Mandy

I got cloth, but I don't mind having it. I won't have to worry about stains or anything, as I don't allow eating of food or smoking of any kind in my car. I just worry of it tearing and such, but that problem comes with leather as well.

BunnyGirl

My only choice was black leather. If they would have had black/winning blue combo for the leather that would definitely have been my choice!

I would definitely have to agree with the sweaty back issue with the heat, though. About a week or so ago we had 100-plus weather which is not very common in Portland. I drove to work with the AC on (cools great!) and temperature wise it felt fine inside the car except that the seat felt pretty toasty. When I got out the back of my blouse was totally soaked! As I was walking out of the parking garage someone who had pulled in just behind me said "I see you have leather seats in your car, too" and he proceeded to turn around and show me how he was totally soaked, too. LOL

I can't say I notice sliding around too much in my seat and I have some very sharp curves on my way into town. Maybe all the sliding people don't wear seatbelts?

zoom44

no the rx8 leather are actually oretty grippy cause of the material on the side bolsters- either that or you arent going fasst enough

zoom44

the black/chapparel is discontinued for 2006

dmc27

IMO - there really is nothing worse than a small stream of sweat rolling its' way down the spine. The AC, while not awful, never really chills the entire cabin down enough to keep my back anywhere near cool. As for wear & stains, my brother does upholstery. I'm thinking **** carpeting all around.

BunnyGirl

Don't forget to put it on the dash!

dmc27

^ No doubt!! And it'll be color matched to my fuzzy dice!

reaper1

Test drove one with leather and did not like. I was friggin moving all over the place , cloth holds you so much better. It seems like the sides on the cloth grip you better . That is if you dont mind starting on the driver side and ending up on the passenger side.

limepro

u must be tiny i feel like i fit perfectly into the seat and never move

BunnyGirl

I feel like the seat grips me perfectly and I am a rather thin person.

That's why I think it's odd that people say they have problems with sliding all over in the seat. I don't and I go around sharp curves.

reaper1

No seriously , the leather looks nice but you slide quite a bit.

New Yorker

The Mazda seat covers have slots for the side airbags. I bought them for going to the beach (well, for coming back from the beach, actually). They're pretty cool looking, but it takes a few minutes to put 'em on.

I like the leather seats in the '05 Shinka. I would've preferred cloth—but the seat warmers are nice in the winter, and I like the way the light parchment color keeps the interior from being too dark and drab—especially with the 8's smallish windows.

RedSheDevil

You know they say you can find most anything on teh internets ... I've found the solution to hot leather seats: people will buy any gimmick

Paul_in_DC

I like the look and feel of my black leather seats, and the seat warmers in the winter, BUT... for autox/track, they're hot as a bastard in summer, and I slide around in them (although the CG-Lock solves that one). I like the idea of the Mazda seat covers. New Yorker - are they cooler in the hot weather?

Barry Gross

I had the Mazda seat covers over my cloth seats...and they looked ok....but I opted to have leather installed...and yea it gets hot in the summer, but it looks and feels so good that I am glad I went with the leather...it really gives the 8 more class.

New Yorker

Even though I bought the Mazda seat covers for the beach, I haven't gone this summer—so I don't know if they're cooler than the leather. They're definitely grippier, though.

shakRpahX8

I think red interior goes best with sunlight silver

Razz1

See the above post by Redshedevil?

That's why I had a hard tome picking red/black over all black.

Look at the drivers dide. see how it is off color and almost looks brown.

Well you could say it's the sunlight, but it looks loke ****.

I've seen enogh of them, walked around them sat in them to tell you many of them have that off color all over.

I'm worried about the long haul on how it will fade out and look like crap.

Then one thing that bugs me is the two tone steering wheel.

Even though you may see a bright red it does not match the VR.

I don't think any red matches the silica VR paint. Any part that I have seen that has been changed to red soe not match the paint of the car.

Whether it be brake calipers or interior.

I do think the two tone brown may look better with the VR paint.

When I sit in a car with the red/black it seems like it's too much.

However, I love the red stitch. I wish they had that on the black seats. O even a blue stitch w/black seats for the blue 8.

too much can be tacky and gaudy. Can you live with a plaid interior on a sports car?

Can you live with a two tone for several years?

New Yorker

True, it's not an exact match, but I doubt any car with color leather inserts matchs the paint exactly. As long as it's in the ballpark the eye is pretty forgiving, IMHO.

No! This is the one color combination everyone pretty much hates!

Don't forget you can always change it. Several 8 owners got the cloth seats and then had custom leather seats—all black, all red, or two-tone—installed. Some say the cost of stock cloth seats plus aftermarket leather cost less than the stock leather—and was better quality leather, too. Oh—and the VW Scirocco from the mid-70's came with cloth plaid inserts on the seats. The new GTI has cloth plaid, too.

Design1stCode2nd

Then it’s a 2006 Shinka interior FTW! Microfiber inserts to grip you and a slight two-tone look that shouldn’t fade. Of course if you really wanted to you could always have Alcantara inserts added in a black leather car to the color of your choice; should be an under 2k mod. A guy on an M3 board had it done to his e46 for about 1,500 and it looked really good.

kantonm

I have a black 8 with black/chapparal leather and I have never regretted the color choice...the rusty brown actually looks better as it wears, kindof like a baseball glove. Also not a lot of people have seen that color and go nuts about it..

BoilerX8

I have the Brillant Black and love the red/black interior. I have not had the issues with sliding. I have the seat adjusted to where it is perfect for me, and always have my seatbelt on, so I am surprised to see sliding is an issue. Even when taking onramps at high speeds I stay in place.

On the heat issue. You are going to have that with any leather car. had it with my Miata, and have it with my wife's Liberty. Still wouldn't change out to cloth though as i haven't been able to get cloth to weather as well as leather over time.

BoomerBurt

I got the cloth in my '04 and am very happy. I love the LOOK of the leather. If I ever buy a car to show and not drive, I will get leather...otherwise, I'm cloth all the way.

Detrich

don't get leather if u love cows...

mooooooo

CarAndDriver

Happy cows from California.

I have the black/red leather interior and like it on my BB car. My friend said that he usually thinks there is too much red but really like's Mazdas restraint.