MattZ

Man was it crowded! So many people it was hard to check out the cars....but I made sure to check out the RX-8 thoroughly....

They had a Red and a Titanium....

The Red looked worse than I thought it would be....and the Titanium looked better than I expected (my fiance fell in love with the Titanium)

The Titanium was locked but we were able to sit in the Red!!!

It had the GT package with the red/black leather, the seats were awesome!!! Clutch felt nice and short, shifter felt excellent, even without the shift ****! Interior was good quality, not great. Exterior looked stunning! But here is the best part....

The rear seats/doors are awesome!!! I can't believe the design, it is truly a remarkable feat. Two big guys were sitting in the front, so I opened up the rear door and very easily jumped in the back seat, with the front seat in a normal sitting position!!! The back seat was so comfortable! Plenty of head and leg room. Granted I'm only about 5-10 but still....

Overall...I think the RX-8 was the best regular car at the show...I'm totally hooked now!

I'll try to answer any questions if you have any....

confucious

I was at the NY autoshow today too. I finally got to see the Rx-8 in person and it made me even more confident that I want to get this car.

On the back seat access, I'll second MattZ's comment. My estimation is the combination of front and back passengers is a little over 12 feet. Which is to say if the front seat is adjusted for someone who is 6', a person 6' can probably sit comfortably in the back seat. In this case, the driver seat was pushed all the way back. I'm 5'9" and I could sit behind the driver seat okay. It was snug and my knees were bumping the seatback. The passenger side could be manually adjusted and I had some 6' friends adjust it and try it out and it looked like they had plenty of room.

On getting in and out, it was similar to getting in and out of a 2 door car only the suicide doors takes the place of sliding the seat forward. So I think the average person should have no problem getting out of the rear with a person in the front seat.

I'll post some more impressions later.

rxeightr

Alright guys, here are a few questions I have:
How was the headroom in the front? the back?

If the Titanium you sat in didn't have a moonroof, would the 1" headroom loss you get with the moonroof be a problem with your heights?

Did either of you measure the truck opening? Will it allow a big piece of luggage to go through the opening? What about overall trunk space?

Were you able to adjust the Driver's seat position? If so, with your height's, where was the seat most comfortable.... all the way back, 3/4 of the way back?

And lastly, what surprised you? Both good & bad.

Thanks for any input you care to share to the masses

Rexor

rxeightr

I'll chip in here and share my experiences from Rev it Up, where they had cars both with & without moonroof. I'm 5'-11", with 31" legs. The non-moonroof car was very comfortable for me. I adjusted it to suit my driving position, then sat in the back with this seat setting and it was fine (once i'd put my feet under the front seat). Surprising amount of head & legroom for a coupe. I like to sit fairly upright, so I had the front seatback reclined about one notch back from upright. Now to the moonroof-equipped car, and hey-presto my head is just touching the headlining (If I slouched a bit, then there is clearance). I had to recline the seat further, which is not my preferred driving position - I could probably get used to it, but I wish they had squeezed an extra inch of headroom into the front.

Sat in a G35 coupe with moonroof yesterday, and it has more headroom - I'd say at least an inch, which is all it takes for me to sit as I want.

confucious

Remember, I'm 5'9".
That said,
1) Headroom in front and back for me were plenty. My 6' friend had no problem in the front seat, the rear seat was just about the limit. If he sat totally upright, his head was just touching the roof, slouching a little, no problem.

2) The Titanium was locked so no one got to sit in it. It had a moonroof anyways.

3) The trunk opening was relatively narrow but the trunk itself is moderately tall and deep. I didn't measure it but you can probalby gauge decently from posted pics. The rep said 8 cubic feet which I think matches what I've heard elsewhere. It certainly won't have any problem carrying groceries. I think you could even fit 3-4 average sized suitcases.

4) Driver seat couldn't be adjusted. Guessing from the passenger seat, I'm thinking I'd probably want the driver seat halfway back normally. With it all the way back the way it was, I couldn't operate the clutch properly.

5) Good stuff.
Seeing the proportions in person. There's some weird loss of perspective from photos I've seen that seem to make the front end look wider. The car in person looks very well proportioned.
The rear seats entry/exit.

Not so good stuff.
The bulge in the floorboard on the front passenger side. It's pretty noticeable.
It's a little annoying that the front seatbelts are anchored on the rear door. You don't need to move the seats to let people in the back out but you do have to unbuckle the seatbelt.

Really, I get off easy because i'm not over 6' . Really, I think an average set of 4 people won't have any problem fitting in the car. 4 6'3" people probably won't be comfortable though.

BillK

As I mentioned during the Denver Auto Show, I'm 6'0 and had problems with my hair in the headliner in the demo RX-8 we had here.

Alas, I'll have to wait until the "real" cars come in to know for sure, but there's no way I could drive one with the moonroof...