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CarsLore / Compare / Sports cars / A3 Cabriolet vs RX-8

Audi A3 Cabriolet vs Mazda RX-8

Two sports cars, compared on the same official records: MOT and inspection results, safety ratings, fuel use, recalls and owner complaints. 2 like-for-like measures: the Audi A3 Cabriolet leads on 2, the Mazda RX-8 on 0.

Where each one leads

Audi A3 Cabriolet

  • Fewer Audi A3 Cabriolet cars in the Netherlands carry an illogical odometer record (3.9% against 10.0%).
  • On Canada's official test the most frugal 2020 Audi A3 Cabriolet uses 9.5 l/100 km, the 2011 Mazda RX-8 12.8.

Mazda RX-8

Ahead on none of the like-for-like measures.

Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare

At a glance

Audi A3 CabrioletMazda RX-8
Model years in the US safety record2015–20192004–2017
New cars registered in Europe60,692 (2010–2022)—
Licensed in the United Kingdom—1,923
On the road in the Netherlands4,188498

EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).

Reliability and problems

Audi A3 CabrioletMazda RX-8
UK MOT first-time pass rate—68%
… against cars of the same age—+19%
New York safety inspections failed—1.5%
… against cars of the same year—−36%
Illogical odometer records (NL)3.9%10.0%
US owner complaints164784
Most complaints aboutAir bagsPower train
Model year with most complaints2015 (87)2004 (490)
US recall campaigns1114
Manufacturer service bulletins1,8791,533
NHTSA defect investigations521

Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).

Fuel, emissions and price

Audi A3 CabrioletMazda RX-8
Official combined fuel use, Canada9.5 l/100 km (2020)12.8 l/100 km (2011)
Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe114 g/km—
Average power of new cars in Europe103 kW (138 hp)—
Average mass in running order1,440 kg—
Dutch list price when new (median)€48,105€47,360

Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).