I swear, EVERY time I get in or out of my 8, I get electrocuted from static electricity. It's not like I wear a fur coat or anything, just jeans and a tee shirt most of the time. It shocks me strong enough that you can easily hear it and at night, see it. It's usually when reaching for the doors. Yes, I have the cloth seats, and no, I dont think it is worthwhile to pay a grand for the leather seats and door panels, although it would probably get rid of this issue and make the car look a little better too.

My rx-7 with cloth seats or my Denali with leather do not do this.

Happens to me too!

i have car audio setup..do you?

Everyday, top inside of the driver door. It wakes me up in the morning...

My RX8 did this in winter on the east coast.

my previous car used to shock the hell out of me. i had a pretty serious stereo in there. it had cloth seats too.

i dont think my rx8 has shocked me. it has leather. does that really make a difference? my previous car would shock me when i got to the car in the morning, so i dont see how it would make a difference.

"electrocute" infers death by electricity, "shock" is what you mean...i hope haha.

Ground yourself before you touch the door.

i'm a n00b. an audio system can cause this? how?

never happens to me and I'm glad it doesn't...btw i have cloth seats :rolleyes:
my DD pontiac shocks me everytime though...especially when I open the door after I drive it :dunno:

ahhh.

the auto to 6speed mocks you!! :)

beers :beer:

Happens to me too. I started noticing it ever since i put my grounding kit.

Almost ALWAYS happened to me with cars with cloth seats, so much that I got the habit of closing the door with my elbow (bigger surface = less noticable shock).

Now I got leather, and since the 8 has the good type of leather, man am I glad :P

being electrocuted by your car is kinda like being half-drown or almost pregnant... it just wont happen... even if you wire your radio wrong or connect your positive terminal of your battery directly to the frame of the car. Shocked, nothing more. hurt like hell - yes, but no electrocution.

Winter = dry season for most states... static charge builds easier. BANG! touch the your car with your knee before your hand. should be just fine.

nope I got leather *Smirks and leans back in office chair**

I have cloth seats, and it does not happen to me.

But this has been the cause of some car fires. When gassing up in cold weather, some people will sit in the car, then get out when the pump clicks off. Even when the pump shuts off properly, the static spark from sliding out of the car can set things on fire.

So you might not get electrocuted, but incinerated is a possibility.

Ken

Can't say I've had that happen to me yet. I also have leather:evil_laug

never been shocked getting IN to the car, but getting out I do all the time. Only when it's cold and dry out tho, you could follow the changing of the seasons by how often it shocks you

Cloth seats in both Mazdas, and I do get shocked by both of them in cooler weather. The degree of the shock seems to increase as the temps lower (it actually straddles the border of Annoying and Painful when it gets down into the 30's). I'm kinda used to it now, I expect the zap when I get out and shut the door.

It must be the cloth seats cuz every time I get out of my car it the winter I get a good shock but its way more funny when it happens to the passenger cuz they don't know is coming :o thata the face they make

i have cloth and it hasn't happened to me.

The second my key hit's the hole to start...*ZAP*

My 83 RX-7 and the 04 shock me come winter. I've gotten used to it

Oh yeah, gets me all the time.

It could be your shoes. When I wear a certain pair of shoes I get shocked from all kinds of cars. The soles of those shoes love to hold static build up, so now I rarely ever wear them, no more shock.

Haven't had a problem yet :p:

Have cloth interior, I always wear flipflops too

HAHAHHAHAHAHHA!!!!!!!!! your guys' cars dont like the way its being drivin...REVENGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The problem doesn't get worse because of colder temperatures, it gets worse as humidity decreases. Generally the air is drier in winter because cooler air doesn't hold as much moisture as warmer air. Same reason a lot of people get chapped lips and dry skin in winter but not nearly as bad in summer.

Humid air will tend to constantly bleed-off accumulated charges. But in dry air, it doesn't happen as quickly; you discharge rapidly when you touch the car.

Also some people are affected by static discharges much more than others. It has to be quite a shock before it bothers me.

oh yes, on my exhaust no less.

Never.

I'm shocked to hear this is happening to others. ;)

oh yes, on my exhaust no less.

That's hot.

Yep, my stock '05 gives me a good jolt when the air starts to get colder [caused by dryer] this time of year. Need more carbon in the tires I guess. ;)

I have leather seats. It's the carpeting interaction that builds up the static electricity and in the dry air it has no way to dissipate until you touch the metal door when getting out.

lol it only happened once to me this winter n it was wen my gf kissed me needless to zap

lol i told her its cuz i got dat spark :cool:

I have cloth seats, and it does not happen to me.

But this has been the cause of some car fires. When gassing up in cold weather, some people will sit in the car, then get out when the pump clicks off. Even when the pump shuts off properly, the static spark from sliding out of the car can set things on fire.

So you might not get electrocuted, but incinerated is a possibility.

Ken

+1 That's exactly what I was going to say about starting fires at the gas pump. If you get out of your car while gassing up you need to discharge the static build up by touching your door before you touch the gas pump. It is far better to withstand a small shock than to set your car (and yourself)on fire.

When I read the title of this thread I was picturing something more along the lines of someone not unhooking the battery before starting work on the electrical system lol!

The problem doesn't get worse because of colder temperatures, it gets worse as humidity decreases. Generally the air is drier in winter because cooler air doesn't hold as much moisture as warmer air. Same reason a lot of people get chapped lips and dry skin in winter but not nearly as bad in summer.

Exactly, I get shocked all the time here in CO (no humidity) - never did in TX (shitload of humidity). Most often is when I exit the car and touch the door to push close. I now use my elbow or forearm to avoid getting shocked. BTW, I have cloth seats and wear several different kinds of shoes.

Never been shocked once... you guys are wierd :icon_no2:

I don't normally get shocked. I don't recall ever being shocked by my 8. However...my buddy dave always gets shocked by my 8. but he's jewish. so..

Also some people are affected by static discharges much more than others. It has to be quite a shock before it bothers me.

Spend lots of time putting 9volt batteries on your tongue when you were a kid?:shocking:

i've been shocked twice, but people that link it to the stereo I think is kinda wrong. My last car had a alot of power running for the stereo, 2000 watt amp, 12 farad capacitor (got it rediculously cheap), but never got shocks from that car both have cloth seats, and my 8 has hurt me once with a shock and the other just made me jump cause I didn't expect it. The one that really hurt, I felt for like 30 minutes after I got shocked like it was straight from the battery lol. But it was purely static

I just got mine a couple of weeks ago and I've been shocked 4 or 5 times. And mine is leather.

cars in general tend to shock me.

although this is unrelated to the static charges on doors... i recall once when i was replacing the cylinder head on an e30 bmw and decided to rest my elbow full force on an open distributor. that was fun. :)

Winter = dry season for most states... static charge builds easier.

winner

i used to get shocked all the time in my 2000 ford escort zx2. Sometimes it would even hurt. I always said i was going to do something about it but never did.

I never get shocked in the 8, its an 04 with leather.

You can put metal strips on the bottom of your car that link to your frame to the ground so it does not produce as much static electricity. You see these on emergency vehicles to ensure clear communication. The static electricity provides static on the communication. They use heavy chains so that there is constant contact with the ground. After researching it could be used for automatic snow chains, but i'm not sure.

I got the solution right here......It's straight JDM yo, not sure if you guys are ready for it.

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb6/Bunique888/DSC03081.jpg

This is my second one. Had one on last year and worked great. If you live somewhere where you get a lot of snow I don't recommend it. They usually get pretty torn up during the winter.

My Isuzu trooper used to shock my ass every time I went to open the door. Man, was I happy when I got $2500 trade in on it for my 8.

And no, the 8 hasn't shocked me, although it bit the hell out of my finger a couple months back (slammed door on my thumb). The nail still has a big ol' black spot on it.

mine shocks me just about everytime now, getting out only, as winter is here and air dried out. stock radio no grounding kit, cloth seats

It shocks me getting out of the car too,It sucks in the morning, always gets me by surprised..lol

Cloth seats and rubber-soled shoes = shocks. Happens all the time with the minivan, with the now ex-PT , with the wife's 'Zuki and with the -8. I love Rockports, but I hate 'em when the humidity drops. You got to love the really dry days when you shut it down, step out of the vehicle, and the lightning bolt that jumps off your finger is almost a full inch long and stings like DAMN! :rant:

Bunique's solution appears to be the right one, it's just so 50's looking :) It'd be tolerable if you bond it under the car somewhere, maybe under the engine bay and without the funky badge. All you really need is the conductive strap bolted to frame underneath, and enough length to barely lay on the ground when you stop.

Treating the seats with a spritz of an antistatic spray would help as well. The seatcloth is semi-synthetic, so you're going to generate a charge no matter what you're wearing when the air gets dry.

Cloth seats and rubber-soled shoes = shocks. Happens all the time with the minivan, with the now ex-PT , with the wife's 'Zuki and with the -8. I love Rockports, but I hate 'em when the humidity drops. You got to love the really dry days when you shut it down, step out of the vehicle, and the lightning bolt that jumps off your finger is almost a full inch long and stings like DAMN! :rant:

Bunique's solution appears to be the right one, it's just so 50's looking :) It'd be tolerable if you bond it under the car somewhere, maybe under the engine bay and without the funky badge. All you really need is the conductive strap bolted to frame underneath, and enough length to barely lay on the ground when you stop.

Treating the seats with a spritz of an antistatic spray would help as well. The seatcloth is semi-synthetic, so you're going to generate a charge no matter what you're wearing when the air gets dry.

ya I had mine mounted underneath the rear of my car.