Five years after the Mazda RX-8 fizzed on to Scottish roads, Mazda is to give its rotary-engined sports coupe a substantial midlife facelift. The most obvious changes are to the car's exterior: it's getting new front and rear bumpers with more flared air intakes, new alloy wheels and bigger bore twin exhausts.

However, those aren't the only changes. Tweaks to the front and rear seat design will make the car that little bit more spacious, while the car's centre console and steering wheel design has also been updated. The revised RX-8 will go on sale in the UK in autumn 2008.

At the same time a more hardcore version, badged RX-8 R3, will be made available, which gets sports suspension, a more aggressive body kit, 19in wheels, Recaro bucket seats and trick track rubber.