My dad doesn't want to get the MT simply for this reason. Strains and tiredness in traffic jams. He says that in traffic jams the clutch pedal can be a real pain in the *** in traffic jams but I considered one thing. The last manual car he drove was old and I figured that the clutch pedal might be very hard.

Do traffic jams tire you guys with MT?

Whatever it is, I'm gonna tell my dad to testdrive both.

 

i drive a mt and its not that much of a hassle. i drive a celica and the clutch isnt that hard so its not really a pain. it can get tiring but still i rather get the mt over an auto. its so much more fun.

 

The clutch on the Mazda is relatively light. My previous car was a MT BMW. Now that was hard on the calves!

 

In West Los Angeles during rush hour, it feels like you're stopping and going in 50 feet or less increments. I feel like I'm on an exercize machine. Had a MT RX-7 in the 80's and got beat up for ten years commuting to my downtown job, and my next car, an AT Dodge Stealth was a godsend.

Ideally I'd like two cars, an AT commuter car and an MT RX-8 weekend car, but multiple circumstances prevent that, so I settled for the AT RX-8. When traffic is light, I long for the MT, but during a friday commute, I'm joyously singing the praises of the AT.

I'm getting old. If I was in my 20's, full of surplus energy, I'd probably stick with an MT. I don't know how old your dad is, but if he's in his 40's or beyond, a manual can be tiring in heavy urban traffic.

 

I'm stuck in traffic every day, and it's no big deal for me. The benefits far outweigh the negatives.

 

I agree with IkeWRX.

I get stuck in traffic every day and dont have a problem.
Nobody says you have to sit with your foot on the clutch for 10 minutes at a time. Use neutral when stopped.

Surely you use the brake when using the AT anyway in traffic so build up your left leg to have the same strength as your right :oP

Clutches have changed a lot since your father last had one I guess and are a lot more easier on the legs now.

Mike

 

U can say that again. Had a auto eclipse( hated it ) also Hate Mitsubishi. But now i have the manual and i will never go back to auto.

 

Auto sucks. Manual isn't tiring in traffic at all on any car with a stock clutch. The '8 is blessed with a very light, easy clutch.

My subaru with a race clutch and 10lb flywheel was a bit more of a pain in traffic.

 

I don't mind the clutch/shift/stop/go thing because of the motion involved, but I am concerned about reducing the life of the clutch and shift linkage.

 

But you see, my dad is 53 years old and he said that he was sick and tired of the MT. I guess he was really traumatised by it. He said that the steptronic is good and he thinks its different than an AT. I keep telling him its the same just that it lets you control when to change gears. Later he says "why do you think Formula 1 cars use them?" . I said they were SMGs which are totally different. Then he says rubbish and next thing you know I wanted to avoid the topic. Goddamnit.l

 

I live in congested S. FL and own a MT. Why would you want to lose roughly 30 HP to drive an auto? The tranny in the auto cannot handle 9K rpm so the HP is decreased. If you want to drive a sports car get the MT it is much more fun and the clutch is so easy in the RX8 that it really is not a bother. I just can't imagine driving a sports car with an AT.
I hope all the AT people don't come down on me for this post but I love my manual!

 

The MT is a far better car.

Traffic in a MT IS tedious. Saying it isn't is like saying water isn't wet.

But ... who buys a car based on traffic?

 

Uk we dont have alot of AT cars anyhow, and a lot of traffic. My commute is 1hr and 20 miles.

2nd gear can do 0mph to nearly 70mph, not like you need to change gear very often is it...

 

i'm on the Long Island Expressway everyday in MAJOR traffic, and I don't regret having a manual one bit.

 

Coming from being stuck in a 45 minute jam just this morning, I can say that I had no problem with my 6 speed, at all. My legs are a little sore from moving furniture all weekend, but even so the drive didn't bother me at all. I've also gotten stuck in some pretty nasty NoVA rush hour traffic, and never had a problem. I think you'll be fine with a manual.

 

Driving in traffic does get tedious at times. I just stopped playing the "inching" game. If you don't inch up everytime the car in front of you moves 2mm, it makes it a bit less tedious.

The Rx-8 is my first MT. This car makes me feel like i've missed so much in my past life. I would sit in 100 miles of bumper to bumper for just one downshift from 6th to 3rd at 80mph :-D.

 

Traffic is certainly tedious in a manual. But I have never driven anything but manuals. In ANY car the ability to downshift and row the gearbox is worth the time spent jammed up, kinda wishing you had an automatic.

 

I swore on my life my next vehicle would be auto. I been driving MT all my life and I been getting tired of it when in city traffic. If I had bought a sedan or truck I would of gotten an auto...but the 8 MT is just so awesome! :D

 

I don't believe the Auto in the RX-8 can be compared to the paddle shifters on an Indy car.. You only have 4 gears to go through on the 8. I think it may even start in second when in manual mode. AT guys correct me if I am wrong.

 

The transmissions they use in racing cars are sequential manual gearboxes... totally different from steptronic found on the rx-8 because it simple lets you shift gears when you want to on a automatic transmission.

 

2 cars ago I also swore I would never drive a MT again. I had a turbo Eclipse. I went AT with an ES300 and then bought the 8. I wish I had never left the MT now. Driving is so much more fun in a RWD MT car.
Also, if you plan on doing any performance modifications to the car go with the MT because you will be very limited with what you can do on the AT.

 

What I hate about the MT is that it's hard to drive smoothly in traffic. Espicially downhill traffic. I don't know what it is technically but I liken it to an automatic going in and out of 'lockup' in top gear. I've driven several MT's of all varieties('64 C10 w/ granny, '85 IROC, '92 Toyo 4x4) and this is the first time I've experienced this. When decelerating at around 10mph in 1st gear the car lurches as something unloads. Not tireing per se but real annoying.

 

MT > CrapTronic shifters

 

I wish I could find the thread but I heard that Mazda will be developing a tougher AT that will handle the higher power version of the Rennesis, 2005 or 2006 I think. If he has patience, as we all should in our later years, he may not have to give up all that power for his AT.

 

Shifting is good times :D