RX8's arrived a couple of No Cal dealers today - so I went to check them out. Sigh, the car is pretty much all I had expected except for one thing - headroom - there isn't any!

I've owned an Rx7 & a Miata. Neither had this issue. I tried a T and GT. In the T: less than 1 inch clearence, in the GT it's less. Apparently the elec seats don't go as low as the manuals. The passenger seat has no height adjustment - I can't even sit in it w/o scrunching down.

I'm a tad under 6' and not all torso (pant inseams=32).
I figure the only chance is a Sport package to avoid the sunroof. Cloth seats actually prefered now that I've seen both. I can upgrade the stock stereo . But I require the xenon head lights (love 'em in my BMW & don't ever want to go back to other lights).

Problem: brochure and the web site disagree on the contents of the Sport package.

Can anyone that has picked up a Sport package please tell me what is actually included in the Sport package?

Looking for bright suggestions from the collective wisdom, that I have not thought of before I give up....

Sorry for the part 1 subject line - I intended to go on, then decided not to whine in public.

MVCalypso

i have read plenty of posts from new owners that have elec seats and from heights over 6ft (one guy was 6.4}he had moonroof and said they had 1 to 1.5 inch to spare,maybe it has something to do with back adjustment,i have never heared of anyone 6ft having this problem.im 6.2 with long legs but have not sat in one yet.hope i fit cause my car will be here soon.you must have a long torso,my inseam is 36.

just sat in one tonight
GT pkg and i have to concurred about not much head room

i'm 5'9" with 1.5" spiky hair style, my hair was rubbing on the head liner already

however, i don't feel cramp up, unless i look up

all in all i am very excited... and wife thinks it looks good too...woo hoo

have you ever tried a more leaned back seating position?

I know quite a few people that prefer pulling the seatback to almost vertical as their preferred seating position. I don't know how they can take it, my back hurts if I drive like that for an extended period of time.

try letting the seat back lean back a few more degrees, pull up the seat a bit, and see how that feels.

i thought about that too

but i just don't drive in such relax pose

with my arms fully extended, it's hard to react and turn

this is how i drive in my current car,a littlelaid back is comfortable to me,i hope it gives me a inch to inch and half and ill be stoked.

My RX-8 is not here yet so I can't comment on exactly how the sport pkg differs from the others. But as listed the 3 three major differences between sport and standard are the fog lamps, xenon headlights, and DSC.

I have sat in a GT and also noticed that it doesn't much space between my head and the liner. But then again, I preferred a very upright sitting position.

My takes. Get the sport. Save yourself some money and still have the same fun car. For me, the sunroof is seldom use and leather seats required too much maintenance. I realized though my views is in the minority.

Originally posted by MVCalypso
RX8's arrived a couple of No Cal dealers today - so I went to check them out. Sigh, the car is pretty much all I had expected except for one thing - headroom - there isn't any!You've just described my experiences with the prototype RX-8 at the Denver Auto Show; with all the 6+ footers saying how much headroom they had I was beginning to doubt my own memory. I'm only 6'1 and was very cramped; my hair was very much crunched into the headliner. I probably could have given myself more head room but I can't drive in the "recliner" position so perhaps that's it.

That's also why I'm anxiously awaiting the opportunity to sit in one for myself to see if I would fit or not. Alas, none of the dealers around me seems to be expecting one until the last week of July. :(

I'm also not aware of any disagreement of what's in the Sport package; at least for the 6-speed manual it gets you DSC (Dynamic Stability Control), Fog Lights and Xenon HID headlights. What's the discrepancy you found between the brochure and web site?

My apologies - I've rechecked the web site and it does agree with the brochure on 2nd reading (if I assume that HID=xenon), I was concerned that HID might mean Halogen instead of xenon.

Now all I need to do is find a Sport package to sit in.... then deal with the delay associated with letting the green GT package go that I have a deposit on.

For those that suggested a reclined drivign positon - I tried that. My approcah was to
1) set seat fore/aft to fit legs
2) lower seat as far as possible
3) recline seat (limited by arm length)
I figure that would give the most headroom possible within the constraints of actually being able to drive.
As the stering wheel has no extension adjustment (just tilt), that seemed to be the limit of what I could do.

In that position, there was little headroom for me. As the dealers were not allowig anyone to actually drive the cars, I can not be certain, but I am concerned about having my head hit the roof with every bump in the road.

HID = High Intensity Discharge = Xenon

In the pre-production model, my 6' frame fit well with ~ 1" of clearance in the moonroof version. This was setting the seat back so my elbow was slightly bent, and my wrist resting on the top of the steering wheel.

I do understand the production models have ~ 3/4" more headroom in the moonroof configuration than the pre-pro's did.

I have my GT 8, and i am 6'2.5". There is an additional adjustment that rocks the seat forward and back, this is the one that lowers your but into the seat and seam to really increase headroom. I think it also positions the lumbar. I have the seat tilted a little back, not my normal style, but it soon will be, I find it very comfortable, and do not feel cramped at all. In fact I would like to be in the seat right now instead of being in my office. At 6 foot you should have many options to get where you want to be. Enjoy, I am.

6'4" 195lbs here. I sat in a sports package last night and had about 3 inches once I got the seat all the way down. You have to pump the lever up and down. Didn't try the passenger seat though.. probably should have. Moon roof is out for me since I'd want room for a helmet.

RotaryStalker

I'm 6" and sat in one without a sunroof/moonroof with loads of room to spare even with the seat very upright. It was a pre-prod model but I don't expect the interior dimensions to have changed.

If you do find a Sport to try, make sure you test the full range of seat height adjustment. Even the owners manual doesn't point out that you need to operate the adjustment lever multiple times to get the full range of adjustment - it only moves a small amount with each "pump." I'm sure you'll find enough headroom with it cranked all the way down.

Originally posted by eccles
If you do find a Sport to try, make sure you test the full range of seat height adjustment. Even the owners manual doesn't point out that you need to operate the adjustment lever multiple times to get the full range of adjustment - it only moves a small amount with each "pump." I'm sure you'll find enough headroom with it cranked all the way down.

:)
Owners of German cars should be quite familiar with the mechanism of this operation.

[i]
I've owned an Rx7 & a Miata. Neither had this issue.
[/B]

Dude your doing something wrong if you think the RX-8 has less headroom than a Miata. I am just under 6'3" and I can't even sit in a Miata with the top up :( I have sat in the 8 several times (anxious awaiting my own long overdue arrival) and had plenty of headroom. I should say I had plenty of room after I adjusted the seat all the way down. When I first got in I thought I had wasted a trip to the Detroit autoshow because I couldn't even get my head in my beloved rotary. Moved the seating position down and no problems. :D

Originally posted by RXhusker
Dude your doing something wrong if you think the RX-8 has less headroom than a Miata.Funny, my Miata had infinite headroom. Top? Whassat? ;)

Originally posted by eccles
Funny, my Miata had infinite headroom. Top? Whassat? ;) Yeah, there's no way I could ever get a Miata, given that when I sit in one with the top down I end up looking over the top of the windshield...

Im only 5'8 buy I know that the RX-8 has more legroom and headroom than the Miata. My Dad's a big guy 6' and he fit in the RX-8 with headroom to spare. My customer last night is at least 6'1" and he had head room.

BTW the Moonroof slides back up and out of the car. So it doesn't take that much headspace out, if at all.

I'm going to concur with the other tall people who have posted. I'm nearly 6'5" and I could sit in every seat in the RX-8 at the RevItUp event here in Minneapolis quite comfortably. I was quite impressed with the headroom. I was quite impressed with the head and leg room in all seats actually. I felt I could sit comfortably in the back as well as the front.

My '93 RX-7 is a tight fit (though easily forgiven since it's so fun to drive) and a Miata is just silly small, I couldn't hardly push the clutch in.

I just test drove a base 6spd w/o power seats or moonroof and I had plenty of room. I'm 6'7 and there was quite a bit of headroom and the legroom would have felt more abundant if the salesman wasnt behind me. I see no problem with the moonroof being in the car..

I'm 6'4 and have had no problems with any RX-8 I've been in. With our with out the moon roof. I was very happy with the room in the car but I do drive a 1990 Miata so any car looks big inside to me.

Hum, interesting responses - the pattern I'm seeing is:
1) short people fit fine - no suprise there
2) right around 6' and some have issues some don't - I suspect that has to do with the "leg to torso ratio" of the individual.
3) several 6'3"+ folks saying no problem - this stumped me.

A theory: If you're really tall, your legs also tend to be long, thus the seat is moved further back and the curve of the roof helps add headroom in that case. It's just us poor mid height category folks that get squeezed. Our arms limit how far back the seat can be from the wheel... Makes me wish for a telescoping adjustment on the wheel (as I have more leg distance to play with than the fixed wheel positon allows).

Anyone reminded of "this one is too small, this one is too big, this one is just right..." from childhood?

I've decided to give it another go and see how the tilt adjustment impacts things - I'm not sure I played with that combo enough at the last visit - thanks to the board for the suggestion.

re teh comments on Miata headroom being infinite - LOL.

FYI - I had a RX-7 from '81 to '90 and a miata from '90 to 2000 - so I know very well how those cars feel. The Miata hard top in winter did cut down the "infinite headroom" - but less than the RX-8 does for me.

Go figure - I'm 6'1, didn't fit in the prototype RX-8s, but I also slide the seat as far back as it can go.

I suspect it may end up having to do with torso length, arm length and preferred seating position; if you can drive as if in a recliner, you can fit if you're 6'7, if you need the seat back near vertical, you may slam into the headliner at 5'10. If you have long legs and short arms the situation gets very nasty if the wheel doesn't telescope.

Regardless, I suspect it's probably pointless to argue the issue here; there's ultimately no substitute for sitting in the car and seeing if you actually fit...

The fact that the electric doesn't go down as far as the manual ticks me off.

I have the GT coming and really wanted to change to the normal touring to get rid of the problem.

I will try and sit in one tomorrow and see what it is like. I am 5'11" 230lb and if I don't fit I will be upset.

It is always a risk buying a Japanese car sight unseen, because you don't know if you are going to fit or not.

Also all of this could be avoided if MazdaUSA would have made the sunroof an option for the upper trim levels of the car. If you want the Bose, you have to get a sunroof. If you want leather, you have to get a sunroof.

And it sounds like the worst headroom is in the car that I am getting, the GT. Great.

Anyone want to trade an electric driver's seat for a manual one? (yeah, I know. I would need to swap the fabrics out also.)

-Mr. Wigggles

Originally posted by MrWigggles
The fact that the electric doesn't go down as far as the manual ticks me off.

I have the GT coming and really wanted to change to the normal touring to get rid of the problem.

I will try and sit in one tomorrow and see what it is like. I am 5'11" 230lb and if I don't fit I will be upset.

It is always a risk buying a Japanese car sight unseen, because you don't know if you are going to fit or not.

Also all of this could be avoided if MazdaUSA would have made the sunroof an option for the upper trim levels of the car. If you want the Bose, you have to get a sunroof. If you want leather, you have to get a sunroof.

And it sounds like the worst headroom is in the car that I am getting, the GT. Great.

Anyone want to trade an electric driver's seat for a manual one? (yeah, I know. I would need to swap the fabrics out also.)

-Mr. Wigggles

I don't think you have to worry. You're only 5'11. You SHOULD fit height wise. And you're only 230lb. You SHOULD fit width wise as well. ;)