There's no point kidding ourselves. Most enthusiastic drivers want a two-door coupé. Sitting at traffic lights, we'd rather be behind the wheel of a sporting coupé than a boxy school bus.
The only compromise available to many is a coupé version of a saloon, with sportiness coming in the form of stiffer suspension, missing rear doors and awkwardly folding front seats. But the real racy looks of a proper sports car are missing. Coupé means passion, involvement, fun and, yes, single life and weekends away, while practical motoring is about shopping centres on Saturdays and rush-hour traffic.
Yet there may be another driving option for the interbellum between virility and viagra. With the RX-8, Mazda has tried to break the mould and create a proper sports coupé that could be cajoled into doing the school run.
The RX-8 has been designed with Americans in mind - it has definite US lines, especially its butch 1970s backside and light clusters like of a Corvette. But up front it does has eye-catching curvaceous European features, particularly the snarling extruding wings.
Inside, the packaging is inspired. It features a pair of habitable rear seats. The secret is entry and exit. What Mazda calls "freestyle" doors, and others may know as "suicide" doors, open backwards only when the front door is opened. Rather like a clamshell, they are hinged on the rear edges with no pillar ahead of them against which to close.
A six-foot-five basketball player will probably need his legs amputated, but we managed to drive 30 miles or so with two "average-sized" adults in the back and the only complaint was about our driving.
The RX-8's other inspiration is its engine. It's called a Wankel but its history goes back to the inventor of steam power, James Watt, who produced the rotary-motion steam engine in 1781. In layman's terms, it generates two-litre performance from a 1.3-litre unit.
Admittedly, the rotary engine has had its problems. It gained equal adulation and notoriety powering NSU's reportedly fabulous but flawed Ro80 saloon of 1967, a futuristic car whose warranty claims sunk its maker.
Now, Mazda has made the rotary reliable. The last incarnation was in the RX-7, but Mazda couldn't solve its thirst and its emissions. So, Europe was denied it after 1997, although it was on sale in Japan's home market until last year.
The RX-8's new engine has sorted the emissions and economy issues well enough to satisfy EU rules, and we can again enjoy an engine with less vibration than any other internal-combustion unit.
The rotary unit may lack torque, but the low-rev thrust gets you moving. The short-throw gearstick is on hand to change down when pulling power is needed. The rotary sound is more soprano than the baritone of piston engines, and the higher the revs the more it reaches for the Maria Callas levels of Formula One. This Mazda almost bawls at other cars to get out of the way.
The interior is rather plain and functional, though well assembled from plastic materials of average quality. One oddity is the parking brake, shaped like a coat hanger and up against the driver in right-hand-drive versions. Even when down, it seems to be still up. The centre console dominates the front and rear seating area, but the benefit is a beautifully positioned gearstick which offers a short-throw change which should be an example for others.
But, of course, those who judge sports cars on interior trim just aren't driving enough. The point is that responses are excellent in this car, brakes are racetrack secure and there's enough power to keep up with the competition.
Two versions are on offer: the same rotary engine in both, but one offers 231 bhp, the other 192 bhp. For us, there was more than enough power in the 192 bhp model. When we touched down on corners the car was almost skittish and oversteered slightly when pushed, signalling that we had enough power for our purposes under the right foot.
Our main problem with the RX-8 was in traffic. Although we adored the ego-stroking glances from other motorists, we found the car stutters sometimes in sluggish traffic. It copes better on the open road.
Behind the wheel, the ride is always firm, rarely harsh, and the driver benefits from great road feel and response.
The RX-8 is total joy on bends. It hugs corners so effectively that you long for country roads with lots of long challenging bends. You want to trim hedges with the wing mirror, to shave seconds of the time through the previous bend, to push a little harder each time, to use up the car's enormous traction.
Steering response is instant and precise and you can power out of corners with that balanced, slingshot feeling which comes only with a powerful rear-wheel-drive car. The last car to take this market so dramatically forward was probably the Audi TT, with its radical styling and strong handling.
The RX-8's main price rival is the rapidly ageing Toyota Celica, but Toyota is firmly focused on updating its image and will undoubtedly rework the Celica in the coming years. In the meantime the RX-8 has the sort of head-turning attraction sports car owners crave.
Waiting lists now stretch to three months, not as bad as predicted when the Irish allocation was a mere 90 cars this year. This has been doubled and Mazda is confident of meeting demand in a matter of months. Nevertheless, the RX-8 will be much sought-after for the foreseeable future.
In price and practicality, this car does for us. There are far more expensive cars with half the luggage space and two cupholders for back seats. In terms of performance, it's plenty of fun, with excellent handling. All things considered, it's one of the best all-round cars on the market at the moment.