Swapping out the rotary engine in a Mazda RX-8 with something that barely pulls along a tiny city car like the ones from Renault, makes for a very, very strange downgrade.
Yet, that’s exactly what this Autogidas ad from Lithuania claims to have done; this 2004 Mazda RX-8 is being sold with a 1.4-liter 70 HP engine -allegedly- from a Renault Twingo, clocked at 160,000 km (99,419 miles).
We don’t recall the Twingo ever being powered by a 1.4-liter unit with 70 horses. It’s possible there’s been a mistake somewhere or perhaps the engine is from an older Clio, but which Renault model the engine came from is hardly the gist of this story.
We’d be a lot more curious to know why anybody would just strip their RX-8 of its performance, and don’t say for fuel economy, because “naturally aspirated” and “underpowered” is not the most efficient combination. Perhaps the engine died and it made more sense for them to sell the car with whatever engine
Despite having its heart removed, this RX-8 still features decent comfort specs, such as air conditioning, abs, electric windows, alloy wheels, power steering, fog lights, central locking and so on.
You’d undoubtedly be able to live with it, assuming all is well technically. But have fun driving it? Not anymore.
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