Not having seen an actual RX-8 yet (hopefully getting mine later this month!), I'm curious what protects the doors if someone (hopefully not one of us as the owners) shuts the front door and then tries to shut the rear door on top of it. Perhaps one of our lucky new owners can fill us in? Congratulations to you, by the way!

i was curious abbout that too so i tried that at the STL rev-it-up (with a mazda rep yelling, "BACK DOOR FIRST!" at me).

the back door just bounces back. i didn't see any damage to either of the doors and i didn't inspect to see what was stopping the back door from hitting the front door.

owners...thoughts?

Not much really. But it would be difficult to slame it hard, I don't think it swings that far. There are pictures on the forum somewhere that show this. Also you can buy a door trim protector (little piece of rubber that you can stick on, I just received mine through Trussville Mazda, they cost $20.

http://www.trussvillemazda.com/partsstore/

Originally posted by bobm
Not having seen an actual RX-8 yet (hopefully getting mine later this month!), I'm curious what protects the doors if someone (hopefully not one of us as the owners) shuts the front door and then tries to shut the rear door on top of it. Perhaps one of our lucky new owners can fill us in? Congratulations to you, by the way!

I've got one in my garage, but I'm not going to try it. Maybe someone else will oblige:)

I don't blame you, JD62! I'm sure all cars are built to handle the occasional less-than-careful passenger. That's one reason we don't want our vehicles used as demonstrators, right?

Originally posted by bobm
I don't blame you, JD62! I'm sure all cars are built to handle the occasional less-than-careful passenger. That's one reason we don't want our vehicles used as demonstrators, right?

I was just being a little silly. I could go out in the garage and try it now, but I'll wait until morning. I'm thinking that the inside door upholstery would probably take care of it unless you managed to bang the metal together. I think that the original writer has a good point, and it's a serious point to consider.

I'll play with the doors tomorrow and see if it could be a real problem.

Actually there's a worse case: Let's say you've got a passenger in the back. You pull up to a rest stop, get distracted by something as you hop out and go to close your door. But your rear seat passenger has started to open the back door. Now what happens? I say this because if you're not used to the front door having to be open, and assume it's a 4 door car, then it's easy to assume the rear seat passenger can take care of themselves.

I did this recently on an Element and it survived no problem (rear door was open about an inch. But it was a nasty surprise for the back seater, and I could foresee some serious consequences for unaligned frames, latches, etc coming together, not to mention the potential for fingers and limbs.

Originally posted by jd62


I'll play with the doors tomorrow and see if it could be a real problem.

I couldn't get metal to metal contact. I don't think you can hurt the doors.

Thanks for the input. I knew all of you would have some answers. Happy driving (as I wait for my delivery e-mail)!

Originally posted by bobm
Happy driving (as I wait for my delivery e-mail)!

I wouldn't hold my breath on the email. I think they're having some problems with those. I didn't get one, and my car is in the garage. Better keep close tabs on the dealer and make sure he calls you.

Originally posted by jd62

I couldn't get metal to metal contact. I don't think you can hurt the doors.

The plastic on the backdoor hits fairly flat and wide enough to prevent damage. Of course if you slam anything hard enough it will cause some damage. One thing to keep in mind is that if you close the front door first it doesn't have anything to latch to and will bounce back. So unless the backdoor is slammed right away after attempting to close the front door I would imagine most people would catch themselves. At least quick enough to stick an arm or leg out to save the car. :D