Please vote on the Interior of your Rx-8. Are you satisfied with everything? If not, what are you dissatisfied about? Is everything easily reachable?

Poll is located above.

CM

Limit to only 1 post please, for scientific purposes.

I find I am anoyed slightly by the minor issues, but not enough to lose any joy from the car.

Here's a minor quibble - I hate the fact that I cannot change from fresh air to recirculated air without first changing to a non-defrost mode. Sometimes, when you are following a smelly truck or Mercedes deisel, you want to temporarily shut off fresh air until you can pass the offending vehicle. I hate having to fumble with two different buttons requiring multiple clicks just to cycle between fresh and recirculated air.

I said it was minor - but hey, I design user interfaces for a living, and I can't help but nit pick these items.

But overall, I love the interior - the best I looked at once you move away from $40k BMWs and the like.

George

A few rattles and buzzes. Likely due to the tight fit of the parts in this well-made car. Still gotta find the buzzing / rattle coming from under the car by my feet under certain load conditions.

I have owned alot of cars and test drove alot of cars before I purchased my 8. The G35c, S2000, & 350Z to name a few. None of them, IMO, had the connection to the road that I felt with the 8. Don't get me wrong, all three of those were fun to drive but I didn't feel comfortable in the drivers seat and didn't enjoy the layout of the others as well as I did when I was sitting in the 8. With it's ultra clean, red, white, and black center tach and tasteful aluminum accents!! It is soo choice!! Ergonomics, driving position, driving feel are Aces!! Very happy with only one complaint. Memory seats!! Had them on my TL Type-S and loved them.

I voted "Definitely has what it takes, Just minor flaws, but nothing that hurts the cars Rep"

Nothing wrong per say now, but I'm convinced the center-console cup-holder-cover is going to break.

OMG this cars interior is so amazing. There is no comparision. Those of you that Didn't vote for the first choice, please return your car to the dealer you dont deserve it.

I think the only real flaw I can think of at the moment would be to ADD MORE PADDING TO THE ARM RESTS (both on the door and center console!

Theinterior rates 10 and makes the car. The exterior rides the coattails of the interior. If you like the exterior and have not driven much you will be blown away.
Jeff

I love the interior, its beautiful. The color combo fits nicely, and at NIGHT the car looks SICK ..and im loving it. no doubt.

The SEATS Are soo damn comfortable. Thats what I really like, long drives are going to be nothing with this pretty girl. Then again gas..but who cares!!! this should really be a second car...just cuz snow and other things....ugh...are no fun. lol

CM

The interior is nice, and very comfortable, but I just don't think it's totally up to par for $30k+. As far as sports cars go, it may be as good as it gets; but there are certainly cars in this price range (Lexus ES) that have nicer interiors. My chief complaint is the seats - while comfortable, I'd prefer full leather to the leather/rubber mix. They could also use more padding. Leather door panels would be nice too, as well as more padded armrests. Finally, my chief complaint is that all the surfaces scuff so extremely easily. One touch of a shoe sole to a door panel or seat and it has a white scuff on it...I haven't seen this problem so much in other cars.

Originally posted by noahprtlnd
The interior is nice, and very comfortable, but I just don't think it's totally up to par for $30k+. As far as sports cars go, it may be as good as it gets; but there are certainly cars in this price range (Lexus ES) that have nicer interiors. My chief complaint is the seats - while comfortable, I'd prefer full leather to the leather/rubber mix. They could also use more padding. Leather door panels would be nice too, as well as more padded armrests. Finally, my chief complaint is that all the surfaces scuff so extremely easily. One touch of a shoe sole to a door panel or seat and it has a white scuff on it...I haven't seen this problem so much in other cars.

You must have money or come from money. For those of us who came to the RX8 from cheaper cars, the step up is apparent.

The ES's interior is nicer than the older Acura's but not the new Acura TL and TSX. I feel the RX8's interior is comparable to the new Acuras' and that some of the perceived quality differences are because they are in different car categories- sports car/sports tourer versus sports luxury sedan.

The lines are great. Love the 2 tone interiors. I would only change the shift paddles to + up, and - on the bottom of the steering wheel.

Only little things that should (and hopefully will be ) fixed:

-Trunk open button is a bitch to find - should be on door
-Door material shows shoe scuff marks way too easily
-adj pedal positions would be helpful
-ctr console bin door seems too fragile
-quieter heat/air fan at higher speeds

One cool interior feature the 8 could use would be the atmosphere lighting . . . the ones that throw off a orange light into the interior when the headlights are on so it is not completey dark at night . . . they are usually located in the rearview mirror


It's one of the coolest features that both my Corvette had & the bimmer had . . .

Love the interior and my girlfriend appreciates the "butt warmers" as well...I have to agree that the door panels show scuffs WAY too easily-Jeff

IMHO, the interior of the 8 tries a bit too hard and is likely going to look very dated, very quickly.

This is the problem any "edgy" design faces; what's hip and trendy today is what looks incredibly dated tomorrow.

For example, I suspect the WRX STi and Evo VIII are going to look intensely stupid in a few years, once the trend toward having a foot tall wing bolted to the trunk goes away.

Likewise, I think the rotary emblems in the head rests are going to look a bit strange five years from now; frankly they even look a bit dated compared to when the first photos were released just about a year ago now.

Don't get me wrong, I like the way the interior looks, but if you compare it to the best interiors from BMW and Audi you can see where a little more refinement and a slight upgrade in materials quality instead would have improved things just a bit...

Yet the current Audi interiors, most notably the center consoles, look just like they did 15 years ago.

I keep reading in magazines how they love the Audi console while criticizing other cars for looking dated, like the G35. There's some kind of widespread journalistic bias going on with regard to Audis. I find it really puzzling. I wonder if it's political.

A few months ago, I finally read a magazine in which they RIPPED an Audi interior (forgot which Audi. who cares, they all look exactly the same on the inside) for being boring and dated.

I like the interior, although I share some of the minor gripes others have pointed out. The center console is very rickety and I'm afraid it's going to break every time I open or close it. Headroom is kind of limited with the moonroof... why can't I have leather seats, seat heaters and xenon headlights without the moonroof? The rubber/vinyl bits on the seats are kind of cheesy. For $30K+ can't we get the whole seat made out of leather? A climate control system would be a nice perk too.

Other than those relatively minor issues, I like both the look and the feel of the interior. It's not quite as nice as my old Audi TT, but with an MSRP almost $7K less and a much more enjoyable ride, I'd say the 8 more than makes up for that.

Yeah, I'd say the 8 interior probably will look a bit dated in time, but it's still very good. It's nowhere near as cheap-looking as the IS300's interior when it came out... and looks even worse today.

As for BMW's, have you seen the Z4 and 5-series interiors? I think BMW has slipped as well...

Good points here. As far as the interior looking dated - one of the reasons I didn't get the 2-tone interior is I was afraid it would look more dated than the all-black. I think the interior as a whole is conservative enough to not appear dated in the next decade or so. As for the perceived differences in quality being attributed to this being a sports car and Lexi/Acuras being luxury cars - what I really don't like is the rubber/leather mix on the seats and the easily scuffed surfaces - those aren't really items that are "sporty" as opposed to full leather and better surfaces being luxurious.

I also agree with RacerDave about the Z4 - that interior looks pretty damn cheap.

My main complaint is the easily scuffed surfaces (make me feel uneasy). I am glad about the rubber seat parts though. These parts were the most easily worn out in my previous full-leather interior, and these will last longer... The interrior feeling is by far the best I 've been into.

How is the interior not going to age well? I find the layout to be the most "pleasing" of any car I have owned, from numerous Audis to a Porsche Boxster to a couple Subarus..
We're not talking about a dash that looks like Knight Riders Kitt or anytihng... and its surely not as bad as a Toyota Echo ;)

If you twisted my arm, I'd gripe about the easily scuffed doorpanels. Interior fits me like a glove, since I'm a skinny bastard.

I like the interior a lot, especially the good lighting of controls. Without repeating other gripes I agree with, like scuffing, there are two things I'd like improved.

The part-mesh sunshades are cool, and occasionally handy to block out afternoon sun directly ahead while watching through the mesh for the red light to change. But more often, they are a pain because they don't block light from the side. I have found that it sometimes helps to tilt them in (bottom of shade towards center of car) so the mesh is at an angle to the sun and becomes almost opaque. That's not ideal, though, because you wind up with the bottom almost tickling your chin, and the shade impeding vision to the left front. Besides, even the mesh doesn't go far enough back sometimes. Short answer, which is available on many other cars: extenders.

The second gripe has to do with interior heat. I know that the nature and placement of the Renesis is the cause, but more insulation in the interior could help. I bought JCWhitney aluminum backed pads, as recommended on this board, and have already installed them in the trunk. I will also put them under front and rear mats (stopping short of reducing rear foot space). But I don't see a (non-ugly) way to block heat from where it seems to come, around the console and dashboard. Mazda should have designed a way, and build it in.

Oh, and a third, small gripe: the central hump (transmission housing area?) intrudes into the front passenger's leg area, so you can't really stretch your left let out straight, but sort of hitch right to avoid ithe structure.

The interior quality, look and functions are outstanding! The only thing I could really downgrade it for was the location of the controls for the Nav system and the seat warmers. I like to rest my arm there and have bumped those switches once or twice, but that is very minor compared to all the positives.

The front cupholders with any drinks in them are in the way when shifting. We need some sort of fold-out holders from the center console or the dash.

The switches for the seat warmers are also awkwardly placed. I've inadvertently turned the drivers seat on while shifting or resting my arm.

I agree with the problem about the location of the trunk release button. You can't see it while sitting and it is hard to locate by hand. Why not a switch on the door or near where the dash light dial is?

Lastly, for those of us without the Nav system, I sure would like a flip-up door covering a compartment in the dash. There is room for one. My 2000 Acura Legend has one of these, and it is very handy for the little things you might want to carry but don't want to junk up your glove compartment. It would also be useful to open it so I an temporarily place my Garmin GPS system in it. Right now, if I try to place it on the curved dash, it slides right off if I accelerate quickly (which is one of the reasons I bought the car!).

Originally posted by noahprtlnd
Good points here. As far as the interior looking dated - one of the reasons I didn't get the 2-tone interior is I was afraid it would look more dated than the all-black. I think the interior as a whole is conservative enough to not appear dated in the next decade or so. As for the perceived differences in quality being attributed to this being a sports car and Lexi/Acuras being luxury cars - what I really don't like is the rubber/leather mix on the seats and the easily scuffed surfaces - those aren't really items that are "sporty" as opposed to full leather and better surfaces being luxurious.

I also agree with RacerDave about the Z4 - that interior looks pretty damn cheap.

Yeah, the RX8 seat materials are an odd selection regardless of overall category.

Why do you think Mazda did this? Could it be that the plastic and hard leather might last longer?

I don't know soft leather car seats, but I do know soft leather sofas. The G35 has soft leather like a good leather sofa. Even though leather sofas in my experience can withstand heavy use, why is it that so many used G35's have leather seats that are totally screwed up? Just a coincidence of a careless owner or is there something about the G35 seats?

It's a cinch to Windex the inside of the 8's rear window -- if you are a contortionist or own a small, very expensive robot.

I am happy with my car but in a perfect world I would:
1) Give the driver and passenger more head room
2) Both front seats would be powered with memory
3) The steering wheel would be telescoping
4) The seats would have more padding (NASA's memory foam?)
5) All cars would have the MP3 option automatically with a CD player
6) The foam blocks in the doors would be glued down so that they don't squeak in cold temps.

hmmmm interesting point about the seats? anyone know why they may have picked the materials they have? cost? protective? easy to clean? better?

I've experimented over the last couple of days and closely observed myself getting into the car. Turns out the first thing my pants and back hit are the left side plastic pieces on the seat.

I'm convinced that at least the plastic pieces are for durability. I think that's a smart touch.

The interior is nice, and very comfortable, but I just don't think it's totally up to par for $30k+.

I agree. Not bad overall, but some things (for instatce the ashtray and the area arount it) look like they came out of a Ford.

Generally I like the interior, but I have seen better.

It is very comfy and, despite a fragile look, the materials actually seem pretty sturdy. I've had my car 6 months and its holding up very well. I would not call it particularly plush (no full leather, too much carbon-fiber look, etc) but this is not a real issue for me.

The controls are logical and very easy to use. The only exception to this is the trunk release which one doesn't normally use during driving. An adjustable clutch pedal or a telescoping steering wheel would be a great help for shorter people, but no car is ever perfect.

My beef is with the instrument "clutter". I actually like the digital speedo/analog tach but everything else is a waste. I would gladly trade the "edgy" high-tech look for the functional lights/gauges I had in my 93 Miata. Just too many incomprehensible lights, randomly placed, with and without audible alarms. Also, one cannot forget to mention the infamous "idiot" oil pressure gauge.

I wish Mazda would hire a top ergonomic engineer to organize presenting vehicle information to the driver. Then they can let the stylists loose to make it look cool.

Oh forgot to mention that the steering wheel is uncomfortable. I have a blister that won't go away thanks to the raised stitching along the thumb notches.

They really need to do something about the steering wheel. At the LA Auto Show, I sat in the Acura TSX and noticed that its steering wheel, although very similar, has more comfortable thumb notches that have more of a horizontal surface with more recessed stitching.

Originally posted by shift_zoom8
I've experimented over the last couple of days and closely observed myself getting into the car. Turns out the first thing my pants and back hit are the left side plastic pieces on the seat.

I'm convinced that at least the plastic pieces are for durability. I think that's a smart touch.

Definitely, I Think the same thing, its for durability.

loven it, nice ride definitely...seats are like a cockpit..love it

CM

I fell in love with this interior from the moment I sat in it. I'm not too picky though, so I would'nt change very much.
I would have liked to have the MP3 option with the 6 disc CD.

Pro: Nicely designed, well laid-out interior with a lot of features for the money. Fit and finish of the individual pieces is excellent - far superior to the second or third gen RX7. Alignment, lack of squeaks/rattles and solidity of the pieces is also way better than the previous cars.

Con: Anyone remember when you could sit in a car with leather interior and actually smell the leather? Seems like there's less actual leather in modern car interiors all the time. I've got a classic 2-seater that requires three full hides to re-do the interior. "Leather seating surfaces" - bah! Door panels scuff as previously noted; seat cushion doesn't seem to be holding me very firmly.

The ergonomics in the RX8 are at par with BMW, who have always placed ergonomics high on their design priorities, are are reputedly the best in the business. Most of the controls in the 8 are well positioned and easily accessible, apart from the boot opening button which is awkwardly placed.

A few disappointing things though:
- The hard plastic used on the dash above the central console and around the gear-lever area.
- IMO the shiny audio/air-con panel would have looked better in a less reflective finish and less prone to scratches and dirt.
- Cup-holders position too far back.
- Window controls are cheap run-of-the-mill Japanese type.
- Lack of an 'open' and visible storage cavity where you can lay small items like keys, cellphone, pda, wallet, etc.
- My biggest gripe is that the new Mazda 3 shares a lot of its interior components with the RX8, which makes Mazda's flagship model not so exclusive-looking. I guess that Mazda have managed to make the RX8 affordable by cost-cutting this way. So maybe I should not complain.

To change/add:

1) Replacement footrest that is at least 2" closer to the firewall for those of us that fit in the car because we want to! (actually, it would be perfectly comfortable -better than RX-7-if I could stretch my lift leg a little more)

2) At least 2 person memory for the drivers seat

3) Coin holder for the coin holder

4) Voice recognition for the navigation system.

My thoughts on some comments I've read:

I don't want anything that would change the vehicles size, weight (total and distribution), and low CG.

With regard to the remote trunk switch if it was located somewhere else the requests might be to move it out of the way because it is accidentally being pushed!

I like the separate tilt/slide switches for the sunroof -my RX-7 TII had a combined switch and it was slightly annoying to first push to tilt, then push again to slide. I also like that it is auto open.

The side of the seat was the first and only part of my RX-7 (cloth) seat to fail after about 8 years so if the ribbed material holds up better I'm good with it.

As a Lexus owner and as a person who think's a car's interior is one of the main reasons to buy a car, and a sticklier for fit and finish, ergonomics, etc (interiors are my pet peeve), I can say I love the RX-8 interior and for the price, it's incredible. It shames the 350Z for the same price. For 25-30k, the RX-8 and the Honda Accord and Acura TSX have great interiors.

The interior in my sisters 95 929 has held up great. Hopefully more of the same.