the eclipse had a totally different power band. 1st gear was in and out by 20MPH 2nd was the sweet spot and 3rd and 4th really kicked in the turbo. well guess what. i'm driving the 8 like the damn eclipse. getting out of first way too soon instead of winding it out up to 5-7k. 2nd through 5th are ok because by then i'm at or over the speed limit. so i'm trying to hold off getting out of 1st and even 2nd so fast. i know not good for gas mileage but i bought this car to enjoy it not worry about mpg. i do mostly city anyway so it doesnt matter. anybody else still driving the 8 with old habits? by the way i was driving through the parking lot at work and this guy said it sounds as good as it looks.

being my first stick i dont have any old habits really. Going from an automatic civic to the RX-8 all the old habits become better in this car. I am use to driving the civic in and out of traffic ...NY traffic SUX! Its soo much more fun with the 8.

RX-GR8..........drive it like you stole it! lol j/k i wish i could myself but i love my baby too much. however, letting the rpm's climb in the 8 is really fun as it seems like each gear last forever with the 9000 rpm redline.

I use 6th for cruising all the time. And the first 3-4 weeks I was driving it like my old stick shift Sentra I had 5-6 years before. Then I realized I had another 5000RPM to play with and havent been the same since :D

Originally posted by RX-GR8
anybody else still driving the 8 with old habits?

yeah, I'm still working on learning the right shifting.
My previous car was a Firebird with AT and it would shift so that the RPMs were at 2000 or 2500 the most. On the freeway, I'd be going 80 mph @ 2500 rpm.

--->

I'm used to hear low rpms, so I tend to shift too early.
Except when I'm on the ramp to a freeway.. that's just too much fun taking off while still in the curve and I always make sure to hear the beep there.

I'm so into the engine's sound, I mute the stereo as I enter the freeway ramps :-)

I had a 97 Eclipse GST, and I originally had the same problem as you. My turbo kicked in pretty quick, and it took a little getting use to the different power band on the RX8. I wouldn't even had thought of going to 7000rpms in my Eclipse, but now I go to 9000rpms without giving it a second thought.