The trunk can carry two sets of golf clubs. We were able to fit a desk chair and storage crate back there, a very impressive feat for a sports car. A vertical compartment door opens to the rear seat area to allow the carrying of skis and such.

The RX-8 has great seats, a nice fit with good bolstering, though the base model's cloth seat material wasn't as attractive to our eyes as it might have been. On the other end of the spectrum, the top-of-the-line Shinka Special Version Package includes much more attractive leather and suede-like upholstery.

We like the stitched leather three-spoke steering wheel, both for its style and feel. Also nice were the drilled aluminum pedals and the solid dead pedal. The brake pedal is designed to make rotation of your right foot easier, for heel-and-toe downshifting. (It also releases upon impact, to lessen leg injuries in the case of a head-on crash.) Each knee is comfortably and firmly supported during hard cornering.

The instrument panel seems to sacrifice efficiency for style, however. There are three big rings, dominated by the 10,000-rpm tachometer in the center, with a digital speedometer readout on the tach face. We miss having a separate analog speedometer. Our feeling is that analog gauges can be interpreted at a glance, while digital readouts have to be read. The two large outside rings include gauges for water temp, fuel and oil pressure. The instruments are illuminated with indirect blue lighting.

The panel forward of the shift lever is trimmed in a combination of leather and high-quality vinyl and glossy piano-black plastic. The stereo and climate control knobs are integrated; redundant controls are on the steering wheel spokes. The air conditioning wasn't as effective as we would have liked, a common complaint about many Mazdas.

The available navigation system is DVD-based and features a dedicated, retractable 7-inch screen on top of the dash above the radio and climate controls. Controlled with an eight-button cluster located just behind the shift lever, the system is simple to operate and the interface is clear, thanks in part to the fact that it does not incorporate radio and climate controls into the screen, as do many navigation systems.

The doors and seatbacks have ample pockets and cranny space, and four CDs can fit in the console, but there aren't a lot of cubbies up front. The soft triangular shape of the engine rotors are a design theme found throughout the interior, most noticeably in the stylish headrests and atop the shift lever.