Sports Car, Yes. Family Car, Hmm  There I was, barreling down
Japan's Chuo Expressway in a 2004 RX-8, Mazda's supercool new
sports car. I was on my way to join my family at a hot-springs
resort in Nagano, but my real mission was figuring out whether
this RX-8 hot rod, Mazda Motor's bid to get some sizzle back
into the brand, lives up to the hype. My first impression: Hell,
yes. But in Japan, Mazda is promoting its latest rotary-engine
beauty, with its unusual four-seat layout, as a muscle car the
whole family can enjoy. Let's just say that the return trip,
with my wife and two young children in tow, was a snug enough
fit to lay bare that myth.BRAVURA PERFORMANCE. Back in its glory
days in the 1970s and early '80s, Mazda enjoyed a well-deserved
reputation for brilliant engineering and design, culminating in
the RX-7, a rotary engine-powered two-seater that rivaled the
old Nissan 240Z as Japan's most bodacious fun car. The $27,200
RX-8 is a much better vehicle. With 250 horsepower in Japan (238
on U.S. models b