That "Zoom-Zoom" brand of Mazda, with a reputation for producing sporty cars tracking back to the wily two-seat MX-5 Miata roadster and a rotary-powered RX-7 hatchback sports coupe, offers a diverse collection of cars and trucks and wagons with fun-to-drive traits.

This year Mazda resurrects the RX-7 concept but adds a new twist with a sedan's layout and rear-hinged half-doors tucked behind the front-hinged front doors for easy access to rear seats. Mazda calls it a four-door sports car under the badge of RX-8. And, yes, this new version of the RX gets a rotary-powered engine, it brings two variations, in fact.

Mazda also makes a pavement-hugging and curve-craving mid-size sedan simply called the 6, the Mazda 6. It debuted in the 2003 lineup and returns for 2004 with a choice of four-cylinder or V6 powertrain plus revised optional equipment packages. Waiting in the wings are wagon and hatchback versions scheduled to land in America in the spring of 2004.

Mazda's Miata, the still-so-cool roadster, continues to epitomize Mazda's image for sporty motoring. A pure two-person open-top roadster with four-cylinder power but ideal weight balance, Miata ranks as the best-selling sports car in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Current versions, rolling on new 16-inch alloy wheels, draw from a dual-cam 1.8-liter and four-cylinder engine that produces 142 hp.

Mazda's compact-class Protege series fades in 2004 in favor of a late-arriving replacement called Mazda 3. This new car, with styling drawn from the Mazda MX-Sportif show car, looks muscular in the promise of lively athletic performance.

The compact-class minivan from Mazda goes by the label of MPV, which means Multi-Purpose Vehicle. Expect to see a facelift on MPV in 2004 issues. The body gets a re-do with new prow and fenders, plus a fresh palette of paint colors. MPV's cabin, with three rows of seats for as many as seven passengers, has new fabrics on seats and revised trim designs in plastic resembling carbon fiber.

Even the sport-utility vehicle from Mazda -- Tribute -- feels fun to drive. Built on the chassis of a front-wheel-drive (FWD) car rather than a rear-wheel-drive (RWD) truck, Tribute has a tightly tuned suspension and a strong engine that set up sporty driving traits. And B-Series compact pickup trucks from Mazda return for another year with best-in-class powertrain performance.

The essence of Mazda's favored rotary-powered RX-7 hatchback sports car lives again in modern format with the new RX-8.

It's a clever design that's slightly taller and wider than the former RX-7, with the wheelbase stretched considerably longer and wheels pushed to corners of the platform for a sporty stance. With the wheelbase extended there's room enough on the chassis to install a second row of seats in the configuration of a 2+2 GT-style sports coupe. Only Mazda's designers also added two concealed rear doors. Set behind the front doors, these half-size rear doors are hinged in back and open with the front doors to create a broad and pillar-less portal for easy access into the back seats. The cabin ends up as a functional four-seater with ample room in all positions for full-frame adult riders.

This new version of the RX also carries a rotary-powered engine. It's the next generation in rotary design, smaller in size and lighter in weight than previous versions, but more powerful. Called Renesis, the engine achieves 250 hp with a six-speed manual transmission or 210 with a four-speed automatic rigged with paddle-shift system on the steering wheel. RX-8 also stocks an anti-lock brakes system (ABS), electronic brake force distribution (EBD), plus a dynamic stability control system (DSC) with frontal and side-mounted air bags aboard, a tire pressure monitor, power windows and door locks, and 18-inch alloy wheels. (CONTINUED...)

Read our Review: Mazda RX8