Folding rear seats that allow pass-thru of a large tripod/snowboards etc.
Oh, and a sunroof option is a must. Just my 2 cents!
Waiting Patiently...

Broz
Vancouver, BC

As an avid Mountain biker, I would have loved to see a larger trunk opening and full split seats. I've been studying the back seat pics, and it appears that each rear seat is individually upholstered, rather than one continuous back rest. This could insinuate that each of the rear seats could fold, just not the centre section. Either way, I'll probably have get a light duty custom fabricated hidden hitch installed and a hitch-mounted rack.

It would be nice to have the rear seats fold forward. You could get some long items in the car in a pinch. You may not get a mountain bike in there but who wants a dirty bike in their new clean RX8 anyway :)

i would rather have the hidden hitch to put my bike on then sticking it tn my car but then again i got a truck for that stuff
but the floddowns would be nice

i'm impressed that this is a REAL 4 person car and not another 2+2. the fact that people in the back won't be cramped is a major selling point for me. i naturally assumed that the seat could fold down for extra storage in the back, if not occupied by passengers. either way, i've been nothing but impressed by this car, and am looking forward to its release.

does anyone have any idea as to the tentative release date of the car for the 2003 year?

thanks

My back seats will be coming off for the stereo system i'll be investing in :D

The seats will almost certainly have to fold down individually, if at all. The central Backbone Chassis frame runs down the entire length of the cabin, including the rear, and thus would not allow the seats to fold in one piece. Individually is better anyway, you can at least have 1 person in back with one side folded down.

It also would not surprise me to see that the seats don't fold at all. By putting a big hole there, you give up chassis rigidity. Mazda wants this car to be very rigid. That combined with the lack of the B pillar and the necessity to move that lost rigidity to other points in the car may mean the loss of any folding rear seats.

A pass-through is a must-have. Isn't the point of this design for more people/cargo space? Not having a pass-through would be in direct conflict with the purpose of the car.

If Mazda fails to put a pass-through on the car it would be a mistake. One of its selling points is that the car is a "practical" sports car.

I believe that Mazda can put a pass-through in the car and retain chassis stiffness. When Mazda was designing the car there were engineers in Mazda that did not want to install suicide doors. They thought that they could not meet federal crash worthiness tests with them. The president of Mazda told the engineers that Mazda was an engineering company. He told them to engineer a solution to the problem. If they can figure the door issue out they should be able to figure out the pass-through.

Originally posted by Jerome81
The seats will almost certainly have to fold down individually, if at all. The central Backbone Chassis frame runs down the entire length of the cabin, including the rear, and thus would not allow the seats to fold in one piece. Individually is better anyway, you can at least have 1 person in back with one side folded down.

It also would not surprise me to see that the seats don't fold at all. By putting a big hole there, you give up chassis rigidity. Mazda wants this car to be very rigid. That combined with the lack of the B pillar and the necessity to move that lost rigidity to other points in the car may mean the loss of any folding rear seats.

Compromised structural regitity is a legitimate issue with rear folders. The numbers on non-folding as opposed to folding were enough to scare me away from the option on my current car. A similar, although much less concerning argument can be made for sunroofs as well. Not to mention the fact that the latches on the seats open the door for possible rattles.

I will still put my faith in Mazda engineers to solve this problem and provide us with a car with folding rear seats, a sunroof, and excellent chassis stiffness. Any company that can engineer a good rotary engine should be able to do the other stuff too.

Originally posted by liondogs
I will still put my faith in Mazda engineers to solve this problem and provide us with a car with folding rear seats, a sunroof, and excellent chassis stiffness. Any company that can engineer a good rotary engine should be able to do the other stuff too.

Rigidity is compromised by rear folding seats in current E46 platform (a very rigid chassis) and it will be compromised in the RX-8 as well.

Rear folders should be optional, IMO.

blah, its the hatchback, so I dont doubt the seats will fold

actually wait, is it a hatchback? cant really see from the pics

Folding seats are definately a plus. I'm also an avid mountain biker and a skier. I wouldn't want to spoil the looks of this car with a roof rack.

Folding rear seats are always useful for when you need al little more space. I also hope that if they fold down that they open the space entirely. I owen a Geo prism and when the seats folded down there was a huge arch that prevented larger items from going in.

Anyway, it's not critical for me: my RSX is a hatchback, so if I get the RX8 I'll still have a good vehicle for a little extra cargo.

Archer, the compromise in chasis rigidity in the E46 is minimal. Easily corrected with a rear cross brace. According to Mazda and R&T, and probably other articles, the RX-8 chasis is even stiffer than the previous RX-7, which was known to loosen your fillings.:)

Anyway, this is not an all out track car. Some street compliance is probably a good idea.

My $.02.

Originally posted by aco
Anyway, this is not an all out track car. Some street compliance is probably a good idea.
I agree. The RX-8 will be a fast, good looking, yet pratical car. I think Mazda is creating a new market for itself with this car.

That said, they probably will sacrifice some performance characteristics for practicality, including fold down rear seats.

I doubt it..in the R&T article they say that there is room for 2 golf bags in the "TRUNK"....but hey you never know

it looks like it could be a hatchback... notice how they have never shown pics with trunk lid open... based on current pics, it would be hard to put anything into it isnt a hatchback...

but again, it might not be... as long as there is"decent" trunk, I dont care... you wont be able to fold seats much anyway, notice that they have big central whatever you call it going from front to back (hence only 4 people max)...

Its not a hatchback. It has a regular trunk. From some pics from the detroit auto show, you can see the trunk line.

Besides, if it were a hatchback, some article would have pointed it out for sure. And the R&T article did say "trunk" as said above.

If you want to fold down the back seats, buy a damn minivan or hatchback, dumb@ss!!

*Warning #1 - Flaming is not tolerated* -moderator

What's with all the hostility on this forum lately? :confused:

Is one really a dumb@ss for wanting a hatchback? ;) I better look into selling my RX-7 to a dumb@ss soon if that's the case. :D

Originally posted by NOTA V6
What's with all the hostility on this forum lately? :confused:

Is one really a dumb@ss for wanting a hatchback? ;) I better look into selling my RX-7 to a dumb@ss soon if that's the case. :D

I was wondering about that.. there are like 5 posts per day, and 3 are just hostile rants

Originally posted by MazdaMan182
If you want to fold down the back seats, buy a damn minivan or hatchback, dumb@ss!!

:mad:

What the hell is wrong with folding rear seats?

Maybe you'd be happier with a 2 seater, so you could avoid the issue altogether. May I suggest a Fiero?


There is no reason for this stupid hostility here and in the other posts. The RX-8 is a practical sports car. It has 4 doors and useable rear seats for 6 ft. adults. Why shouldn't it have folding rear seats too?

Originally posted by Grimace

May I suggest a Fiero?




thats just funny

:D

My old 91 MX-6 had folding rear seats. And it was a coupe. Yes, it is technically possible! :eek:

Originally posted by Grimace
My old 91 MX-6 had folding rear seats. And it was a coupe. Yes, it is technically possible! :eek:
My '88 626 5 door turbo was a hatchback without folding seats. That works both ways. Imagine that. ;)

My Jeep has folding rear seats and isn't a hatchback or a mini-van. :confused:

Honestly, isn't the concept of a four door sports car with suicide doors enough of a mold breaker that a couple of folding seats in the mix wouldn't be all that surprising? :)

Originally posted by Dr T


Grimace,

Yes, your old 91 MX-6 had folding seats and it was a coupe. Of course it is technically possible!!! However, as you might recall, I stated that RX-8 will NOT make folding rear seats even though it's possible. :eek:

Where are you getting your information that the RX-8 absolutely will not come with rear folding seats?

Well, if we all recall, there is that big middle separator/enforcement in going through the middle of the car, so folding rear seats will not be as cool as they could be if they are in... nevertheless, it seems pretty dumb if mazda would make a 4 seater and then stop at functionality there... I fail to see how folding seats so more luggage can fit is going to lower sporting image of RX-8

Hey ZoomZoom, I resent that "girls" bit :P I haven't once acted up here yet and I'm a girl.

And just to stay on topic, I think it would be pretty cool if the RX-8's rear seats folded, but I don't think it's gonna happen. From the pictures so far, it just doesn't look like they're really designed to fold. But what do I know anyway, I'm just a "girl" :)

Originally posted by Grimace
Where are you getting your information that the RX-8 absolutely will not come with rear folding seats?
This ought to be good. ;)

Originally posted by Elara
Hey ZoomZoom, I resent that "girls" bit :P I haven't once acted up here yet and I'm a girl.
LOL! :D

And just to stay on topic, I think it would be pretty cool if the RX-8's rear seats folded, but I don't think it's gonna happen. From the pictures so far, it just doesn't look like they're really designed to fold. But what do I know anyway, I'm just a "girl" :)
But who said there will not be a hatchback and/or wagon model offered? Not that I have heard anything at all about any plans for those options, but I have heard no denials from Mazda either... ;)

Elara and spwolf -
you may be right, it would be difficult to have fold-down rear seats with the "backbone" running thru the middle of the car. At the very least, I imagine there will be a pass-thru for skis or whatnot.

I have seen some images taken from the Detroit autoshow that suggest the rear seats are split 50-50; that is to say, the rear seats are not made from one piece of cloth. Of course, it could be just a seam I'm seeing.

I still think there will be some kind of access to the trunk from the cabin. Many engineers said the suicide rear doors with no B-pillar would be impossible too... :)

There have been several changes made to the RX-8 as it continues to be developed for production. The starter button got the ax. The coloured instrument hood did too. The six-speed paddle shift tranny has been replaced with a regular 6-speed standard box. And thats just on the latest iteration of the RX-8. The rear foglight may still get the ax too.
The previous version (the red showcar from a year or so ago) underwent a huge amount of changes, exterior, interior and mechanical to get to the version of the RX-8 we know today.

While I agree that the yellow RX-8 showcar should be pretty close to what it will be like when it bows its head in 2003. That doesn't preclude changes being made though. It may have folding rear seats. It may not. Actually, at this point, who cares? As long as it has 250 Hp and a six speed...

Ok, here is a question. How do you know that the current RX-8 pre-production unit doesn't already have folding rear seats? Have you been in it? Have you read an article that definatively states they don't fold? (Most I've read focus on the performance of the vehicle). Some kind of mole deep within the workings of Mazda? Wvhere iz zee microfilm?

All I know is what I have read and seen and I don't pretend to make any definative statements. But from this picture it does look like the rear seats can each fold independently (although not the whole seatback, due to the backbone stiffener): http://images.rotarynews.com/images/RX-8Tokyo/24rx8-int.jpg

Many times with pre-production vehicles the trunk interior is not finished (bare metal) and sometimes even sealed, which is perhaps why we haven't read anything about the trunk or folding seats (or lack thereof).

So, with that, can we all try our hardest to maintain a civilized forum where we can have intelligent conversations? I'm excited about the RX-8, as are many people. Don't sour the lead-up.

Originally posted by DrT
I don't know that it doesn't already have rear-folding seats. However, if it already did, wouldn't you expect Mazda to already to say something about them?


Mazda didnt say anything about many parts of RX-8 yet... in fact, only worthy article about RX-8 was in R&T and they actually said in their latest issue that pictures shown were of the old show car, not pre-production model that they tested (obviously mazda didnt let them take pics of it, prolly wasnt ready for the pics).

You go on to insult half of the people around here, based on the thought that if RX-8 had folding rear seats, then Mazda would say something about it.... wtf?

Dr T is no more. Banned IP.

I would delete all the posts referring to this incident, however, it is not my area to moderate, and I do not have the power to delete or edit posts here.

I'm personally all for the zero tolerance thing though, and pending admin approval, will be working to keep it that way.

Right now there are only 5 mods and 2 admins running this site which is still very low traffic. If the mods don't monitor their area daily, this kind of thing can get carried away very quickly indeed. Dr T's first post was only 3 days ago after all.

I can tell you that I personally will try to keep things clean around here. That you have my personal guarantee. :) Feel free to use the "Report this post to a moderator" link if you feel things are getting out of hand. Help us to help you. :)

Thanks,

Jim

Thanks Jim -
You're doing a great job, along with the other moderators. Keep up the good work!

Funny you mention its been only 3 days since all this stuff started. It seems like weeks... :)

Ok, all cleaned up. :)

Thanks Toadman. Appreciated!

Sidenote - this thread shrunk from 5 pages to 3 after deleting all the insulting posts... lets try to do better than only having 60% of our posts somewhat usefull everyone... :rolleyes:

Ok listen up please, speculation on whether the RX-8 has fold-down seats(original topic) has yet to be seen and I'm sure more info will be forthcoming. Personal attacks won't cut it here, so let's all take a step back and think before posting comments that may incite a flame-war, especially about a car that hasn't even reached production job-1 yet! No one's out to "get" anybody so let's play by the forum rules you agreed to when you registered. Everyone is welcome to stay/post as they please within the those forum guidelines. Don't make our mods/admins become forum Nazis. This is/will be THE MAZDA RX-8 Premiere Forum once released, come hell or high water. We're all better than other forum thread-crappers, agreed? :D

FYI.. this is my 'overly-nice-guy' disclaimer warning to ALL..... :)

Rotor on..

There probably won't be folding "seats" but there is a possibily that there is a folding seat for skis (like someone said) Considering that the trunk is not that big, even with the folding seat, there probably won't be enough room for skis to pass by.

The rear lights are shaped exactly the same, but the Mazda has clear ones. That's all. I'm not saying that Mazda "copied" Honda, I'm just saying that both cars LOOK the same (except the 4 seats, and top.)

Here's a comparison: The S2000 has a big grill in the middle under the emblem, and two small hole on the side. The RX-8 is EXACTLY the same. The rear lights look the same and the styling is almost identical.

I wouldn't say that the RX-8 is "uglier" than the S2000, but they look damn alike... and I wouldn't say that the RX-8 is "slower" either, because the production model has not even come out yet.

Originally posted by MazdaMan182
I wouldn't say that the RX-8 is "uglier" than the S2000, but they look damn alike...

Am I the only one that thinks the RX-8 and S2k look NOTHING alike? The RX-8 looks like it's made up of bubbles, the S2k looks like a bathtub. They're not even remotely similar IMHO.

rich, look at the ass of the RX-8 and then the ass of the S2000... they look the same!

Perhaps from the back they do look similar, but from every other angle they could hardly look any more different! And any comparisons between a Miata and an S2k are just as bad. The Miata is sensual and the S2k looks like a bathtub on wheels. Not that I wouldn't love to own one...

Rich, I'm with you- I can't say that I see any similarity in the s2000 and the RX-8 in the appearance category- and with apologies to any Honda enthusiasts here, I find the s2000 to be a really ugly car- and it just seems to get worse in person. However, I will concede that I am not exactly the world's car design expert, so fel free to disagree with me.

Wouldn't it be great if the RX-8 DOES have fold down seats, or some such to make packing lots of stuff in it easier? I am still not sure, from the limited pictures and not having seen it in person, but I hope my original guess that it wouldn't is wrong.

I'm not really all that excited about fold down rear seats. It seems to me that there would have to be a compromise in price and structural rigidity, and the RX8 already makes way too many compromises for my taste. I've said this too many times already, but I'm not really an RX-8 customer, I'm an RX-7 customer that is considering an RX-8 because it's as close as I can get. :(
Part of the definition of a sports car is that there must be compromises made (practicality, comfort, price, fuel efficiency, etc.) in order to attain higher performance. That's why the Lotus Elise is high on my list of alternative cars to the RX-8. That may go too far in the other direction, but right now it's tied with the RX-8 for my money. In another year or two, both should be out, well written about in the press, and hopefully I'll still be able to afford them. I'm just glad we've got such great choices!

*Cough*post count means nothing*Cough*

So yeah, I really hope the seats fold down. My current car has fold down seats, and I find that they are a very nice feature.

Who know's maybe Mazda will make it an option.

Rich, you should be patient. I think that by the time the RX-8 is released there should be some information about the next RX-7. Here is the latest rumor pic.
http://images.rotarynews.com//images/2004rx7_20020531.jpg

Just wondering, and I probably passed over this while looking over galleries, but where did you pick up that rumor pick at Styjan?

I got it from rotarynews.com (http://www.rotarynews.com/view.php3?article=20020531.html). I saw a picture of it at this 350z site too. my305z.com (http://www.my350z.com/japan/may29/rx7supra.jpg)

Thanks for the pic and link Stygan. I've spent a lot of time on rotarynews (username rvitam over there, I think). I'm aware of the rumors, but until there's a release date, a vague price range (35k is getting to be out of my range), and lots of other information, I'm going to just keep waiting. Hopefully picking up a used Miata at the end of summer will keep me grinning and saving up cash until the RX-7 is announced, but if not the RX-8 and Elise will certainly do just fine. Even though it's not exactly what I'm looking for, it certainly looks like it'll be a great car. Maybe the RX-8 can become my wife's car, and I can end up with an RX-7? Nah, that's just too greedy!

Rich, where are you finding the info on the Elise? I've been in love with it since I spotted one in Edinburgh last year, but the only US info I've read about them said they wouldn't be available here till 2004 and would probably start around $40k- which is a bit out of my range. However, if it's really going to be comparable in price to the RX-8, I'm going to be pretty hard pressed to choose between the two!

Originally posted by Elara
Rich, where are you finding the info on the Elise? I've been in love with it since I spotted one in Edinburgh last year, but the only US info I've read about them said they wouldn't be available here till 2004 and would probably start around $40k- which is a bit out of my range. However, if it's really going to be comparable in price to the RX-8, I'm going to be pretty hard pressed to choose between the two!

There was a bit of information on the Elise in a handling article in (I think) Road and Track. The price they had listed was 35k, but that may have just been a guess. I believe the date they had that it would be available in the US was next summer. IIRC, they were saying late summer 2003 but were hoping to make it early summer.

First of all, I don't have the article in front of me. I'll dig around for it when I get a chance and post something more concrete. Second, it sounded like a lot of speculation at this point. Third, even if it comes in at only 35k, that's a bump in price over what I've heard about the RX-8. I think I could swing it if I could save up a year or two, and (BIG if) if the insurance isn't outrageous.

All in all, I'm very, very intrigued by the Elise. Like the rumored RX-7 I'm trying not to get too excited. However, my main thoughts are that with the Z (which I'm not interested in), the RX-8, the Elise, possible RX-7, and others, it's a great time to be a sports car enthusiast.

Here is a link to the R&T Article about the Elise. R&T Article (http://www.roadandtrack.com/features/ArticleDisplay.asp?ArticleID=220&page=3)

"this roadster is scheduled to arrive in the States soon, approximately late summer of 2003" R&T

In the R&T article about the Elise, the Elise ended up being faster than the Mustang Cobra, which was very impressive since the Cobra had more horsepower and torque.

It's all about the handling on a road course, plus the Elise is a very light car and has a good power to weight ratio.

Originally posted by oruga
In the R&T article about the Elise, the Elise ended up being faster than the Mustang Cobra, which was very impressive since the Cobra had more horsepower and torque.

Stygan had the article that I was talking about. I'm not familiar with the one that oruga mentioned.

The Elise beat out the 911 turbo, Mits. Lancer EVO VII, Corvette Z06, Boxter S, M3, and Mazda MP3. It lost to the Ferrari 360 Modena.

"I'm not familiar with the one that oruga mentioned"

I came across the article awhile ago, on BlueOvalNews.com
IIRC the Elise beat the Mustang Cobra in every catagory (handling, 0-60, braking, etc.)

I doubt the back seat will fold that tranny bar will get in the way.


http://images.rotarynews.com/images/RX-8Tokyo/ascii24-02.jpg

i just noticed this for the first time, but look behind the headrest of the passenger side seat. isn't that grey thing a button or lock to release the seat so it can fold down?