I just got my rx8 last night. Love the car, but the radio
reception sucks.

Did anybody else have this problem? Is there a fix?

Originally posted by racerx7
I just got my rx8 last night. Love the car, but the radio
reception sucks.

Did anybody else have this problem? Is there a fix? Radio reception on mine is excellent - the first time we took the car for an evening drive, with my wife station-surfing on the radio, we wound up listening to a San Antonio station for several minutes before we realised. If yours is genuinely bad, it's possible that the antenna is not properly connected into the back of the head unit. You might want to compare to another RX-8 at your dealership.

RacerX,

If your car has been tinted, make sure that it is not metalized in any way.

That is the only thing I can think of.

-Mr. Wigggles

I'm sorry to here that your radio reception is bad, as for mine I would rate it as excellent. I live in Toronto Ontario and listen to the Howard Stern during my morning commute, the station I pickup Howard on is located in Buffalo NY.

My radio reception is also excellent, distant stations come in very clear.

Ditto the EXCELLENT reception. I was seeking/tuning some presets and an FM station locked in I didn't recognize. I was travelling west/southwest of the beltway around DC in Virginia. The station I 'found' was in Baltimore MD to the northeast. It was just as good as the local stations.

That is good to hear the car can have good reception.

All I know is on the same roads, same stations etc..
our wrx and 4runner (both stock radios) pickup
stations with out any static.

Maybe the antenna is not hooked up.

I guess this will be me first dealer visit.

Originally posted by MrWigggles
RacerX,

If your car has been tinted, make sure that it is not metalized in any way.

That is the only thing I can think of.

-Mr. Wigggles


Does the folks getting good reception have a metalized tint? i think i'm getting a metalized tint next week... any further input would be appreciated...

My glass is factory standard, so far.

Originally posted by Ron_Jeremy
Does the folks getting good reception have a metalized tint? i think i'm getting a metalized tint next week... any further input would be appreciated... Metallic tint should be fine for radio reception, but I am going with ceramic for better heat rejection (Huper Optik).

See this thread (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7281&highlight=huper+optik) for more info.

Better reception than my last 3 cars.

Ugh! I think my car most be the only lemon.

Anybody here from the SF bay area? If so,
can I here your radio please.


Thanks.

Quick radio question - hows AM/MW reception? One of my fav stations here is still on AM....

Originally posted by RobDickinson
Quick radio question - hows AM/MW reception? One of my fav stations here is still on AM....
Don't listen to AM often, but did program the all-news and all-talk stations. Search had no problem picking them up and did not notice any static or signal dropouts. The tuner/antenna system seems to be top notch. I can give you a much better report later this month. Driving from DC to Arkansas and back. I know I will be traveling through some areas where I have been unable to get reception in the past. We'll see if that changes on this trip.

I noticed I picked up stations on my test drive that I can't in my current car.

Great reception!

Thanks TreknMazda:)

Wow talk about resurecting a dead thread. Just wanted the world to know that radio reception my RX_8 sucks too.


Wonder if its just an 04 issue of if there is a quick fix for it. I'm getting really irritated by all the static on KEXP in Kirkland, 10 miles from the station in Seattle!

My 2005 pick up alot of takes alot of slight static hits and it drives me crazy. I think it is because the MA radio dial is filled with strong signals and they might be interfering with each other. I tend to hear it the most when people are talking. It is so faint it bleeds into songs and goes away before I would consider the channel is not tuned. Very frustrating.

maybe its a time thing? 04 are older models......and my 05 after having owned it for 6 months ...started acting up about a month ago...used to have perfect reception...now blah...no tint or anything

my reception on my car is good too. even wit window tint

I have an 04 and the radio reception is lousy compared with my other cars. I just assumed that is because of the antenna in the window - my other cars have traditional "pole-sticking-up-in-air" antennas. My car has tinted windows but I don't know what type of tinting material was used.

But hey - I don't care much for what commercial radio stations are playing anyway so I'm working on getting the Auxmod or Audiolink systems installed so I can listen to MP3s.

my radio reception seems to be crapier when the subs r hooked up but even when their not hooked up the radio reception still isnt too great but is more tolerable

Anyone ever figure out why their FM reception sucks . Mine has always been bad .....

Mine was awesome then i had the center speaker cover replaced, got the car back and its screwed now, and they said you don't have to take the stereo out to replace that piece..but i think its still screwed up from something they did :(

Actually it is one of the things in the RX8 that seems to be designed really well, unlike the visors. I get excellent reception.

In for a warranrty replacement on my radio should have next saturday :)

warranty at dealership and you should be good

warranty at dealership and you should be good

Lets hope so :)

I don't think the issue is the radio or the year of the car, it is the antenna connection on the rear window. The radio in my '04 has excellent reception. The reception did start cutting in and out. Sometimes a local station would seem like it was a distant station. I traced the problem to the antenna connection on the rear window. It was loose. It is located at the top of the rear window near the center on the drivers side. The connector slides to the right to remove it. Be careful as the plug on the rear window is fragile. Mine was not fully pushed on the connector and this caused the reception problem.

hope this helps

beers :beer: