THERE are four good things about the new Mazda RX-8, and they can be summed up in four words.

Usually, such lexical concision would indicate a car with limited appeal, but the RX-8 is different - in more ways than one.

The fact that the four all-important words are looks, performance, pleasure and value is a measure of just how different.

So, we'll start with looks. The only people who could fail to recognise the aesthetic beauty of the RX-8 are Turner Prize judges. Those of us who do know and appreciate art when we see it are likely to stand agape, literally transfixed, at first sight of an RX-8.

The immediate tendency is to comment upon the other cars the RX-8 might remind one of - Honda S2000, Toyota Celica, even some elements of Porsche 911 and Maserati Coup - but that would be to belittle the RX-8's very individual look.

The wide front air intake apes your gape, the broad shoulders indicate power and the position of the engine over the front axle allows a classic low sportscar bonnet to be included. It also enables the car's weight distribution to be split 50/50 over front and rear axles - just like the latest BMW 5 Series.

What looks from the outside like it must be fairly cramped is deceptively spacious inside and qualifies as a genuine four-seater, not a "2-2".

The rear doors are partially responsible.

Called "freestyle" by Mazda and "suicide" in common industry parlance, they open the "wrong" way, towards the car's boot.

Interior trim is classy. The instruments combine subtle retro stylings with modern technologic, typified in the large central, circular rev-dial, swishing its needle above a rakishly slanted "go-faster" digital speedo.

Instruments are well laid out in general, with only a couple of switches obscured by the steering wheel, while the strange "triggered" handbrake is perhaps slightly oversized.

Apart from that, it's top marks all round. Seats have more support than Juventus and slide back a long way to make the RX-8 a comfortable drive, even for tall people. The clever roofline similarly qualifies the car as being stringbean-friendly.

Shorter people may experience a slight visibility problem seeing over the bonnet as the driving seat doesn't rise a great distance, but you don't buy a sportscar to adopt an MPV driving position, do you? For its class, all-round visibility is actually excellent.

Bootspace is excellent, offering volume and shape that wouldn't embarrass a saloon.

Our second important word was Performance. Despite a total capacity of just 1.3 litres from its twin 654cc rotors, the RX-8 can develop 228bhp.

That means that a car with an engine the size of a Suzuki Ignis creates more power than an Alfa Romeo GTV 3.0 V6!

Mazda has single-handedly worked on developing Dr Felix Wankel's (quite literally) revolutionary rotary engine for many years and the result is the RENESIS rotary engine.

Traditionally there were some drawbacks associated with rotary engines. They tended to be thirsty, dirty in terms of emissions and needed frequent maintenance.

Arguably, Mazda have solved one problem and gone some distance to solving the other two. The RX-8 is likely to be as reliable as other Mazdas (it has similar service intervals to the Mazda 6, a car with an excellent reputation for reliability). Fuel consumption is better but still high. Ditto emissions levels.

Having driven the RX-8, though, it's easy to forgive the RX-8 for minor misdemeanours. In fact I'd even forgive it if it broke into my house, emptied the fridge, invited its friends around for a party and trashed the place.

This is where Pleasure comes into the picture.

It constantly dares you to work higher and higher up the rev counter and rewards you all the way to the screaming 8,200 redline.

Steering is sharp and weighted well enough that you won't feel like you're at a potter's wheel every time a sharp bend approaches. Only at high (read illegal - very illegal) speeds in a straight line does the car let slip the merest hint of twitchiness.

Finally, we must consider Value. The RX-8 is worth every penny of the £22,000 asking price for this model, let alone the £20,000 of the other version, which lacks only a few bhp, Xenon lights - oh, and chrome pedals. We mustn't forget them.

There are reasons for the low list price, of course. The RX-8 has the thirst of an Australian docker, and owners are advised to make sure they know the petrol prices in their neighbourhood before buying.

An alternative approach would be to follow your heart, buy an RX-8 and emigrate to Kazakhstan. Petrol's cheap I'm told.