STILL CHECKING; We're digging our RX-8, but the Renesis is off to a thirsty start.(News)(Mazda Motor Corp.)

Byline: Mike Floyd

When Mazda first announced the rotary engine would finally return to the United States as the powerplant for its new RX-8, there was much rejoicing throughout the land.

Over the years the rotary has become an internal combustion icon of sorts to its legion of fans, and we were eager to see how the engine had improved from its salad days in the RX-7. So we happily added an RX-8 with its high-revving 1.3-liter, 238-hp Renesis-dubbed twin-rotary to our long-term fleet as the sporty replacement for our dearly departed 350Z.

But now that we've had a couple of months behind the wheel of our RX-8, our yearlong "Renesis Check'' has so far brought mixed results.

We've become more than a bit rankled at having to constantly fiddle with our dipstick to find yet another quart of oil has burned off. Not to mention having to pull up to the pump about as frequently as any midsize SUV.

We're well aware these issues are not new to rotary-powered vehicles. It's the Achilles' heel of Felix Wankel's groundbreaking design. But we expected better from the newest generation of the Renesis engine.

When we asked Mazda about the poor initial gas mileage, its response was essentially, "stop mashing the gas pedal to the floor.'' Our retort: "Who, us?''