Go for it and upgrade the suspension for better handling performance.

For many of us those tight recaro seats were just too uncomfortable and were a deal breaker against buying an R3. My Mazda dealer said he had a tough time selling the few R3s he had, mainly because of the uncomfortable recaro seats and lack of optional power moonroof. Having owned seven rotary cars over the years, including all three generations of RX7, I understand Mazda wanting a better performance model, they did the same with the last generation RX7 R1 and R2 models, but they shot themselves in the foot coming to the US with an RX8 model with seats that fit the average Japanese body better than the average American body, a mistake. I have taken drives as long as 14 hours in my RX8 comfortably in the standard seats, but can't even imagine the pain of trying to do that in seats in the R3 which I barely could tolerate on a short test drive. Yes I am a bigger than average guy, but I have had recaro seats in my race-modified RXs over the years and the recaro seats were wider and more comfortable and fit in the car just fine. I found the best of both worlds, comfort and better handling suspension in the 40th Anniversary edition.

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2008 40th Anniversary Edition

 

meh, I am 5'7 120lbs little asian, I can fit in anything.

 

A funny but true story, I am a veteran photojournalist, who has done my share of racing and also covered racing for years. As a staff photographer for 29 years for the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper I was the racing photographer and got very close over the years to the whole Andretti racing family (they are from Pa.)) , still get Xmas cards from Michael's Andretti Green Racing team.

I was covering Mario and Michael when they still were both racing Indy cars at the former Nazareth Pa. Indy track . Hanging out together after a testing day at the track, Mario offered to give me a ride in his early personal Lamborgini Countach he had driven to the track from his nearby home in Nazareth, Pa. . I could not fit as a passenger or in the driver's seat, but the Andrettis who were a dream for any race car designer or owner, fit just fine in all those tight formula race cars. Lamborgini would learn to make their super cars roomier to fit more of the folks in their largest sales market, the U.S.

 

I would actually commend Mazda for coming out with narrower seats when most other car companies are going the other direction (making wider seats for the growing waist size of the average American).

 

I found Lotus Elise very roomy.

 

The foam filled crossmember is certainly an issue of debate. Many people say it doesn't make any difference at all and that the whole thing is just a marketing scam from Mazda to push the sales of some special edition models.

Mazda claims it absorbs road vibration, which is supposed to translate into a better steering response. I also read somewhere that Mazda has been using foam filled crossmembers in race cars for many years. But I have no idea whether that statement is true or not.

The only way for you to know is to test drive a car that has it and compare So you are looking at a Shinka, 40th Anniversary Edition or R3 - which are the only models that ever came with foam filled crossmembers (I believe).

After everything is said and done, the suspension set up is probably going to have a more noticeable effect in any car than anything else.

 

Im 5'11" and 185lbs and consider myself in decent shape. I felt ok gettting in between the side bolsters but the recaros just seemed to have way too much lumbar protruding in the lower back


I read that thread describing the foam cross member. And somewhere in there it said a non-foam crossmember was approx $750 so the foam one is gotta be more than that. Probably not worth the money. I also found out that the series 2 (2009+ sport, GT, R3) all have the SAME front sway bar. The R3 has a different rear sway. I want an upgrade so maybe I can see if the Mazdaspeed sways will fit my 2009. I finally learned why the mazdapeed springs wont fit on my car: somthing about changing where perch height on series 2. So my new plan is to get
1.R3 springs
2. R3 shocks(Bilsten)
3.Mazdaspeed F/R sways (If they fit and dealer will put them on for me??)
All this so I can keep the Mazda warrenty....

 

If possible, get a ride in a stock R3 before getting the R3's shocks and springs. The Bilsteins are fairly harsh over bumps and potholes; I had couple of dashboard rattles with the Bilsteins that went away when I got my new coilovers (at the softer settings).

 

When I test drove R3, I remember feeling ok with the ride. Does anyone know if the R3 springs/shocks will lower the car at all?

 

In Canada, the R3 has auto rain wiper, auto climate control.

Just not sun roof and heat side mirrors.