttle and the progressive engine output enables you to control the whole situation very well. Even if you lift off in mid-corner. It is still very stable and controllable. It is a very safe car even when not in the hands of a professional driver. If this was yourvery first sports car you could immediately have a great deal of fun with it. Mazda's new four-wheel dynamic Geometry Control Suspension system, which ensures that the front and rear wheels adopt the most desirable positions and angles under any driving conditions, is very effective. In fact, I cannot recall another sports car that has turn-in and cornering performance to mach it. The RX-7 is equipped with a Torsen limited-slip differential, which gives a big improvement in grip as you apply the throttle when coming out of a corner. Traction is smooth and progressive and I believe this is one of the reasons why the car is easy to drive in wet conditions. What really impresses me most is that it can be used every day. It is the embodiment of a sports car, yet unlike so many other exclusive sports car that are driven only occasionally, you will enjoy this car so much that you will want to take it out at every opportunity. A sports car bridges the gap between a passenger car and a race car. My first reaction on driving the Rx-7 was to say it behaved like a race car. It had a lot of grip, the steering was very precise and the handling was excellent. However, to my surprise, it was extremely comfortable . with this car, Mazda is the first manufacturer to achieve the correct balance of sports car agility and passenger car comfort. Weight, of the reduction of it, Is one of the most important factors in racing. Lightness increases cornering speed, grip and acceleration. The lightness of the car is one of Mazda's biggest achievements. The world will continue to evolve, things will certainly be different in the years following the turn of the century, but there will always be a category of people who want to buy something exclusive, people interested in performance and style. In my opinion, that will never change, even 100 years from now