rxtreme

iTrader: (1)

In my move from NY to Virginia, I packed my back seat with something that scratched the polished aluminum look plastic on the center console/trans. tunnel. It looks like some of the scratches go through the paint. Has anyone had any luck replacing or painting that area. Those who have taken apart your center console, is it possible to replace just those pieces? How much?

It would be really cool if the aftermarket came up with real polished aluminum to replace those plastic pieces.

canzoomer

How about "carbon fibre"?

mikeb

carbon fiber is sweet and expensive

RX-Late

Where did you get this and how much? Do you have a larger clearer pic?

jtimbck2

The carbon fiber is a Mazdaspeed part...I don't know if it's available from US dealers, but you can order it from Japan.

canzoomer

I import RX-8 accessories from Japan.

Cost for the "carbon fibre" drive tunnel trim as pictured is $496.
Price in Tokyo is 45,000 yen.

Apparently it is real carbon fibre material!

There are also matching door handle surrounds, rearview mirror cover and so on..
Here is the mirror:

Rotor_Newbie

I have a scratch at the plastic center fake metal piece at the rear passenger side.. How do i fix that without ripping it out?

Anyone? How the heck did my passenger scratch that?!?!?!?

U. N. O.

keys in the poket!!

ptiemann

I detected such a scratch on the left rear side on that console as well. Never anyone sat there nor did I transport anything except a shirt on the back seat. It must have been there when I bought it - shrug.

The simplest would be to paint it over, hm?

mikeb

paint is over
scary, be careful

Wankeler

I put a deep scratch (driver's side, and covered by seat) into that silver when I installed my parking brake. It's deep enough to see black plastic. I carefully took an xacto knife and trimmed off the high spots and then proceeded to use a silver paint pen. The same kinda stuff celebrities use to autograph posters, comic books, etc... it looks fine and is not noticable unless you got real close... plus my seat helps hide it.

8_wannabe

That was their fingernails digging in as you cornered at 110 mph. :D

Irish_in_a_RX8

iTrader: (1)

I have noticed how easy it is to scratch the interior of the RX8. Its not cool since it gives me the impression that it is cheap material. I constantly scratch the doors when leaving the vehicle, esp for folks leaving the back seats. Any suggestions for removing scratches on the plastic?

Wing

Yes these scratches are driving me insane, I have never touched my dash, but there are 2 scratches on there, the kick plate is scratched from entering and exiting the car.

I'm so carefull you would say I'm **** about it but yet still scratches!

There is even a deep gash on my tach, in the plastic "window" I never touched it! I'll have to assume these were there when I bought the car.

Rotor_Newbie

BAH HUM BUG... this thing is more sensitive to scratches than my last gf.. shiesh.. you either have to realize that this car is sensitive inside and treat it like a baby... or use it like it was meant to be.. I'll just use it like it was meant to be and fix it when ever i have the time.. or when i sell it.. if ever..

by the way, do you have a pic of that silver pen you mentioned? where do you get it? do you have a pic of the touchup job that u did on ur car?

yeah yeah.. i'm lazy so i use ur instead of your...=-]

-john c.

pmacwill

I too have scratches in my drive tunnel trim. one near the parking brake from a vacuum. It really is a pretty cheap piece (in terms of quality). I wish there were a good way to address this, but I think we are just SOL.

English

Nobody thinks $$495$$ is excessive for a carbon fiber strip??? I think that's just absurd. Pick up a silver Sharpie (TM) pen at an office supply store for a couple of bucks. They can be used on other metal finishes you have to touch-up around your house.

Irish_in_a_RX8

iTrader: (1)

Heres another story, I have these two chicks in the back seat, one of them gets curious with the coffee holder (how it opens and closes). Somehow it gets lose and does not close, but yet she trys to force close it, hence scratchs all over the cover. Can only imagine this being a family car with kids...

Really, if there is something out there I need to know :-)

mikeb

495 is alot
its called price gouging

Dez

Hi from down under..

Canzoomer [ hi for the first time ] - the carbon fibre centre console rails - is that US$495 cost?

I've really got the ***** with the fact that Mazda went cheap on a range of the interior components.. starting with the pissy plastic trims on the centre console..

I noticed today that although I've never touched the centre guage plastic cover, I now have a long thin scratch at around 55 degree angle from left bottom to top right of my Taco - that's going to take some polishing out!

And don't get me started on the f*cking doors getting scuffed and scratched.. oh the humanity!

I'd take a set of the carbon fibre centre console "rails" - Canzoomer - wana ship to AU?

Do they come with a set of "hey I'm not a mechanical type but it can't be rocket science" manual and pictures for installation?

++dez;

canzoomer

So, if you are down under, but are right hand drive, do the two cancel out and make you left hand drive?
Deep... too deep, my head hurts now.
Hey, I don't make this stuff up. If you find the prices high, bitch to Mazda.
OTOH, how many of these will they sell?
If I had to make these from scratch, moulds, finishing, packaging documentation, inventory, etc., and only sold a couple of hundred pieces I doubt I could make them any cheaper..
If they had a market to make 5,000 pieces the price would probably drop to about $50 a set.

They cost us 45,000 Yen in Tokyo, plus 5% Japan sales tax.
That is $435 US.
Then my buddy over there who does all the real work ordering, packing, shipping, and so on gets a 5% cut on these orders.

Add to that frieght, and so on..
And, yeah.
I agree it is ridiculous.
They look like they really ARE made of carbon fibre, though!
True, but then you could pay about 5G more and get a 350Z and it is worse!
No problem. We would ship to you by EMS (Express Mail) from Japan.
Yes. Lots of pictures. Text is in Japanese, but it is pretty obvious when you look at the pictures.

rxtreme

iTrader: (1)

I would still rather see someone take the initiative and make those rails out of real brushed or polished aluminum to replace the plastic pieces. Like the piano black inserts for the steering wheel controls and door handle trim, it would add a touch more class/durability to an already awesome car.

canzoomer

Initiative?
Try major bucks.

It is all curves.
That would require hard tooled stamping tools.
About $5,000 for the dies alone.
And remember, there are two pieces, left and right, so double it.

Then you have to make them, finish them, and package, with install materials, etc..

It would cost a fortune.

rxtreme

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, but doesn't the aftermarket make a plethora of brushed/polished aluminum parts for a variety of cars ranging from Civic to Focus to whatever. There are alot of aluminum parts out there that aren't sold in huge quantities, so the profit comes from saving on something. I'm not doubting the process to make the parts, but couldn't a major manufacturer CNC the pieces for a great deal cheaper? At least save on the manufacturing processes.

canzoomer

There are a lot more Honda Civics than RX-8's
And they only ship about 4,000 to N. America in 2003.
That is not a big enough market yet.

They are talking 30,000 next year.

Give it a couple of years, maybe.