I made the Mazda rep at our auto show in St. Louis demonstrate for me what would happen in this front door shut/rear door open situation. If the front door is shut and the back door attempt to close happens, the padded door panel on the back door just bumps into the edge of the closed front door.

ggreen29 is correct too. The front door does not latch, which if the front door is not all the way up against the door frame, it gives a little more than if it were latched into place....providing even less of an impact.

She (Mazda rep) shut the door pretty hard and it just bounced off of the front door with a quiet thud. No damage to the front door, or the rear door interior panel.

Just make it a point to let your rear passengers know when they get out that the back door needs to be shut first.

Don't see this as being a big deal.

 

guys... wait a second!! did any1 realize this?!?

that first pix wiv the silver 8 is the Rx-evolv and the second pix is the not the production model...

Therefore you can not rely on these pix... i say this is because the production model has a different angle on how the rear door opens!

Check the attachment...

As you can see, the angle of the rear door is what prevents it from being damaged...

 

this is the old yellow rx8, not the production model...

 

I still say in a tight parking lot - this is problematic unless everyone is skinny, flexible and/or well reheared in the choreography.

Many a parking spot will allow less than 35" to the car or whatever obstacle next to you. You might be able to open the rear door all the way but not the front door - it may only barely open to the 1st detent on the spring cam.

Unlike a truck you are also 'climbing up' out of the car w/ bucket sets instead of plopping off a flattish bench seat in many cases - which slightly complicates things.

I think the adjustment to the coreography is that the front passenger upon exit, must 'almost' close the door and walk around to be on the 'outside' of it to hold it open while the rear passenger exits, and closes the door.

I can just see taking a bunch of folks from work out to lunch at a popular restaurant w/ a typically crowded parking lot. That will be a fun one!

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And no, I don't agree, it's not a pure sports car - it's got hybrid qualities about it.

thanks,
-T

 

Has anyone checked out the video in the Mazda Japan web site? There's a scene which a girl enters the car and closes the rear door.

http://special.rx-8.mazda.co.jp/asx/...image_300k.asx

 

is there any way to exit this car like a coupe and ignore the 2 freestyle doors? just wonderin, not saying i wouldn't use the back doors, but if i ever wanted to, you think it's possible? the front seats do flip forward i believe so...

 

um, i thought the intial reports from the autoshows was that the front seats DIDN'T fold forward...??

 

let the passegers out before you park, and move out of the space before you let them in.

 

Here's one better, let everyone out in front of where your going, and then go park, that way other people can see how cool the car really is plus you get bonus points for not making your friends walk. Then be polite and tell them you'll come pick them up in front with the car, again let people praise the beauty and style of the car. That's of course if you not going to a quickie mart or something.

 

i swear i saw a picture with the seat folded forward...i don't think i was hallucinating....i'll try to find it

 

I read somewhere that only the passenger side front seat can fold forward, while the driver's side can't. Is that correct?

 

All that choreography becomes vastly more interesting if you just want to drop off a rear occupant - you open your drivers door, so that he can swing open his rear door - neatly decapitating you with a zip of the seatbelt ! Your (drivers) seatbelt is attached to the rear door, but still firmly buckled, and now has you by the neck ! It becomes even funnier if it is someone who is used to 'two-door' cars, where you just bound thru the belt obstacle, and work out the tangles when you're out - not so in the '8' - he just extends the belt fully and takes up the only slack you were using to breathe..... and he's not fully out yet! / and you can't speak....it gets funnier every time it runs thru my imagination.
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doc

 

I found a pic in the Mazda JP site.

 

Guys remember that the rear door is shorter then the front door. So your buddies can get out of the way by going between the rear door and parked car next to you.

 

Hi hikoboy, sava ur time... Here's the pic. However, I don't know if it's standard or option or driver's seat or both or whatever. Sorry.

 

hey maverikk, thanks for finding it. i'm talking with east moon (not real-time, just pm) to reconfirm that the front seats do fold foward. i'll get back with a full reply, if east moon doesn't post here himself.

 

ok, i asked east moon and both the driver and the passenger seats DO fold forward. and you can do that while in the back seat as well. i asked him also whether it's possible to get out without opening the rear door, and he said he doesn't think so, but he'll try and see. but when i think about it, it's probably not possible...and probably unnecessary.
oh well. but the seats fold forward. so that's that.

 

Cool, hikoboy many thanks for this info..... Many greetings, also to East Moon and his lovely goggy!

 

But we still don't know if the Powered leather driver seat folds forward (easy, or at all). East Moon has the cloth seats that are not powered so that still remains a mystery for us to find out.

Although it doesn't matter to me because I'm getting the Sports package and will have cloth seats so mine will fold down so I can ride with my forehead rubbing on the stearing wheel :D

 

When you get the powered seat it doesn't fold but the passenger seat does as it's not powered. So getting in and out of the back is much easier on the passenger side. That's the way it was set up on pre-production ... I'll update when I check a real one!