I love the RX8, after checking out a lot of its pictures, I found something not very pleasing. But I may be wrong. Is the front seat belts attached to the rear door? If so, doesn't that means if there's rear passenger trying to get out, you need to unfasten your seat belt again? Can't they just make a safety belt something like the Mercedes CLK or BMW 3 series coupe where the belts are attached to the seat?

But if you think abt it, the front passenger for the 3 series coupe or the CLK will still need to unbuckle his seat belt, and get out of the car before the rear passenger can get out...whereas the front passenger in the RX-8 can probably remain in his seat but just need to unbuckle and throw the front door open for the rear passenger to exit :D

But you're right - they shld have attached the belt to the front seats.

I'd like to have a 3 point harness, I wonder how much that would cost :)

what's a three point harness? Isn't that just a normal seat belt?

I've sat in a Porsche at PIR in a five point harness. Talk about being strapped to a car. You definitely have to have a roll bar, or you risk getting your neck snapped if the car roles.

zoom zoom...

It is surprising, especially since earlier prototypes (Road and Track issue) had seat-mounted shoulder belts.

I notice that on the Saturn ION Quad Coupe, the seat belt is mounted to the body of the car, but not to the rear door.

It is still better to have the seat belt attached to the seat itself, considering that the car is four door. I hope to see something like this when they improved future RX8 versions.

DOH! yes I meant 5 point

MORON! :(

Don't forget, the front seat occupant will have to open his/her door out a bit so that the rear door can be opened anyway. The front seat occupant will have to unbuckle their seatbelt a good portion of the time to lean forward enough to get the front door open and closed anyway, so it's pretty much a moot point.

As far as being better on the seats than doors, what makes you say that?

---jps

Speaking of Seat Belts, I believe the seat belts are non-height adjustable right ?

oh that's not good. i haven't noticed any loops on the shoulder of the seat to hold it down either.

we need some pics of the seat belts and where they attach..

JSG, Yuhki?

Originally posted by RX-Nut
we need some pics of the seat belts and where they attach..

JSG, Yuhki?

either these are for the rear seats or the rear seats don't get 3 point seat belts which surprizes me since my econo mazda protege has all 5 seat belts as shoulder mounted.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/phil.white1/RX8/motorexpo/interior.jpg

Sporty GRAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!! :cool: :cool: :cool:

the shoulder belt you can see there in Phil's pic is the front belt.
the bottom end it connected to the floor on steel bar which ( because of the tension) it slides back and out of the way when you open the rear door so anyone getting in the back doesn't trip over it.when you close the door the reverse happens, the belt slides forward on the bar putting it in position to be used by the person in the front seat.

I wonder why they didn't put a height adjustable seat belt in this model ?? I hope the 2005 model will have one.

Interesting.. I can see the mechanism getting gunked and jammed somewhere down the life of the car and passengers tripping and whacking their heads on the center beam...

hahaha

i can of dont like the way the seat belts is either...basically...if ur new 2 dis whole new seat belt system...it would b kind of confusing...

i was wondering if you can uninstall the seat belt and the seat...so dat u can get the sparco seat and get a 5 point harness seat belts...

i noe it would cost $$$...but if you want your car to be good or wanted your way...you gotta bust dose $$$ out of ur pocket...

Originally posted by ExquisikRenesis
i was wondering if you can uninstall the seat belt and the seat...so dat u can get the sparco seat and get a 5 point harness seat belts... To properly mount a 4 or 5 or 6 point harness setup, you will pretty much have to install a rollbar with a harness bar at the proper height. Otherwise, a 4, 5 or 6 point belt system with the shoulder belts mounted to the rear of a seat won't be any safer than the stock 3-point, and will actually introduce some problems.

---jps

Did you notice the rear leg room very small from the picture posted by Farsyde? If you look at the front seat, it's actually pushed quite much to the front too, and yet the rear leg space is so little. Is it just the angle of the picture (which I don't think so)? I hope it's not.

Originally posted by zoom44
the shoulder belt you can see there in Phil's pic is the front belt.
the bottom end it connected to the floor on steel bar which ( because of the tension) it slides back and out of the way when you open the rear door so anyone getting in the back doesn't trip over it.when you close the door the reverse happens, the belt slides forward on the bar putting it in position to be used by the person in the front seat.

that's pretty slick. I didn't even notice that it was on a track and it did seem like the belt was anchored pretty far back too.

After having recently been in a side impact car accident, I don't understand why companys mount seat belts on the body of the car at all.

In a side impact, that mounting point is capable of moving. In my case it was pulled out of position, clamped down on my left shoulder and broke my collar bone. If the belt was mounted & secured to the seat I would have walked away with no injuries.

My 2c.

Originally posted by Keeper
After having recently been in a side impact car accident, I don't understand why companys mount seat belts on the body of the car at all.

In a side impact, that mounting point is capable of moving. In my case it was pulled out of position, clamped down on my left shoulder and broke my collar bone. If the belt was mounted & secured to the seat I would have walked away with no injuries.

My 2c. Because there is nothing in the car that will always stay in place in an accident. The hardware in most seats (with reclining, folding, etc) is not as strong as the points where belts are mounted to a car. Especially since in some cases, the seat is designed to deform slightly to protect the occupant. If there isn't much of a choice, then a company will have to try to upgrade those points and put the belts on the seat. But if there is the choice, the best place to put the belts is directly on the body of the car.

---jps

Originally posted by Sputnik
Because there is nothing in the car that will always stay in place in an accident. The hardware in most seats (with reclining, folding, etc) is not as strong as the points where belts are mounted to a car. Especially since in some cases, the seat is designed to deform slightly to protect the occupant. If there isn't much of a choice, then a company will have to try to upgrade those points and put the belts on the seat. But if there is the choice, the best place to put the belts is directly on the body of the car.

---jps

exactly. Look at crash tests. Generally, the seats bend just as easily as we do. So to mount the belts on the seats would allow way too much travel for the occupants. There are seats that are designed for this though. However, they are some of the most uncomfortable seats i've ever been in.

I feel your pain keeper but i just dont think there will be a seatbelt revolution anytime soon since most auto makers are well set in their choices and prolly consider walking away from a crash with just one broken bone to be a victory. BTW the collar bones suck breaking under only 25lbs of pressure and then having to put on that suit like cast. Out of curiousity, how fast was the other dude goin that hit you?

Originally posted by ExquisikRenesis
i can of dont like the way the seat belts is either...basically...if ur new 2 dis whole new seat belt system...it would b kind of confusing...

i was wondering if you can uninstall the seat belt and the seat...so dat u can get the sparco seat and get a 5 point harness seat belts...

i noe it would cost $$$...but if you want your car to be good or wanted your way...you gotta bust dose $$$ out of ur pocket...
Wow! Is this the new English they are teaching in school these days?;)

speaking of side impacts, it doesn't look like this rx8 has any side airbags either. what the deal?

Certainly the Mazda Website seems to show the seats having side airbags built in.

And all of the literature says there are 6 airbags, two front, two side and two full length curtain airbags.

Chris

is the side air bag built into the side of the seat , some of the prototypes seem to show the side panel of the seat being slightly out of sync with the rest of the seat frame.

ps, the sliding seat belt system is pretty crap, it's the same as fitted to my mx-6.

Because the belt tension is almost perpendicular to the line of the floor rail, there is very little horizontal component of force to overcome friction between the belt loop and the rail, as a result it usually stops half way along, resulting in a trip hazard for rear passengers. (hopefully the opening arc of the rear door will reduce the problem, but that's typical of the small glitches you don't notice until you have to live with a car)

that's why i was so keen on the reaod and track prototype version.

Originally posted by Farsyde

I feel your pain keeper but i just dont think there will be a seatbelt revolution anytime soon since most auto makers are well set in their choices and prolly consider walking away from a crash with just one broken bone to be a victory. BTW the collar bones suck breaking under only 25lbs of pressure and then having to put on that suit like cast. Out of curiousity, how fast was the other dude goin that hit you?

Nobody knows for sure, but if what I recall about the accident was correct he was probably doing about 40-50 in a 25 before slaming on his brakes -- he slid 2-4 secondsbefore the impact -- colliding into the driver's side of my car while I was making a left turn. The impact was enough to spin the car around, causing a secondary impact with the front bumper. I'd rolled backwards about 50 feet before I realized what happened.

Primary point of impact was about a foot behind the driver's side door. The seat belt mounting point hit the headrest. Since the belt is run through the side and anchored to the floor, the rest of the deformation on the side pulled the belt tight.

If you're feeling particularly morbid, click the links to see a few photos:
http://www.10south.net/~mprobins/eclipse/accident/DSCN1441.JPG
http://www.10south.net/~mprobins/eclipse/accident/DSCN1462.JPG
http://www.10south.net/~mprobins/eclipse/accident/DSCN1415.JPG
http://www.10south.net/~mprobins/eclipse/accident/DSCN1409.JPG

It looked worse in person than it did in the photos -- the pictures don't give you any sense of depth. Took the body shop $12,000 to fix it. You could look down at the rear driver's side tire and see it completely, alone with the suspension pieces. That tire was also about 15 degree's out of whack, and the ride hight at all 4 sides was off by at least half an inch. The tire itself was not hit (or at least, it wasn't damaged), which gives you an idea of how much things got bent.

The car itself did it's job well. If it weren't for the collarbone I would have walked away without a scratch on me. Now, mind you, I'm not saying that car companies are stupid or negligent for mounting the seatbelts where they do -- I, being the human crash test dummy, know that mounting the things further inside the car it would have been safer. ;)

Also, they don't put you in a cast if you break a collarbone. There isn't much they can do for those things except sling your arm and hope that the two pieces join back up (otherwise they have to put you under the knife and put enough metal in you to set of the metal detectors in the airport...;)). They can also put you in what is called a figure 8 splint, but my doctor didn't think they were terribly useful.

ouch, sorry man I know 1st hand just how bad that can be,

I was really lucky (depending upon your point of view) in a brand new Audi when it suffered a suspension failure, resulting in a t-bone impact at a closure speed approaching 100mph

I was on the off side and suffered only a few bruises, while my grandad in the passenger seat took the brunt. Fortunately he suffered only concussions, but the though that he was dead was the hardest thing I've ever experienced.

To this day I don't know how we survived, both cars were beyond repair (the audi was about 2 foot narrower), but the only lasting injury was the broken finger the other driver suffered, poor guy couldn't have done a thing when faced with over a tonne of car spinning down the road at him.

A lesson to us all, drive carefully and pray that your machine stays together around you.

[personally i would never buy another audi, it may have saved my life, but it almost killed me in the first place.]

Keeper, hope you shoulder gives you peace.

Originally posted by KEF
I was really lucky (depending upon your point of view) in a brand new Audi when it suffered a suspension failure, resulting in a t-bone impact at a closure speed approaching 100mph

How did you find out it was a suspension failure? And, did you get any compensation from Audi?

Originally posted by KEF
ouch, sorry man I know 1st hand just how bad that can be,

I was really lucky (depending upon your point of view) in a brand new Audi when it suffered a suspension failure, resulting in a t-bone impact at a closure speed approaching 100mph

I was on the off side and suffered only a few bruises, while my grandad in the passenger seat took the brunt. Fortunately he suffered only concussions, but the though that he was dead was the hardest thing I've ever experienced.

To this day I don't know how we survived, both cars were beyond repair (the audi was about 2 foot narrower), but the only lasting injury was the broken finger the other driver suffered, poor guy couldn't have done a thing when faced with over a tonne of car spinning down the road at him.

A lesson to us all, drive carefully and pray that your machine stays together around you.

[personally i would never buy another audi, it may have saved my life, but it almost killed me in the first place.]

Keeper, hope you shoulder gives you peace.

It's amazing how much an experience like that makes you think about things. I know my attitude/perspective on life changed quite a bit. Got incredibly lucky all around. Sounds like you had a similar experience. I hope that most people reading this never have to experience a serious accident. It isn't fun.

My shoulder has healed up very well. Accident was 8 months ago; started using the arm normally again last December, most pain was gone by the end of January, and I haven't had any discomfort since the end of Feb. My left side is still a lot weaker than the right side though .. difference of about 20lbs at the gym, but the gap is closing. If you look at me closely my left side looks off compared to my right side, but I doubt anybody but me would notice unless I pointed it out. ;)

Originally posted by neit_jnf


How did you find out it was a suspension failure? And, did you get any compensation from Audi?

Accident investigator

good conditions, driving at a steady 50 in a line of traffic, irritating nosie then next thing the two of us are spinning down the road.

No I was only 17 at the time so the insurance company decided there was no value (hope of success) in pursuing a claim for the value of the car. (we're not big on personal injury claims in this country, well until recently, nowdays everyone seems to be heading out looking for cracks in the pavement to trip over)

Having been in an accident that totalled our MX-5, I am not going to complain in the slightest about how the car held up.

I was hid by some huge SUV (Nissan Pathfinder or such) that run a stop sign. That took care of the front left. The SUV pushed me onto a rock wall, which took care of the front right. By that point the SUV had spun, and rested on the rear right.

Aside from the coolness factor and the MX-5-with-4-seats appeal of the RX-8, the way that car held up was a major reason for chosing another Mazda sports car. I walked away with a minor scratch from the airbag and a couple of small bruises (my boyfriend who was in the passenger seat just had a cracked rib, probably a defensive wound)

For the non-squeamish see http://www.jach.hawaii.edu/~frossie/ex-car/

(The windscreen hole is a stress fracture - nobody's head hit the window!)

man, i'm glad everybody's alright. someone should start an "I survived my accident" thread in the lounge.

ps. are those beer bottles (!) in your trunk?!?!? omg! hahahahaha... at least they're unopened, right? ;)

Originally posted by med_mx6
ps. are those beer bottles (!) in your trunk?!?!? omg! hahahahaha... at least they're unopened, right? ;)

Well, they were unopened before the accident... at least one burst and ruined the stuff in the trunk, but hey - it's a Miata, not much stuff in the trunk anyway :-)

The MX-5 was crashed in early February - one week later we pre-ordered the RX-8. In the meanwhile we have been driving around in my offroader, a rusting Jeep Wrangler with no windows, no carpets, just an FM radio (that won't tune above 99.9) and a mileage that makes the RX-8 look like Environmental Car of the Year.

You think you guys will be glad when your cars arrive? Hah. I'm allready chilling the champagne.

Originally posted by frossie


.... I'm allready chilling the champagne.

in the trunk of the miata?;)

Those photos reminded me of one particular difference I noticed between the Miata and the RX-8: When the passenger airbag deploys in a Miata, the lid smashes into the windshield necessitating a new windshield even in a fairly minor shunt. Yet in the photos posted elsewhere on the forum of the first wrecked RX-8, there was no sign of windshield damage despite both airbags having deployed. I guess they've either redesigned the lid, or located it sufficiently far from the windshield that it can blow open without smacking the glass.