Hercules

Please post your thoughts. Some people have varying degrees of acceptability of interior quality. I'd appreciate the people who have seen it to give a brief description and review of the overall interior materials.

Did you find any place in particular that was very poor? Any highpoints? Please try to review each section individually, like the steering wheel, shift ****, heater/stereo controls, leather seating, etc.... The more input and details we have on this the better.

Thanks!

laputaturbo

Look at these pics!
which quality is true??
http://home.att.net/~superotter/800-0064_IMG.JPG
http://images.rotarynews.com/images/...1/mvc01319.jpg

ZoomZoom

Please keep in mind that all of the cars that we have been to date are not made to production quality standards. What we have seen to date are prototypes and pre-production vehicles.

I am confident that the production vehicles coming off the line will have usual high quality Mazda interiors that we are all expecting. Does anyone here really believe that the fit and finish on the Mazda 6 will be better that their halo car?

I for one do not believe it for one second.

rotarynews.com

Besides a few small flaws in these PRE PRODUCTION PILOT CARS, the quality of the interior is top notch. Do NOT base the interior quality on that one picture of the door handle and lock.

I made it a point to feel all the interiors of every maker at the show, putting my fingernailes between the seams and pulling a little, rubbing the dash and flicking things to hear the sound.

The RX-8 has a very very good feel to the materials. They feel light weight, but have a great texture. For comparison, the LandRover Discovery felt like cheap plastic. (not to mention all the plastic on the outside)

Now, I've heard people say it felt hollow, not heavy thud when you tapped the dash. Having a lightweight anything is good on a sports car. Would you rather have a heavy dash, just so it made a nice 'thud' when hit, or a strong, lightweight one that only vomprimised in the sound it made when it was tapped?

The quality of the interior is far-far ahead of the 94-95 RX-7, and getting closer to the benchmark of BMW in terms of surface texture, and fitment.

Hercules

That's what I wanted to hear. Thanks very much

laputaturbo

me too! thanks!

RotorMotor

I spent about 45 minutes in the car (mica red at LA Auto Show) and I really don't know what some of these guys are talking about when they say the interior isn't up to par. To put things in prospective, I currently drive a 10 year old POS Ford Explorer, so I'm not used to great things, but I've, of course, sat in some very nice vehicles. Granted, the Rx-8s interior didn't hold up to a Jag, but I found it to be solid, attractive and comfortable. Much more so than my 1980 RX-7, but I suppose that's not saying much. It's as solid, I thought as the 350Z that they had at the show although you could tell that maybe they had used a lighter weight or cheaper plastic, but it certainly didn't feel "cheap" or "flimsy". The seats were very comfortable and the overall feel of the cockpit was fantastic. That's my take....

RM

Manifest

Just got back from the Detroit show; am a bit disapointed in the quality of the leather in the pre-production cars. The colored services are nice, but the ridged sides that are in black leather (they really look plastic to me) does not have even the feel of quality that the leather in the Mazda6 has. I for one will not be getting the leather.

On the other hand, the cloth seats where MUCH better than expected and seem to be very high quality.

One other nit-pick of the interior. The plastic top holders for the rear seatbelts already had it's plastic coating pealing and flaking off. Hope these are pre-production glitches.

mp5

You saw the cloth seats? I've been concerned about the quality since I have not seen them and I already ordered the touring package (w/ cloth). Does anyone have any shots and/or more info?

73JPS

Also just returned from Detroit.

I would rate the general quality of the interior as fair. I personally do not think that it is approaching BMW quality, but I was not disappointed with its quality either. I agree that saving weight is important here. Center panel (on the dash, around the heater/radio area) plastics are average: they remind me of a glossy version of the plastic used in my '83 RX-7.

I would like to heartily agree with the previous poster's comments regarding the quality of the leather. IMHO, it has a somewhat shabby look, mostly because it seems somewhat stretched and loose on the underlying cushion, and I am not a fan of the ribbing on the main bolsters. Hopefully the looseness is a pre-production thing.

I will add that I find it difficult to make a really good critical evaluation of this stuff when there are dozens of people waiting to get in the car. I also find it difficult to watch less than careful people mucking around carelessly manhandling my baby! (Shift ****: present in the morning, missing by the afternoon... stolen, or just removed for safe keeping?)

Finally, if anyone reading this goes to Detroit later rather than sooner, make a post regarding how well the interior is holding up! Surely the abuse it is taking at the hands of the public will equal about 10 years of normal use from a caring owner.

DonG35Miata

You made my day and saved me money... I was considering saying WTF and adding the leather package before my order is submitted!

73JPS

No pics, but just agreeing that the cloth is comfortable and seems of good quality. They owe nothing to the leather, and suit the car very nicely.

IGOZMZM

Can anyone give comparsion to the current Miata cloth seats? I thought those were of pretty good quality.

Niebla

How nice etc..

I have my order with leathe, but i'll switched to cloth in a second.

IGOZMZM

If you switch from leather to cloth you also have to downgrade your package from the Grand Touring to the Sports or Touring package.

Niebla

Any idea what the non bose (base) sound system is?

Thanks

Manifest

I have 2-3 pics of both front and rear cloth seats that are in the black RX-8 from the show. Please email me at black88mx6@yahoo.com if you would like to see them, or have a place to post them online.

boowana

Having been in three differnet RX-8s now, and given that these are very early production cars, I am not putting any value into the interior trim comments yet. I though the overall fit and finish were excellent. The dash for instance is BMW-quality and when production and quality control are at full speed, I think you'll see a car that will have outstanding materials, fit and finish.

Boowana:o

Manifest

I agree with the dash quality, it seemed very good. I am not convinced that the interior fabrics/leather will be much different from the show cars; they are too close to production to change much, or get much better as these items are already being made now to have final assembly sometime in March/April.

73JPS

I am pretty sure I heard the guy at the Mazda kiosk say that the base system was a Panasonic. Maybe somebody who has yet to go to Detroit can confirm this.

DonG35Miata

Thanks for the pics, Manifest! Why don't you post them on the forum? Their is a separate thread asking for cloth seat pictures.

For those who have not seen the cloth, it looks GREAT!

Manifest

My website for hosting is currently down; have forwared the pics to the forum administrators.

BryanH

You think so? I don't know, from the 2 pics I've seen I don't dig the stripey black areas nor the blue-gray centers. Done right, a 2-tone cloth seat can look *killer* (1985-86 MR2 anyone? ). I think I'd rather have just straight black cloth in the RX-8.

Also, is it just me, or are the seats shaped for wide loads? Us skinny folk get the shaft every time... wussy side bolstering... bah.

I've said it many times, but I'll say it here too.... more cars need to have adjustable side bolsters on their seats!