Yesterday, there was a pickup truck beside me at a light and as I looked at it, I noticed the small flip-out back windows on this two-door beast.
The small rear seat was occupied by two (crunched) passengers but they looked quite content.
I wonder if flip-out windows would be a good idea for the rear doors on the RX-8?
Waht do you think?

 

Nahh.. kinda cheesy imo.. Either make them sliding all the way down a la Mercedes or leave them be.

 

i hope hey slide down all the way..i ope not only half way..those windows suck

 

I doubt they will roll down just a pop out would satisfy me if they move I would be surprised. You guys also realize a mechanism to roll the window down will add weight and cost money, I'm hoping Mazda is being as frugal as possible in both of those departments.

 

given the small size of the cabin, the front side windows would suffice...
and besides, think of the integrity comprimizes of the chassis you'd need to make for the rear side windows to roll down...

-Andrew

** edit for spelling

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by wakeech
[integrity comprimizes of the chassis ]

I don't quite get where your coming from there the door is its own separate component, the actual glass shouldn't be used for any kind of reinforcement the frame around it maybe but the glass being able to slide wouldn't have any significant effect

 

It's a sports coupe with room for four(4), no less, no more. You can't categorize it, as it is uncharted territory. :D

 

I don't see how making glass movable will decrease rigidity either. I can see how you'd have to make room for the mechanism, but that's not that hard to overcome in a door that thick, I don't think.

Looking at the pictures, it would appear to me that there is plenty of room for a power roll-down window. Heck, take a look at a high-res version of the picture used in the upper left-hand of this forum. The window appears to be inset slightly, as if it is movable, and there does appear to be room for it to roll all the way down.

But after I looked over all of those angles and made my original assumption, I took a look at the attached photo. In the rear windows, are the telltale handle mounts of a flip-out vent. It's a nice, inexpensive, lightweight solution, anyway.

Always remember, 99.9% of the stuff on this forum is speculation. But it still is fun to speculate

---jps

 

Mazda has started calling the RX-8 a "sports saloon."

 

Rear windows don't go down. Take a look:

 

omg your right... that freakin sux man.... oh well.. its much like sitting in the back of a camaro or any 2 door car with 4 seats. You don' thave your own window to control back there.

... hey where did you get that picture?

 

oh oh oh, i see... i hadn't a good mental image of how the rear panel was constructed... i'm stupid!! :p

but again, i'd like to reiterate that i don't think having an opening rear window is crucial, and that the front side windows would be okay for those in the back too...

hey Grimace, where'd you hear that?? 'cause that's what i've (sorta, subsituting N. American word "sedan") been calling it... or at least been thinking of it in such a way... competing with other sports sedans like the 3, IS300, etc. etc... the actually sporty ones, not C-Class stuff (just couldn't hold a candle...)

 

The first time Mazda used that term (sports saloon) to describe the RX-8 was at the Detroit Auto Show. At least, thats the first time I've heard them use that term. Mazda has described the car as a sports saloon a handful of times after that.
I believe that at the Auto Show, Mazda said that it was a category-busting car, and that they were coming up with the "sports saloon" designation to describe it.
If you do a search on www.rotarynews.com, you might be able to find the actual quote. I read it there first.

 

i think sputnik got it right here. the pic of the yellow one is a very early shot not as near production as the silver one. i think he is coerrect in saying the silver one seems to have the hardware attached for the window to pop open.

 

That shot does show a window that won't open (I hadn't been able to find an angle like that, thanks!), not even with a flip-open model. But remember, that is a prototype, and some items like that will be omitted, even if they plan on including it in the production run (just like speakers and speaker grilles, etc. etc.).

I really hope they can open something up back there. With the high window sill (which seems to be a trend nowadays), you will already feel like you're in a hole to begin with.

---jps

 

Well if you take a look at this picture instead:


You will notice that the main window controls only control two windows (at least that's what it looks like). The pod is located on the left, if you need to look for it... there are what looks like two buttons, and those two buttons have an up and down for the right and left windows. There seems to be no rear switches..

Who knows what the production model holds, but at this point I'll say that there is probably no option for a roll down window in the rear.

 

You make a good point about the speaker grills.... Since that model is preproduction it's a good (and hopeful) assumption that the speaker grills located in the rear will be on the suicide door itself, hopefully a tweeter and a mid, as well as deck speakers and the front tweeters and mids, with a sub in the deck.

This of course lends itself to whether the car has a good sound system or not

 

In a car that comes with Aircon as standard, I don't think you want rear seat passengers to open the windows!! LOL....

 

I love the windows open on a cool day..

Air conditioning cant compare

 

Actually I'll agree with you..... infact if the car had openable rear windows I'd insist that they be electric...since you can't beat having the rear's open for a bit of circulation without getting buffeted... or to cancel some oscilation...

But such is life!

 

I agree that the Yellow RX8 doesn't appear to have rear windows that open. However, if you look at the first silver spy photo of a really-close-to-production car, you can clearly see the black circle of a pop-out window arm toward the right side of the window.

I suppose they could be strictly mechanical or they could be motor driven as in my wife's Town and Country Mini-Van. Hell, the rear hatch is power in that too!

I certainly hope it opens. I know that in some cars if you open the driver's window without opening the rear passenger's window, you get a bunch of air pounding you in the side of the head. Open the rear window, and the wind storm goes to the guy in back.

 

OMG, I think he could be right... what a bonus!

 

Flip outs would not add much weight at all. They would be sufficient IMHO.:o

As far as rear speakers are concerned, the Mazda 6 (latest one) was at an event in CA that I attended. Mazda brought it out for about an hour and the product guy was there to answer questions. It was the high-end model and had a Bose system installed. There were large Bose speakers in the rear doors as well as the front. i don't know if this means anything regarding the 8, but I thought I would pass it along for what it's worth.

 

UK mag's are saying that the 8 comes with AirCon and an 8 speaker Bose system as standard... I guess that's UK spec and mabe a guess on their part... but it's better than no info...

 

Right. That's the same pic I attached and talked about on page 1.

And I agree that I would rather have the airflow and visibility improvement of a fully opening rear window instead of a "vent", powered or not.

If the upper end BOSE system is going to be installed, the stereo replacement in my car will begin before the first fill-up. I know that's off-topic, but yuck!!!!

---jps