I've pointed out to Mazda Canada that Hip Width in back seats
show wider than front seats on their Spec.'s but narrower than front (by 5.3") on U.S. Spec.'s. Someone is wrong.

Road & Track measure seat width--16" front/15" back, but
the "High Mount Backbone", means appropiate width should
be from inside door to the backbone. Can anyone provide this?

Having only the "Sport Tuned Suspension" in Canada makes
Car & Driver comparo with Infiniti G35 saying RX-8 is "perhaps the hardest and loudest" a real concern. At least U.S. residents are given "Standard" option.

 

deleted the (accidental) doopie thread... :D modding kicks ***, can't wait to do it on car

anyhoo, i dunno about the measurement issue (i'll copy this to Discussion to get some hits for ya bud), but you needn't have concerns about the suspension being too hard and loud, unless you're used to the 5000lb Mercedes-type of ride: this IS NOT an RX-7, and has been fittingly tamed... ask guys like Dan (user name is "rotarynews.com") and there are a few others too (can someone remember who it was that was hired in Florida to drive an RX-8 around for a day??) that can give you their testimonial experiences...

 

The correct Hip Widths are front 1355 and back 1222.

I'm judging 'backbone' at 8 inches, leaving about 20 inches each actual width in rear.

The Spec.'s under Suspension are incomplete (clerical errors)
and should add "rear multi-link, gas filled shock absorbers,
front strut tower and front and rear stabilizer bars."