jjason

Good day,

I have run into an ergonomic issue with my RX8 - The seats are about an inch too narrow for my behind. Most of the time I end up sitting on the internal side bolster supports. After 15-20 minutes - ouch! For reference, I'm 6'1" and 215 lbs. { Update: While losing a few pounds would not hurt in general, it is the bony parts of me that sit on the bolsters. }

After searching the forums, I found the following "solutions" that don't really work for me:

1. Live with it - its a sports car. Hey, at the price, I want it comfortable to drive.

2. Raise the seat height adjustment. Works so-so except for that I only have about 1" of headroom now in a comfortable seating position.

3. Buy custom seats. Nobody ever says what works and what doesn't work. One site suggested was http://www.modacar.com/car/Mazda/RX8 and look at the selections under "Seats/Harnesses" in the left column.

So, the question is simple: How do I end up with a comfortable seat? I'm interested in any solutions whether it be adjustments, mods to the stock seats, or total seat replacement.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Yours,
Jason
jason at bigfastnet dott com

dcfc3s

I would talk to a few local upholstery shops. It's very possible that they could pull the seat skins off and add some padding or alter the structure of the seat to make it fit you better for very little money. Not to mention the seat would still look like stock!

I bet removing some of the padding from the side bolsters and adding some to the seat bottom would probably do the trick.

Just to give you an idea - the seats I have in my '88 RX-7 were TOTALLY trashed and I had them re-covered in top grade vinyl. Seats totally recovered, all new padding, look like a million bucks for $300 for BOTH seats. You couldn't even buy a decent aftermarket seat for $300.

Anyhow, break out the yellow pages and call some local auto trim and upholstery shops. Take the car to them, have them look it over and give you a quote.

Dale

rxeightr

I have found the left side is the only one that is uncomfortable for me.

By readjusting myself to the right (centered in the seat rather than centered with the steering wheel), I have eliminated my discomfort.

rodmeister

I'm not being funny, nor do I intend to hurt your feelings, but another solution is to lose weight. If it's only one inch, use this as an incentive to lose a few pounds. Disregard this if you're already thin, but with wide hip bones.

red_rx8_red_int

I agree with the above. Also once I noticed that my left thigh seemed to be on the bolster too much, shifting right didn't seem to help as much as it used to. I even looked at the seat wondering if the whole seat had shifted right somehow. Anyway after a week or so I found out that the front part of the seat wasn't in the proper position. Evidently when I use the electronic controls on the side to move in and out (I do this a lot) I must have accidently raised the front.

Mr M

Get another seat from a shop. But remember, you will lose your side airbag if you take out the original seat.

Don't go butchering the original seat. Keep it in its original condition, stored somewhere safely, so that you can put it back in the car when you sell it. If at that stage you want to sell your new seat instead of transferring it to your next car (totally possible, and actually logical if you have a seat you are really happy with), then you can sell it on e-bay.

If you can't make your stock seat comfortable by adding cushions or standard adjustments, then maybe you could make some brackets to move it to the side a little (if you think you are experiencing the same trouble as rxeightr). Beware that if you have an accident and these brackets give way, Mazda will not be able to take responsibility. Also, the curtain airbags may then cause injury if you are too close to them, or your head may hit the trim (problem for us tall drivers. I'm 6'2" and cannot fit in an 8 with a sunroof).

Try adjusting and moving the seat before buying a new one though. It is always better to keep you new car stock.

Cheers.

Nubo

If you're carrying your wallet in your back pocket try putting in the console. Makes all the difference for me.

jjason

I just wanted to say Thank You to all of you that took the time to pass on their knowledge.

Here is what I have tried (and the results) so far:

1. Moving my fanny around in the seat doesn't make that much of a difference. On the right, I'm hard against the safety belt. On the left, I still hurt.

2. Raising the seat (manual adjustment) helps a little but now I hit the headliner with every large bump.

3. Removing my wallet does makes a moderate difference - it adds another 10-20 minutes before my thigh starts to hurt.

4. Brackets: Because of #1 above, this won't help. It literraly just moves the problem around... Adds a safety issue as well.

Things on my To-Do list:

1. I will be following up on the suggestion to go see an auto trim shop and maybe a "tuners" shop as well. After feeling around under the seat, it is apparent that the bucket and the bolsters are pressed heavy-guage steel. if I could just get the bolster part bent 15-20 degrees flatter, I might be able to solve the problem. More when I finally get to this.

Things I Don't Know - Yet:

1. Are there any Mazdaspeed or third pary seats that retain the airbag but also have more fanny room?

Thanks again to everyone for sharing their knowledge - I will post again when I have a solution to share.

Yours,
Jason
jason at bigfastnet dott com