20 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday August 13, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Hot Days. Hot Deals. Hot Cars. (You sensing a theme here?) 4WD / Power Windows / Power Locks / Power Mirrors / Remote Keyless Entry / Air Conditioning / V6 GRAND VITARA OR 2008 Get your zoom zoom with the Mazda RX-8 R3 Continued from Page 18 13.0 L/100KM (22 MPG) CITY 9.5 L/100KM (30 MPG) HIGHWAY ¥ $19,995 2008 GOLD KEY AWARD BEST NEW COMPACT SUV L'ANNUEL DE L'AUTOMOBILE NEW CASH PURCHASE PRICE PURCHASE FINANCING FOR 72 MONTHS 0% PLUS $1000 4.05% CASH INCENTIVE EFFECTIVE RATE MSRP $25,595* JLX MODEL SHOWN FINALIST BEST NEW SMALL CAR 2008 THE ALL NEW 2008 SX4 SEDAN DOWN PAYMENT ON LEASE SX4.ca 9.2 L/100KM (31 MPG) CITY 6.5 L/100KM (43 MPG) HIGHWAY ¥ Air Conditioning / Power Windows / Power Locks / Power Mirrors / Remote Keyless Entry $0 LEASE FROM $ 205 1.5% ** @ FOR 60 MONTHS PURCHASE FINANCING FOR 72 MONTHS 0% MSRP $17,195* SPORT MODEL SHOWN 2008 SWIFT+ 8.7 L/100KM (32 MPG) CITY 5.8 L/100KM (49 MPG) HIGHWAY ¥ MOST FUEL EFFICIENT AWD IN CANADA MSRP $20,695* JX AWD MODEL SHOWN Cargo Area Cover / Standard Front & Seat Mounted Side Airbags / AM/FM/CD/MP3 Player (4 speakers) PURCHASE FINANCING FOR 84 MONTHS 0% MSRP $13,995* S MODEL SHOWN 2008 SX4 $0 LEASE FROM ** CROSSOVER 9.5 L/100 KM (30 MPG) CITY 6.8 L/100 KM (42 MPG) HIGHWAY ¥ Intelligent AWD / Air Conditioning / Power Windows / Power Locks / Heated Power Mirrors / Cruise Control / Remote Keyless Entry $ DOWN PAYMENT ON LEASE 235 2.28% 5.56% @ FOR 60 MONTHS EFFECTIVE RATE PURCHASE FINANCING FOR 48 MONTHS 0% 4.55% EFFECTIVE RATE Every new Suzuki comes with 5-year 100,000 kilometre powertrain limited warranty and 5-year unlimited kilometre roadside assistance Visit Suzuki.ca for your nearest dealer Suzuki of Oakville 2219 Wyecroft Road, Oakville, ON L6L 5L7 Toll Free 1-877-469-5969 fax 905-469-4562 CONSUMERS SHOULD READ THE FOLLOWING: Vehicles may not be exactly as shown. Limited time offers are subject to change without notice. *As shown: $29,745 MSRP for a new 2008 Grand Vitara JLX model with automatic transmission; $18,995 MSRP for 2008 SX4 sedan sport with manual transmission; $16,295 MSRP for 2008 Swift+ S with manual transmission; $20,695 MSRP for a new 2008 SX4 Crossover JX AWD model with manual transmission. Destination and delivery of $1,395/$1,250/$1,250/$1,250, administration fee, $400/$75/$0/$75 fuel conservation fee (where applicable), other taxes & duties, license, insurance, applicable fees and registration are extra. Cash purchase price for a new 2008 Grand Vitara JA (model LLN81S8) with manual transmission includes $5,000.00 cash incentive available only to cash customers and cannot be combined with subvented lease and finance offers. Destination and delivery of $1,395, administration fee, $400 fuel conservation tax (where applicable), other taxes, license, insurance, applicable fees and registration are extra. **Limited time lease offers available to qualified retail customers on approved credit only on new 2008 SX4 Sedan (MODEL S3L83J8) manual transmission $17,195 MSRP at 1.5% APR for 60 months and new 2008 SX4 Crossover JX AWD (MODEL H3N80J8) with manual transmission $20,695 MSRP at 2.28% APR (5.56% effective rate for information purposes) for 60 months. Monthly payment is $205/$235 (including $1,250/$1,250 destination and delivery). $0/$0 down payment or equivalent trade-in, $0 security deposit, $72 PPSA, $350 acquisition fee, administration fee, $75/$75 fuel conservation tax (where applicable) and first monthly payment due at lease inception. Total lease obligation is $12,299.92/$14,097.98 including down payment. Taxes, license, insurance, applicable fees and registration are extra. 20,000 km/year total mileage allowance ($0.10/km for excess mileage). Limited time purchase finance offers available to qualified retail customers on approved credit at 0% for 72 months on new base 2008 SX4 Sedan (MODEL S3L83J8) only; at 0% for 84 months on new base 2008 Swift + (MODEL STR48C8) only; at 0% for 72 months including $1,000 purchase financing incentive (4.05% effective rate for information purposes) on new 2008 Grand Vitara JX & JLX; and at 0% for 48 months (4.55% effective rate for information purposes) on new 2008 SX4 Crossover JX AWD. Finance example: $10,000 at 0% APR for a 48-month term; the monthly payment is $208.33; cost of borrowing is $0.00; total obligation is $10,000.00. Down payment or equivalent trade-in may be required. Administration fee, other taxes, license, insurance, and registration are extra. ¥Based on Fuel Consumption Guide ratings published by Natural Resources Canada. These offers cannot be combined with any other offer except for the Suzuki Graduate Program. With the Suzuki Graduate Program, recent university or college graduates may be eligible for an allowance on the purchase or lease of certain models. Dealers may lease or sell for less. See participating dealers for details. Offers end September 2, 2008. When Mazda launched the nowlegendary RX-7 in 1979, it really shook up the sports-car establishment and set sales records never before seen with sports cars. And when the company launched the innovative four-door sports car RX-8 in 2003, the rotary engine saw a dramatic update with the introduction of side porting; resulting in greatly reduced exhaust emissions and improved performance. Mazda's rotary engine has been overwhelmingly successful in motorsports, too, powering the company's cars to over 100 professional sports car racing wins in the U.S. alone and enabling an overall win at the 1991 running of the famed 24-Hours of Le Mans. Mazda was the first, and is still the only, Japanese car company to ever win this grueling endurance race. In fact, the rotary was so good, it was banned. The 2009 Mazda RX-8 marks 40 years of the rotary and the R3 model is equipped to the point that there are no options available, but it does have more than a dozen extras never before offered on a RX-8. Power is a twin-chamber rotary with the equivalent of 1.3-litres displacement. The R3 version is slightly more powerful at 238 hp and 159 lb/ft of torque on premium fuel. Fuel consumption is listed at 12.8/9.2L/100 km city/highway. There is only one transmission, a six-speed manual derived from the one used in the MX-5 Miata. The new RX-8 R3 also features variable red-zone technology which limits revs at a cold start to protect the engine and allows full use of the car's uniquely broad 9,000rpm revband when it is fully warmed. Much work on the chassis sees the R3 with a perfect 50:50 front to rear weight distribution that greatly increases the agility of the car. Front suspension is double wishbones with a multi-link independent system at the rear. Bilstein supplies shocks tailored to the handling characteristics of the R3. With a redline way up to 9,000 rpm and the free-spinning nature of the rotary, getting to the rev limiter is swift, accompanied by a tenor bellow under full throttle. Think of the rotary more like a turbine than an internal combustion engine. Acceleration is a matter of using the higher revs and learning to use the gears to get the most of the 159 lb/ft of torque. If you push it, you'll find up and downshifts can be timed to the engine note, not the revs, because the rotary is so smooth there is no sensation of how fast it is turning over. The electric power steering is also light, a bit too light for me, but nonetheless quick and effective without that ratchet feeling so common in first generation electric steering boxes. Besides the rotary engine, the RX-8 is unique in having demidoors to the back seat often called suicide doors. They are like French doors when opened. The backseat is more decorative than useable, but you can fit two small fry back there. Base price of the 2009 RX-8 is $37,295 but the R3 package bumps that to $40,780. The most visual difference is a deep front spoiler with large air inlets and a large rear wing. The special 19-inch wheels (18-inch standard) have spokes with a design that incorporates a stylized Wankel rotor. The interior is fitted out in leather and special Recaro front sports seats with red stitching. Standard on all RX-8s including the R3 is a Bose premium sound system with nine speakers, cruise, climate control, rain-sensing wipers, automatic headlamp levelling and too much more to print. Along with standard ABS, traction control and dynamic stability control (DSC), the R3 is fitted with a limited slip rear differential. When you have an engine that revs this freely and a car with equal front and rear weight distribution you get a platform that tends to oversteer, that is, it likes to nose in instead of wanting to stay going straight. This is great if you know how to capitalize on it, but if the back starts to come around, a spin is in the offing. The limited slip locks up the rear wheels so one wheel doesn't start revolving faster than the other thus keeping grip under control (mostly) in the process. Everything about the RX-8 is so different. It's the engine, the handling, the sound and also the looks. My tester was fitted in a glistening black like the skin of the monster in the Alien movies. Forty years in the making, the rotary-powered RX-8 R3 is for those who want something a little out of the ordinary but with that Zoom Zoom DNA that makes all Mazdas such fun cars to drive.