Having admired these cars from a distance since they were launched, I went to look at a rather nice \'99 RX-7 this lunchtime.
The car seems in very good condition. However, my knees were hitting the back of the steering wheel - it just wasn\'t comfortable for me to sit behind the wheel.
The seller mentioned this as why a lot of cars have aftermarket steering wheels that are smaller and/or flat-bottomed, which makes sense.
It seems to me, however, that that I really want the wheel closer to my chest rather than smaller-diameter - it is the distance between wheel and pedals where Mazda appear not to have considered people with lower legs the length of mine, and bringing the wheel out would help.
Is anyone aware of a spacer or deep boss that would bring the standard wheel out further? Or would moving the airbag closer to one\'s face be a bad move??
Otherwise I guess I can get a deep-dish aftermarket wheel without an airbag. It just seems a shame to lose the airbag, when the OEM wheel isn\'t too bad anyway.
I\'m not massively keen on flat-bottomed wheels, although a smaller diameter, sticking out more, would probably work.
(apologies if this is the wrong forum for this question)
There is a mod you can do to the seats that make it sit further back. Has this been done to the car ?
Shaun
a couple of questions how tall are you?? did the car still have the standard jap seat runners fitted??
as far as deeper steering wheel ive never seen one fitted although i expect you maybe adle to get a different boss from somewhere.
im 6\'4" and when i first bought my fd it was so bad to sit in. i started off fitting uk seat runners this pushes the seat back about 30-50mm which made things usable and an awaful lot more comfy.
with a standard wheel fitted i couldnt get my fingers between my legs and the bottom of the wheel which on the road is fine but on track days isnt very good as you have to take a hand off. i fitted an aftermarket steering wheel that was flat bottomed and about 2 inches smaller in diameter that made so much difference comfort wise and allowed me to keep hold of the steering wheel.
the icing on the cake for me was fitting a mazda speed seat which is slightly narrow in the back so you sit a little further back but more importantly sits you a little lower so makes it even better.
my car is now comfortable on long runs and fine for the track.
basicly you can make yourself fit no worries it just depends how far you want to go when they designed the car they made them perfect for small arse and the vertically challenged so for us taller peeps its a bit of a struggle.
Thanks for the advice.
Car was totally standard Japanese spec 1999 Type RS, with the original Nardi-badged airbag wheel.
I\'m 6\'1". The thing is, I don\'t really want the seat further back, or I won\'t be able to fully depress the clutch. So the seat <-> pedals distance is fine; it\'s the wheel <-> pedals length that is too short for me.
I had a go sitting in the Type RZ that was also for sale, with the OEM Recaro bucket seats. The seats were more comfortable on my hips, and got me a bit lower and further back, but my knees were still hitting the wheel.
Sounds like I would need to change the steering wheel for one with either a longer boss and/or a \'deep cone\' wheel.
I had the same problem with my FC I had already fitted an aftermarket boss to fit a momo wheel and then got a quick release kit from driftworks that spaces the wheel about 60mm towards the driver, nice bit of kit as well and good security, its hard to nick a car without a steering wheel.