2006 Shinka.. Special? Seats different?
 

Hi all, newbie here, long time rotary enthusiast.. Thinking about getting a new RX-8 and I have some questions/comments..

Found a copper red Shinka with 10k Miles on it. price is $23.995 The seats look positively wonderful and I was wondering if anyone here knows about them.. More comfortable than cloth? or leather? Are they better seats? How do they wear?

Seems to me the 40th anniversary edition is essentially the same thing except for the color and the brick red leather seats...

Is the 40th worth buying?

Looked at the new 2009 and I have to say I was terribly dissapointed with Mazda for making the instruments now look like a Toyota Matrix!:SHOCKED: Plus they took away the oil pressure gauge.. WTF? The original Rx-8 instruments were very sporty and classy.

So should I go for a new (2008) one? or the Shinka?

Thanks and glad to be here!

Pete

The Shinka seats are leather and alcantera(synthetic suede) vs all leather from other models. I personally find all leather more comfortable. I find that my alcantera seats hold me in the seat MUCH better than all leather though. i havent had any issues in 35K miles with wear on the alcantera, i did wear a small spot through in the leather just above my hip(due to a flashlight i carry on my uniform belt).


The oil pressure gauge was a dummy gauge anyway. totally useless. it doesnt tell you what the oil pressure is, by the time that gauge moves its likely too late already


totally your call, but if i could do it over again i would get the 09 over my shinka. the 09's have an additional oil jet for the center area of the apex seal, something mazda has needed to do for many years now.

I had my 06 copper red Shinka for a while. Love it.
Its your call but price wise, what is the difference?
I paid $19K for mine last Sept.

Love mine as well. Alcantara is nice and doesn't get hot. Copper Red only came out one year and only on the Shinka, about 300 of them total.

i love my shinka also except mine is galaxy gray : ]

i love my shinka MAINLY because of its interior i loveeee itttt.

you made a mistake :lol2:

that gauge will NEVER move. even your oil pressure is WAY over like 1000 kpa or something.

I think you were trying to say the temp. but hahaha :lol:

got mixed up huh ? :P

Uhhh...I thought Galaxy Grey was a stock color. I thought Shinka's only came in limited colors like Black Cherry and Copper Red.

06 Shinkas were an option package available in black, white, gray and copper red. 05 Shinkas where black cherry only and no Alcantara.

I bought mine mainly for the interior, the rest like the filled cross members, Sirius, etc was just extra.

I say go for the Copper Red Shinka :)
The Alcantara Leather seats are nice and very comfortable. I liked them much more than the cloth seats. However, the down side to the Alcantara seats is that they are a royal pain in the ass to keep clean. and the Copper Red is a dust magnet...:banghead:

Bottom line its your call,
Just make sure you know what you're getting yourself into when buying the RX-8...

wait wait wait, u said 24 K for the 06 Shinka ? 10 K miles ?


Screw that

I pay them 20K tops.

40th edition has different shocks, instead of Tokico they use Blistien.

comes in galaxy gray to : ].

jesus.... who doesnt know that?

j/k

$23.99?

i'll take it! :lol:

I agree that $24k is too high, but if this is just the asking price at a dealer they'll surely accept less. It's not unusual for a dealer to accept $4-5k less than their advertized price.

Copper red is my favorite color. I think the color of its leather seats is a little too light and contrasts too much with the rest of the black interior but that's just a matter of personal preference. 10k miles should mean that the engine is in pretty good shape, especially if the recall flash wasn't needed or was done early, so if you premix you need not worry too much about getting the improved '09 engine.

Only advantage of an '08 40th anniversary model is longer warranty and color preferences inside & out and cool wheels.

Welcome & good luck!

Yeah, I like the 06 copper red shinka, it was my first choice, btu then again I basically needed to buy a car the day I went to the auction, and didn't have any Shinka's to choose from...

$23999, is FAR to much for that car however, if they take off 4, I'd buy it if I were you.

I just bought a '06 Shinka with 15k miles on it. I got a good deal on it trading my '06 Mini Cooper S on it and paid $18,250. I love the copper red color, it really made the difference for me buying this RX-8 over others. I also like the Alcantera seats better than the leather. I do worry about keeping the light color clean though. Overall the car is very comfortable and so far I don't miss the Cooper at all (well, the gas mileage was a bit better on the Cooper, 28 MPG around town, but I've been getting 21 MPG around town on the '8 so I'm not complaining).

Best of luck with your decision.

- Bill

06 Shinka
 

Here's a pic of my 2006 Shinka. I bought it brand new for 26k, so I think you can deal a little on the 24k price. I love the seats and the sirrius radio, although I would have definately put that in anyways. And the BOSE speakers sound good. If I were you I'd do what I did, google 'shinka' and see what it all has and if it's worth it to you or not. Also google the 40th edition and the 2009 and see where it all stacks up.
JUMP on the copper color, it's the next best to black, though I'm not biased or anything. :squint:
Well I'm off to clean mine right now. One of my little nieces got to ride in it this weekend and she put her shoes on the back of the driver seat, so I have to clean that. Lucky for her she's a little angel.

Wow. I was thinking of trading in my Shinka for a Cooper S next year because of MPG. At first I didn't like how the sand alcantara went with Galaxy Grey (I just missed out on a WWP) but I put up with it. I recently put accessory seat covers on my car, for the sake of alleviating back sweat. I hated the seat covers after using them for a day, but I appreciated them when I was hauling my winter tires in the back seats. Admittedly, I started to appreciate the look of my sand alcantara after installing the seat covers.

Bought my '06 last year, new with 1k on the clock (manager drove it for a while, so it was well broken in) for $25k. I'm sure you can negotiate at least 2g's off of the Shinka if you go that route. Good luck too.