Hey Guys,

I've been doing some searching regarding this topic and found a couple of threads on it.

Basically, in summary, there are quite a few people who are happy with heat output of there heated seats, but there are as many people out there that aren't.

I took the RX-8 to ] the dealer yesterday for regular maintenance and to replace the tail lamps due to the moisture problem discussed in earlier threads.

I told them that my seats didn't seem like they were getting hot.

When I picked up the vehicle, this is what they told me:

"We called Mazda regarding the Heated Seats. They said they have had a number of complaints already regarding this issue, but are not planning on doing anything at this time to rectify the issue." " If more people call in and complain to their Customer Service department, then they will look into fixing the problem."

That sounds pretty lame to me. When I finish this email, I'm going to place my phone call. If you are having problems with it, I recommend you guys/gals do the same.

Regards,

Rooster

When I got the car in August, I tried them out, and felt practically nothing. Now, when I use it presently In November (I live in NY too), it gets plenty hot that I actually have to turn it off.

People have stated that the heated seats are based on the outside temperature somehow, so if the ambient temperature is too warm, the seats won't go on full force.

Same here - when I first tried them in July, I couldn't really tell that they were getting warm at all (unlike my Audi's heated seats). Now in November at below freezing temps, it's obvious when they warm up, and they're too hot to leave on. rooster, if you're in Sacramento - it never gets cold there! Don't be complaining! :D

Regards,
Gordon

My dealer told me mazda designed them with a "thermo-sistor" (thats what they called it) that DOES take into account ambient air temperature and will cycle off.

That makes sense.. you wouldnt want it to TOAST your buns.

Sometimes we try to make technology too smart for it's own good.

well like another member mentioned, if you have an audi a4 (which I do) you get used to the therapeutic effect and it is your decision how hot you want to go not the car's. I'm happy with the 8's seats though when I "need" them to be warmed.

Okay, Okay. Maybe I'm jumping the gun a little bit.

It may not be really cold now, but it does get a wee bit chilly here. It can get to the low 40's here at night.

But, then again, when that happens, We're usually nice and tucked in our warm beds.....:p

I keep quiet for the time being, but when it does get to the low 40's and I happen to be out, those seats better be toasty....

Well, personally I was one of the ones who was disappointed with the seats. They didn't even seem to come on at all in the warmer temperatures. I am now experiencing nice toasty seats at around 50 degrees and below.

I has started to dip in the forties here in Chicago and I started to put on the heated seats. I drive about a 1|2 mile to pick up the wife and they get nice and toasty about half way there. I usually turn them of about 5 min later. They do have a temp sensor on them.

I also had the seat problem, and when it got colder (down to 19 one night) you could sort of feel the seats. Took the car in for various maintenance pieces, and the tech confirmed that the seat heaters do not work properly, and ordered replacements (which have yet to be installed). Ironically, after testing, the seats will now work occasionally -- sometimes quite hot, sometimes not even on. It has little to do with the outside temp.

I have found that the heat output of the seats is directly proportional to where you have the heat setting on the car's "climate control," or in other words, how hot the heat is set. If the knob is all the way clockwise, the seats get nice and toasty. I love them!

I live in California and took mine in because they did not warm up. The svc guy contacted Mazda and was told that the heat seaters shut down at 88 degrees F.

Considering that your body temp is 98.6, then these seat heaters are a waste of money, weight and space.

mine suck.

Originally posted by RenesisPower
these seat heaters are a waste of money, weight and space.

Maybe yours are, but my seat heaters do a great job of warming the seat toasty hot, and they are wonderful on a cold morning. However, I won't make broad sweeping conclusions while ignoring the experiences of others posted directly before me...

Regards,
Gordon

The best heated seats bar none were in my Audi TT. It had 10 setting using a knob from slightly warm (1) to toast your buns and genitals (10).

Yes, my previous car was also an Audi TT and boy those seats can get pretty hot on the 10th setting.

I think the heated seats on the RX8 are better designed, since they work on a thermosister. never have to adjust any settings, they automatically maintain a comfortable level of heat.

With the TT, I frequently had to turn up or down the heated seats because I would never get the setting correct the first time. It was usually too hot, but sometimes I would have to turn it up also.

My seat heaters get extremely hot. Sometimes I have to turn them off. And they get hot fast. temperatures here are arounf 10-20 degrees F. So that might have something to do with it. Either way I will never want to have seats without a heater in them again. Thanks Mazda.

Here in Southern CA it rarely drops below 60 degrees during the day, but to us that's cold! Did Mazda ever think about tuning the thermostat for different regions/climates? I wish they would have just put a manual control on them. I love to turn them on to relieve the tension in my back or when I’m cruising with the windows down, but the heat they put out is negligible.

Originally posted by RenesisPower
I live in California and took mine in because they did not warm up. The svc guy contacted Mazda and was told that the heat seaters shut down at 88 degrees F.

Considering that your body temp is 98.6, then these seat heaters are a waste of money, weight and space.

Your body's internal temperature is "normally" 98.6... your skin temperature is not. Consider how it feels when the ambient temperature is 98 degrees... following your logic above, that would feel just about normal, and anything less would feel chilly; I don't know anyone who thinks 90+ degree weather is anything but hot.

btw, I'm quite happy with my seats; they may not feel like they're doing much sometimes when they're on... but I sure could tell one chilly day when I'd left them off.

Mine work great on 30 degree mornings.

last 7 days -15f mornings,seats hard as a rock,no more than 10 min and seats are toasty.i never thought mine worked very well in the fall where are temps were low 40s but now that its cold i say they work as designed and must warm to a preset temp and stay off till they drop below that temp before cycling back on.

Originally posted by akrx8
last 7 days -15f mornings,seats hard as a rock,no more than 10 min and seats are toasty.i never thought mine worked very well in the fall where are temps were low 40s but now that its cold i say they work as designed and must warm to a preset temp and stay off till they drop below that temp before cycling back on.

thats good to know. its been relatively warm here in NJ so far this fall. will hold off taking it to the dealer until the temps drop and the heaters still suck.

yea, sometimes mine work great, other times it doesnt do anything... weird. But its nice to have on cold days that is for sure!

Just want to re-iterate what was previously posted. I agree that my seats seem to be connected to the position of the hot / cold dial on the dash. Regardless of position if it's below about 60 out, they will warm somewhat. However, I've almost cooked myself on them a couple times and everytime i've noticed the temp dial turned all the way to max heat. I thought it was my imagination at first. Maybe somebody can experiment and confirm or deny the observation?

When it's cold my work great. I can't even leave them on too long. I turned the passenger seat on without my wife's knowledge and she definitely noticed the heat within a few moments.

Originally posted by Edge
Just want to re-iterate what was previously posted. I agree that my seats seem to be connected to the position of the hot / cold dial on the dash. Regardless of position if it's below about 60 out, they will warm somewhat. However, I've almost cooked myself on them a couple times and everytime i've noticed the temp dial turned all the way to max heat. I thought it was my imagination at first. Maybe somebody can experiment and confirm or deny the observation?

Just a thought here... could it be that you turning the heat to full-on high AND the seat heater activating full force are both results of the same causal factor... that being the low ambient temperature? Have you turned the heat on full on days when the weather was warmer, just to see if it made the seat feel hot? Have you kept the heat setting low on cold days, just to see if the seats remain cool, or warm up just as much??

Btw, I'll be trying those things myself just to see if I can notice any correlation... but that's just out of my own curiosity now... I am satisfied with the operation of the seat heaters, but since this is a relatively easy thing to try, I gotta give it a go.

Originally posted by jdaled
Just a thought here... could it be that you turning the heat to full-on high AND the seat heater activating full force are both results of the same causal factor... that being the low ambient temperature? Have you turned the heat on full on days when the weather was warmer, just to see if it made the seat feel hot? Have you kept the heat setting low on cold days, just to see if the seats remain cool, or warm up just as much??

Btw, I'll be trying those things myself just to see if I can notice any correlation... but that's just out of my own curiosity now... I am satisfied with the operation of the seat heaters, but since this is a relatively easy thing to try, I gotta give it a go.

Great! More observations with attention paid to details can only help. While I do think external temperature is one input to the heaters, at this point I have personal "anecdotal" evidence that the heat dial setting seemed to have the effects you ask about in the situations described. However, my wishful thinking, response to hot air or cold air blowing, etc. may be coloring my opinions. Better tests might be to put the fan on zero first, then try the hot and cold positions on the temp dial to see how that changes seat performance. It's just my personal opinion again based on just my observations with no scientific method applied that multiple temp sensors appear to be in play: outside temp, seat surface temp, heater temp setting, etc. 'Course it could all just be me being way to optimistic and it's really just an intermittent seat heater.

Heated seats are fine for me in cold weather (< -10C). Around 5C they didn't seem quite as hot. I'm not a hot-ass specialist so I don't know why that is.