I still have a crush on the Mazda RX-8. I've always found it daring, innovative and meaningful. The opposite four-doors layout looks very cool, offers reasonable practical and doesn't mess-up the coupe silhouette. I've wondered why no other manufacturer has adopted that solution. The MINI Clubman is a start, but there's still no other 2+2 doors coupe available. Although initially very innovative and exciting, the RX-8's design is starting to get a visible layer dust (the recent face-lift didn't help much). I tried to picture a fresh zoom-zoomed RX-8. The later Mazda concept cars have a very futurist look; they seem to be quite far from a production vehicle. However, some of the exotic organic lines of the Nagare, Ryuga or Taiki could be grafted on the next Mazda coupe. I think the original game of the first RX-8 was the essence of its success and Mazda should try to maintain that.
[For more Avarvarii photochopistry, click here]
The chop looks suitably wild! Good job.
What you really need to do is photoshop the Wankel out and put Turbo 4 or 6 in.
As a former RX-7 owner, I’ve sworn off rotories forever. The Wankel is like Heroin. Sublime in the short term, but it eventually leaves to self-destruction and an empty wallet.
Have the Romulans designed their first automobile? It’s terrible. Start over– fix the horrid Pontiac cladding effect, lose the faux RS8 front-end, and repair that C-Pillar and belt-line. The rest looks ok, except the color and wheels. This image is not finished.
I am really amazed that Mazda / Ford is still developing the rotary. According to what I read , they burn a lot of oil and the gas mileage is weak. I am impressed by their perseverance.
Yuk…
It looks like a plastic fish…in ugly colors.
And I really dislike those late 80s early 90s “turbine” style rims as well.
OMG that is the ugliest car EVER! It looks like something that crawled out of the ocean. I would lower the rake in the front, fix that ugly mess in the front, the proportions are all wrong. Get rid of whatever those wavy lines are doing on the door and simplify it. The color is ugly too.
Yuk…
It looks like a plastic fish…in ugly colors.
Ding ding ding! I think we’ve found Aquaman’s car. I’m already picturing a starfish steering wheel with blowfish airbags.
“Who drives in an RX-8 under the sea…”
Front end adapts the concepts well. Dunno about the side lines, though.
And I’m sure the overall shape will change a little bit!
I’ve always like the Rx7 and Rx8 but that thing is uglier than hell…..
Can you do another version where the headlight goes rearwards into the fender along that crease you have there? I think it would drastically change this design and make it look stunning.
That is one butt ugly car!!! I’d have to drive backwards just so my neighbors couldn’t see the front of it!!!
You folks have seen the aforementioned Mazda concept vehicles (Nagare, Ryuga, Taiki), right? As far as grafting those concept’s design themes on an RX-8, I’d say this is an excellent photochop, whether the car itself is appealing or not.
I do agree with the poster who mentioned that the side lines are scarily similar to Pontiac’s much-maligned cladding of yore.
The giant void on the front makes it look like it just rear-ended someone.
No thanks.
Give it a “faster” back. The C-pillar is the most awkward bit of the car now and this doesn’t improve it.
The new nose is pretty terrible, it’s badly overstyled. I know the trend is this way but it doesn’t fit here – the overstyling on modern cars is an attempt to hide a lot of fat, which the RX8 doesn’t have. I bet it would look great with a very plain “bullet” front end.
The high nose is ungainly, it looks like the car needs all that radiator area to cool a ten- or twelve-cylinder engine. The styling should take advantage of a cool and unusual engineering feature.
Also, those wheels are absolutely enormous. The car’s too light to need 17″ brakes, so why the 20″ wheels? Rotational inertia counts a lot against you when you’ve got a rotary. You also want to save as much “plain” weight as you can, in order to make up for the lack of torque and to help with the energy efficiency.
The cars that are styled best are the ones that are styled least. When was the last time you saw a stylist on the outside of an airplane? Yet they’re almost all beautiful.
Mercedes 300SL
Triumph TR2
Lotus Eleven
Lotus Elite
Jag XK-E
Ferrari 250GTO
Lotus Elan
Ford “Mustang” concept car
Shelby/AC/Ford Cobra Daytona
Ford GT40
Chaparral 2E
McLaren M8B
Porsche 911
Lotus Esprit
Honda CRX
Mazda Miata
Lotus Elan M100
Ferrari F355
Lotus Elise and Exige, MkI and II
Noble M12
Radical SR3 and SC3
Caparo T-1
Sports cars need a longer shelf life than mainstreamers. Be timeless, not trendy. Take the risks in the engineering, get the setup right, then go with whatever styling the packaging and aerodynamics give you.
Straight from Waterworld… I wonder what it runs on?
ugly. The sides near the headlight look unfinished not aligned with anything. Sidelines on the door look – unsure, german like, not confident. And at what place is the front bumper connected to the fender cladding or fender? the rear door glass line slopes down, ugly. While the rearview glass has a different angle again. should have left the original door rims, they were much better. At what place the hood opens exactly? Well, pretty average. more stress on average.