KEEPING OUR FOOT IN IT; Still having a blast with Mazda's rotary-powered RX-8.(News)(Product/Service Evaluation)

Byline: ROGER HART

The love-hate relationship with our long-term Mazda RX-8 continues through its nine months in our fleet. You don't need to search the logbook to read glowing comments about the car's fresh styling and responsive handling. The short-throw shifter, clutch takeup and outstanding brakes are also noted in entry after entry. "Fun'' is a word used often. The car's acceleration is appreciated, too, once the driver learns to keep a right foot planted so the rotary revs in the sweet spot.

But that may be a contributing factor in our biggest complaint about the car.

Editors hate the Renesis engine's poor fuel mileage and the associated numerous gas-station stops necessary on any extended road trip. We barely averaged 16 mpg for this quarter-more than 2 mpg worse than last quarter-with numerous tanks returning just 13 to 14 mpg. With the car's 15.9-gallon fuel tank, that meant 26 stops at the gas station for the 4748 miles driven this quarter-about 2000 miles fewer than we did in each of the first two quarters.

We're also tired of seeing the engine's oil level drop at times as quickly as the fuel level, though on two recent extended road trips-one to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and another to Toronto-the oil level remained constant. For the quarter, we needed to add two quarts of oil between oil changes. But we've added more than a case (that's six quarts-eight altogether) of the stuff since it arrived last March.

When the RX-8 joined our long-term fleet, it filled the spot vacated by our much-loved Nissan 350Z. One question we set out to answer before the year was up was which car we would choose. We loved the Z for a lot of reasons-styling, performance, handling and the rekindling of the Z legend-and while a direct comparison of the two cars is difficult because the Z doesn't have a back seat, the spirit of the two cars is on par. The RX-8 has reignited the rotary-powered sports car flame.

"It would be a tough decision,'' wrote one editor, "but for an everyday sports car, and for the stuff you deal with 90 percent of the time on public roads, I'd take the RX-8.''