BillK

How have peoples' cloth seats been wearing?

I remember there were some concerns with the "fuzzy" seats not standing up over time, and I know a few months ago some people were saying theirs were wearing prematurely.

Anyone else?

One other issue that came up a few months ago that I haven't seen much about since is that the base/sport seats can become fairly fatigueing to some on long drives because they're pretty flat and lack any substantial lumbar support.

Has that been a problem for others as well?

Sorry to ask silly questions, but these are issues best answered now that many have had their 8s for awhile, not just for the month or two post-delivery "honeymoon" period...

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

I don't experience any premature wear on my cloth seats, but I only had the car since early November and didn't drive it much (450 miles on the odo), so this probably doesn't count.
What I noticed however (and really dislike) is how easily does the cloth pick up lints and dust. The material being kinda fuzzy and black just makes that even easier...
Soon this won't matter much because I'll get custom leather installed early next year
I sure would LOVE to add lumbar support to the front seats (or maybe just the driver's seat) before installing the leather. Is there any (aftermarket) way to do that?
I have power lumbar AND bolster adjustments on my Probe GT (which is almost 10 years old) so I was rather disappointed that Mazda did not include at least a manual lumbar support adjustment with the cloth seats with a 2004 model. Stupid option packaging...

BillK

I agree completely; I would buy a GT package RX-8 in a second, but I don't fit with the sunroof so at most I can get a Sport.

Hopefully Mazda will unbundle some of the options for 2005, but that doesn't help me at all right now...

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

That's the very reason for me as well for getting the sport package instead of the GT.

Aratinga

I chose the Touring pkg. specifically because I didn't want leather. After five months and 6300 miles or so, no premature wear on the black fabric - actually no wear at all that I can see. I've taken her on one long drive up to Monterey and back, and even though I could feel a bit of a gap where a lumbar support should have been, I didn't feel any back fatigue or strain because of it. What I'm really missing this time of year is bun-warmers (electric seat heaters).

I have to agree with the lint complaint, though -- I've noticed that Shiba fur is magnetically attracted to the suede-y cloth. I keep one of those sticky lint-roller thingies in the glovebox.