If there's one sports car we never thought we'd see again, it's the Mazda RX-7. With a high retail price, shifting consumer tastes, dwindling corporate cash, and unit volume-obsessed bosses at Ford calling the shots, all odds were against it. Well, the odds won, we never did see an RX-7 again and we probably never will. We'll just have to make do with this RX-8.The RX-8 differs sufficiently from that last rocket sold back in - wow, has it been that long? - 1995 to warrant the new digit. Four seats in a sports car? Tsk. And four doors, too? Double tsk. The pop-up lights were deep-sixed, the suspension was softened, and the turbo's gone. Fattening it up and slowing it down - hey, what kind of sports car is this? We'll address that in a moment, but at least the latest Mazda to wear the RX name continues the proud tradition of carrying an engine that routinely provokes the question "what the hell?"