This video show the testing and operation of the rear door. It's quite interesting. As an added bonus, it's shown in a blue RX-8.


Fast connection (http://www3.stream.co.jp/web/mazda/meta/021202/craftsman-300k.asx)

Slower connection (http://www3.stream.co.jp/web/mazda/meta/021202/craftsman-34k.asx)

you must tell us where you got that. now please!

Originally posted by zoom44
you must tell us where you got that. now please!

I found it on Mazda "Webmembers Only" site. The address is http://www.m-wm.com/product/comingsoon/. But of course it required a login. You have to register to access it. It's in Japanese.

thats what i thought. i cant figure out how to register as i dont read japanese and the babelfish program doesn't do very well. please cotinue to bring us more things like this. i am receiving the newsletter from that site and the newest one shows a steering wheel with what looks like white shift paddles on it. do you know what this is?

I like that color blue...with a TAN interior. Did I see that right?

The video showed a RHD car (obviously) with the front passenger seat removed. I would have liked to have seen how much room she really had back there.

Cool stuff though. Keep bringing it over.

Let me be the first to ask BlueAdept to get this on his server! :)

Originally posted by zoom44
... shows a steering wheel with what looks like white shift paddles on it. do you know what this is?

I take it you mean this:

http://www.m-wm.com/product/comingsoon/craftsmanship/img/index2_photo4.jpg

It look like the paddles (UP/DOWN) for some form of "manu-matic" transmission.

your pic didn't show and i realised i was hijacking your thread so i started a new one.:D

Just the sound of the doors closing should put to rest any fears of side impact protection. They sound pretty hefty.

Originally posted by Hercules
Let me be the first to ask BlueAdept to get this on his server! :)

Done...

Man, I hate those streaming servers...

I can hear sound... but I can't see anything :( :( :(
can anyone capture this streaming video into an mpeg or avi file please? :(

Originally posted by BlueAdept


Done...

Man, I hate those streaming servers...
HEY BLUE HOW DO YOU CAPTURE THE VID IN THE FIRST PLACE?
oops sorry about the shouting;)

the test-babe wasn't too bad either ;) nice vid.

Originally posted by zoom44

HEY BLUE HOW DO YOU CAPTURE THE VID IN THE FIRST PLACE?
oops sorry about the shouting;)

What... you mean how do I get a copy of the file... I use a player that has an option to dump the data it recieves to an output file... you just need to clean it up a bit and bingo... So much for streaming servers where they try to stop you getting a copy of the file.

i dont think i have one that does that. and i tried to use my conversion software to change it to an avi but the software wont open the .asf. i'll see if there is an update for that and try again.

HELP! I'm tearing my hair out because I'm all excited about this video and I can't get the links to work. I keep getting an error that the file doesn't exist!!! Damn it, I'll go bald on my own some day, I don't need this!

:confused:

Originally posted by RotorMotor
HELP! I'm tearing my hair out because I'm all excited about this video and I can't get the links to work. I keep getting an error that the file doesn't exist!!! Damn it, I'll go bald on my own some day, I don't need this!

:confused:

ftp://rx8:mazda@ftp.fsck.co.uk/craftsman-300k.asf

Thank you BlueAdept! You're a hair-saver!

Thanks Blue!!! :D

Blue any players for Windows like that?

Preciate it.

wow didnt realize this much research went into the mechanics of the closing of a door, lol

Originally posted by Hercules
Blue any players for Windows like that?

Preciate it.

Eyacchh.. Windows?

No idea!

asfrecorder

Originally posted by red_base 95
The video showed a RHD car (obviously) with the front passenger seat removed. I would have liked to have seen how much room she really had back there.
yeah, i thought the exact same thing. unfortunately, i bet that test lady was probably 5'-3" and a buck-twenty at most. y'know, asians are small. ;)
Originally posted by tribal azn
wow didnt realize this much research went into the mechanics of the closing of a door, lol
yeah, i'm amazed too. i wonder if mazda went as far as to "obtain" research/findings/experience from saturn and the s-coupe.

Originally posted by med_mx6
i wonder if mazda went as far as to "obtain" research/findings/experience from saturn and the s-coupe.

doubt it. the interior of the RX-EVOLV was already pretty close to the interior of the 8, and because of the different seating positions, swing radius of the door (the suicide door on the s-coupe is really really short...), and different latching and grip design (can't remember where the latch on the s-coupe was, but i'm pretty sure it wasn't right near the end of the door), it'd be a moot point to spend much time evaluating Saturn's (awful) design.

look at the beautiful swing-plane!!! slightly sloped downward (opening), so it's a natural "pull toward and up" motion for closing the door... also helps keep it open...

as with regards to the room back there, if that girl's about 5'5'' (no, not all asians are short: the chick featured in my photogallery was 5'10'', born and bred in Hong Kong), i'll have no problem fitting into that back seat if the driver isn't more than 6'4'', or has an unnatural ("yo-boy") seating position... getting in and out won't be like walking through a minivan with no seats in it, but it can be done, and not with the body-contorting gymnastics needed to get into a race car either...

btw: i'm 6'2'', at 215 trim and broad-shouldered lbs.

i just noticed that as the test-chick stood next to the car, the top of the roofline seemed to be at about shoulder/chest level... how tall's the 8 again?? 5*''??

im not sure but i think its 53 inches. so if the top of car is 4 ft 5 in then it wont do much good to know how much room she has cause shes pretty short.

yeah, jonny b is right... mazda (http://www.mazdausa.com/rx8/specs/default.asp?sniffer=1) confirms that (so far)... just to give some reference, the accord is 57.1 inches high, camry's 58.3 inches, g35 is 57.7 inches, the mx-6 is 51.6 inches. so anyway, that means she's about 5' 3" to 5' 5"... as I guestimated the first time. ;)

anyway, i hope i didn't offend anyone about asians being short... i am asian myself and stand at 5'9". my brother and sister are at 5'10" each (but we were grain-fed, amercian born.) anyway, having been in Taiwan, Thailand, and Hong Kong in the past few years, I realized that my family is pretty monstrous in a crowd of asians... maybe not the tallest, but as far as height and girth (not weight), we were definitely not natives.