Replacing the heat shield is a recall, not just an advisory. Mazda considers it a serious safety issue. Read all about it here.. I had it done and feel safer, but not much cooler. You can jam a cheese sandwish in the holder while you drive, and enjoy toasted cheese sandwich when you arrive. Yummy!

 

Salmeralto posted this link to JC Whitney heat shielding back in October '03: http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs...aControllerView (link to post: https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...hlight=whitney). Very reasonably priced. $27 for a 48" x 72" sheet -- apparently enough to line trunk and parts of the cabin. Two sheets should do the trick. Lifting out the center console area to line underneath the cup holder and sides of tunnel looks relatively easy.

I can put up with the warm tunnel, but I am about to order some because I found out just how warm (hot) the floor of the trunk gets -- threw my gym back back there and when I pulled it out after a long trip, I thought my clothes had just come out of the dryer. Although I've had my 8 since March, I rarely use the trunk and prefer to throw stuff in the back seat or passenger side. We are planning a vacation next month, so will need the trunk and don't want everything to roast back there.

 

My service rep insists I already have the shield, but if so it's not doing the job consistently. My tunnel heat problem isn't a steady-state thing - sometimes it's so hot my leg gets uncomfortably warm and I have to scrunch over to the left to avoid resting my thigh next to it, while other times it stays cool. Yesterday it was barely warm after an hour-long highway run, despite temps in the upper 90's. I haven't done a serious study, but I seem to recall it really heats up in stop-and-go traffic.

Nothing to do but live with it, I guess - and make sure not to stow cellphones and iPods in the cupholder. (Or chocolate-covered coffee beans - I learned that pretty quickly.)

 

Ever use the overhead Sunglasses Toaster to actually store your sunglasses on a hot day? I did that once (Black 8) and decided they were better off just being Baked in the Cup Warmer than Broiled overhead :D (sigh) Maybe I'll be able to use it this winter...

 

I believe it's been stated in an earlier post or a different thread that the tunnel doesn't get hot if you can keep moving, such as on the open highway, because the airflow from driving doesn't let the heat build up. In stop and go, the heat isn't dispersed by the airflow. Have you noticed that if you stop, turn off your car, then get back in a short time later, that the tunnel is warm, as well as the inside of cabin?

I have ordered some heat shielding from Whitney and will try to post pictures of the install, and how effective it was or wasn't, of course.