I am 6'1" and can sit reasonably comformtably in drivers seat with all seat electrics as low as can go and bit of lay back angle on the back rest. Its not perferct posture but it is workable as it is the setup I use in 99 miata. The RX8's at dealership I sat in both had sun roofs (my preference) but there was not a lot off clearance for those jolitng bumps on highway construction transitions.

In the miata I do a little auto x slaloming with the top down so helmet clearance is not an issue. I tried wearing my autox helmut in the RX8 showroom with the sunroof open as I have seen other RX7 owners do at the track. I did not feel comformtable as it forced my to try to sit on right side of dirvers seat and would distract from navigating a slalom course.

The salesman suggeted that the no sun roof models would provdie slightly more headroom for a helmut. I was little disappointed to encounter this obstical given the marketing hype about being designed with North Amerian baby boomers in mind and hence the the attendton more interior cabin space.

How have any of you opther modertalyy tall people found the head room issue with and without the sunroof. Have the autocross-track people found an easy solution to the helmut squeeze issue?

Has anyone tried the praticality of swapping in and out a Sparco race seat that sits lower and utilizes the same anchor bolts?

TIA for your coments. BJ

 

For reasons too complex to mention you should REALLY watch section 2 (New York) of the movie: 'Night On Earth'.

Helmut is a German name.
A helmet is what goes on your head.

 

Many folks that have had difficulty fitting into a sunroof-equipped RX-8 have had a much easier time in a non-sunroof model. Not only does the sunroof itself reduce headroom by over an inch, but the power-adjustable seats that come with the sunroof packages cannot be lowered as far as the manually-adjustable seats in the base and sport packages.

 

Note that bj99mm is in Canada, where we do things differently. The GS model has the manual seats and cannot have a sunroof; the GT model has the power seats and the sunroof is optional.

 

I've got the power seats and no moonroof, and there is definately more room. I'm 6'2" and when I tried sitting in 73JPS's 8 with the moonroof, in a similar seating position to what I normally drive, my head was touching the frame of the moonroof. In my car I have about 1 inch of clearance.
When I drive with the helmet on I have to recline the seat a bit more, and then slide down in the seat a bit, and the helmet still brushes the roof. Not a terribly uncomfortable position, but it does lower my eye line a bit, and makes it tough to adjust the seat too close to the wheel, although I seem to be able to adjust it a little further forward every run...

 

I have a tall torso. I barely fit in with a helmet on. 6' here.

A lot of other newer cars dont' have much headroom either.

For a new car, it's about "average", and I don't have the sunroof!

 

I'm 6'4" and didn't get the sun roof b/c my head hit the roof. With a helmet on, I have to lean the seat back and slouch down a little.

 

But have you actually been in the car with a helmet on?

 

Mine, yes. On Sunday.

 

Exceptional!!!!!

I'll be in the car, yes once again this weekend with helmet on!!

 

It was a blast! I improved every run. I wasn't counting on the massive rain we got though. I didn't hit a cone and didn't DNF, unlike the rest of the cars in Novice... :D