First, I'm sorry for not writing in a couple of months. My anger with Mazda has taken a toll on me.

My excitement for this car has been long time waiting. I bought the Velocity red fully load GT. Lived and loved this car.

At about 21000 miles I started to get a slip in the auto trans. I've owned many sports cars through the years and I know when something is wrong. Took it in to the dealer and they couldn't find anything wrong. I even took the service tech for a ride and pointed out each time when it took place even when I went into reverse. Still they felt it was fine. Took the car to 3 different dealers and all the same, even saying this is normal. Long story short I went off. Contacted MNAO and they said they had to rely on the techs input.

I stressed how I feel about service departments on the fact that if a computor can't tell them what is wrong and what to replace then they are clueless. The day of trusting a tech is over and for Mazda to ever and I do mean ever to recieve a dollar from me is over.

I sold the car. Had it for 11 months. It was like a divorce, I'll really miss this car for it was truelly awesome. You will not see me with another rotary ever. That is damage Mazda has done to me. I have owned 3 RX7's through the years and loved them all.

My plates hang on the wall in my garage. FUNRX8 :(

Sorry to hear about your problems. Can you describe the problem more for other AT RX8 owners? Also did you try more than one dealership? What car did you end up gettting?

I'm sorry to hear that man. It's a shame that the dealerships did that. I'm sure we'll all redline ours in remembrance of your 8. :( Long live the funrx8.

You can feel the trans free spin. Have you ever played with a trans that was low on fliud? Thats what it would do. You also shift in reverse, give a little gas doesn't move then jerks. The level was checked and no leaks, all was good. But the problem was still there. I felt the torque converter was bad, but they wouldn't listen. Went to 3 dealers. I replaced it with a 04 Toyota Tacoma, for the winter and bad weather and a C6 Corvette. Went straight for the hp.

lol, at least you went all out with the C6!

The day of trusting a tech is over and for Mazda to ever and I do mean ever to recieve a dollar from me is over. You will not see me with another rotary eve.
I can't say I blame you. I'd probably feel the same way. What kind of knuckleheads are working at MNAO that they can't help you with this problem? I understand if your average tech can't figure out a difficult or unusual problem, but isn't MNAO's job is to get to the bottom of issues like this? They should have given you a loaner, kept the car for a week, and driven it around to see if they can recreate the problem. If you went to 3 different dealers, that ought to be a clue to Mazda that there's a real problem and maybe they shouldn't just rely on the word of a tech. Boy, that's frustrating. My sympathies. I truly hope that's not the typical MNAO experience.

You say you'll never own another rotary. This is a tranny problem (and more fundamentally, a customer service problem), not an engine problem, right? Are you saying you don't trust the rotary engine?

This ispretty funny b/c my cars automatic tranny is being replaced right now for the exact same reason. Im at 22000 miles and Ive complainedabout the car having a rough vibration shifting into drive. At firstthey gave me the same crap saying they didnt notice anything that wrong - but every oil change I kept persisting. It kept getting worse and FINALLY thistime the service rep finally understood what Iwas talking about (now that it was taking over 3 seconds for the transmission to get into drive) and said fuck itwere ordering you a new tranny. I gave them my car last weekend andthe new transmission still hasnt come in yet so Imgoing to be in this rental for at least another week but Im patient. Shit--and I thoughtI was the only one..

Whats odd isyou had about the same miles onyour car as I did. But Ive been having this problem since about 12000 miles. Backthen it was more subtle butnow its very obvious. Anytime you reverse in my car andthen go back into drive--if youdont wait a few seconds for the "vibration" youll make the car peel out (like a neutral drop). Alsowhen trying to shift @ redline -- it would overrev if I didnt shift before the beep. Clearly these were evident signs of a tranny starting to go bad.

So I guess Im goingto be the first Rx8 owner on this forum to have a brandnew automatic transmission installed. Idont understand why they wouldnt do the same for you butIm sure youll have fun w/your new vette. Im worried though that this new tranny is going to have the same problems another 20000 miles from now.

Hmm, not good. A coincidence or a bigger problem? We shall see. I'd love to hear from more AT owners with 20K+ miles. I have the MT, but man I hope this is an isolated problem.

I'm glad at least in one case, the dealer responded properly and offered to replace the tranny.

Quack p

Its Mazda, I won't buy another. I have always loved the rotary, but when you get this type of service my money will go somewhere else that cares.

Jerky 8

I find it funny that yours was close to my mileage when I complained and then I gave up and sold at 28000 miles. I hope it works out for you.

Sorry for your troubles with Mazda buddy. Ironically, we have a member in the Dallas, TX area that is having similar issue w/ Mazda on his manual 8!! Anywhooo...How's the C6?

- Irish :cool:

I love it, but still the interior is tops in the rx8.

Man i have the same problem... Our cars are exactly the same as how you described your Package, Trans, and Color.

One i shift into Reverse and sometimes First it takes like 2 seconds before the car actually gains power to the gear and idles off a couple inches. My cars mileage is just about 2300 and its been doing it ever since I drove it out of the Showroom.

I learned to accept the problem because my Mazda Dealer said this transmission needs a second or two to get into gear.

Even though I hate this. I am glad i learned to not notice it anymore.

Anyways, what are you driving now?

I think he said C6;)...

6 speed manual rocks on....... :D
If I could just cool my cup holder below 1500 degrees.... :cool:

My tranny isnt that laggy on shifting to D but then whenever shifting to R it vibrates violently until you give a little gas. Then shifting to D, witht he brake down, it vibrates too. Its starting to feel like my tranny is gonna go out because it has never done this before.

Do you have an AT or a MT?

auto

So the problem is delayed and/or harsh engagement into drive or reverse, correct? This is a very common problem with automatic transmissions, and any competent transmission technician should be able to diagnose and resolve the issue. There is a step-by-step procedure for doing so, which involves monitoring pressure readings in the transmission and replacing solenoids as needed. If all else fails, the dealer should replace the transmission.

The real problem here seems to be the ignorance/apathy of the Mazda service departments. I don't understand why they would be hesitant to work on these cars, especially considering that Mazda North America will pay them for the warranty work. Dealers are the weakest link in Mazda North America. The level of customer service at most Mazda dealers, especially those who sell multiple brands of vehicles, is unacceptable. Fortunately, the company realizes this and plans to increase the percentage of dealerships that sell only Mazdas.

Just wantedto give you guys an update--
The transmission finally camein today (took 10friggin days tocome in!) at the dealership and theytold me I should have my car back by tomorrow or Wednesday the latest.

About the pressure and solenoids -- Idont know if they evenbothered to check that but I sureas hell hope this problem doesnt come up again w/my new transmission for Mazdas sake.

Bump...

I hope rest of you will have better luck. I got fed up with dealing with idiots.

I gotmy car back today. The transmissionslipping issue is completely gone now w/this new transmission. Theywerent able to tell me what caused theproblem on my old one. Hope thisdoesnt happen again b/c I planon driving the exact same way I drove w/the first one. If I wanted to own acar that I had to baby then I would have bought a Mercedes

I have the auto also with 15k and have not had a problem with it. So if your not babing it, are you doing anything unusual to the transmission or do you mean you are just enjoying the car? I shift mine my self half the time and redline it once or twice a day. I never have abused this "AT" it's pretty much computer controled but it does need to warm up I know.

this is kinda scary news
I have had no signs of this stuff and I have 26k on my auto right now

my 626 used to do that.. changing the fluid always fixed it. I found that driving it hard always made the same problem show up again.

i drive the hell out of my car even though its an auto, so i expected this kinda stuff to happen. might as well have it break down now than after the warranty expires.

I was kind to my car. I took very good care of it, no different from my other cars thru the years. Just changing the fluid doesn't change the problem. If it's low thats 1 thing but just replacing the fluid isn't a fix all. It was something internal.

I have the auto also and have not had a problem with it. So if your not babing it, are you doing anything unusual to the transmission or do you mean you are just enjoying the car?

By not babying itIm saying I was havingfun w/this engine. Not necessarily flooring it everychance I got - but definitely little spurts here and there. On average Id say I was hitting redline about 5 times a day - somedays more than that and somedays less. Howeverwhen driving on the highway - which was usually just on weekends - I hit 7500 RPM a lot more thanks to the additional open road. Took itin for service every 3000 miles.

Overall Im assuming I drove my automatic harder than the average automatic owner does but Im prettysure there are atleast a handful of automatic owners out there driving in a similar fashion.

EDIT -- See? mmmdowning didnt even drive theway I did andyet still had the problem. LikeI said before hopefully -- for Mazdas sake -- our cases are rare otherwisethats going to be one bitch of a recall.

sohcpunk - I thinkI misread what youwere talking about above. You saidthat youre feeling some vibration in reverse or drive that goes away once you give it gas. Thats actually a different problem - not the same as this - and a lotof people are having that idle vibration problem (both automatic and manual owners).

The problemI wastalking about is whenever I put it into D theres actually a delay - you can feel that the gear doesnt instantly catch and move the car forward. Another thing I could do inorder to prove the tranny slipping was to downshift from 4th to 2nd at around 50 - 60 mph. Back when I firsthad the car there it would smoothly shift and this was almost unnoticeable. Now the tranny was not only taking a couple seconds to down shift - but when it finally did drop into 2nd it would violently ram the car forward and the DSC lights would flash. This felt almost like being rear ended or likeI just activated some boost.

Basically the problem youre looking for is whether theres a delay in the cars movement after you shift into drive. With mine almost 3 or 4 seconds would pass before it finally moved forward from drive.

It's really weird because I only get the vibration when i depress the brake and either shift it into D or R. If I were to leave it in N. I would not get that vibration. That is why I think there is something wrong with the transmission.

sohcpunk - I thinkI misread what youwere talking about above. You saidthat youre feeling some vibration in reverse or drive that goes away once you give it gas. Thats actually a different problem - not the same as this - and a lotof people are having that idle vibration problem (both automatic and manual owners).

The problemI wastalking about is whenever I put it into D theres actually a delay - you can feel that the gear doesnt instantly catch and move the car forward. Another thing I could do inorder to prove the tranny slipping was to downshift from 4th to 2nd at around 50 - 60 mph. Back when I firsthad the car there it would smoothly shift and this was almost unnoticeable. Now the tranny was not only taking a couple seconds to down shift - but when it finally did drop into 2nd it would violently ram the car forward and the DSC lights would flash. This felt almost like being rear ended or likeI just activated some boost.

Basically the problem youre looking for is whether theres a delay in the cars movement after you shift into drive. With mine almost 3 or 4 seconds would pass before it finally moved forward from drive.

It's really weird because I only get the vibration when i depress the brake and either shift it into D or R. If I were to leave it in N. I would not get that vibration. That is why I think there is something wrong with the transmission.
When you brake-torque the car (which you are doing while idling in drive or reverse with your foot on the brake), you are putting a torque on the drivetrain. While in neutral, the drivetrain is not loaded at all. This means that you cannot directly compare the NVH characteristics of the car in both conditions. All cars will have more vibration while brake-torquing as opposed to the unloaded condition that exists in neutral.

Try this to help diagnose the problem: while in park, put your LEFT foot on the brake pedal. Shift into drive (or reverse) while keeping your left foot on the brake pedal. Use your right foot to apply VERY light throttle to slowly ramp the engine speed up to about 2000 RPM. Try to find ranges of engine speed where the noise and vibration in the cabin increases substantially. If what you hear and feel is similar to the vibration you are describing in your previous posts, you have nothing to worry about. The powertrain excitation is simply setting off various resonances in the vehicle, which could include exhaust modes, body structural modes, acoustic resonances of the cabin, etc. This phenomenon exists in every car, some worse than others.

Note: don't brake-torque the car for an extended period of time as you could overheat the transmission fluid!

I drive an automatic 8 and I have had it Jerk on me when quickly doing a three point turn. (forward, reverse, forward shift) I'm guesing this is because of the delay the transmission needs to change the gears and I am already pressing the gas. So when the gear finally engages I get jerked. Don't know what to do or think about this. I am planning on having this car for the LONG haul. ~10 years if I can get to it. I hope the tranny has that kind of life in it! Interesting thread!

oka, okay - after reading all the posts, it seems my AT is doing the exact same thing. Could this not be how our tranmissions perform? I have got myself into the habit of waiting a few seconds ( after the vibration ) before switching back to drive. I have 16K miles on the car ( purchased in July 03 ) so could this also be a problem with earlier RX-8's?

This thread should be a sticky if more owners complain.

Wayne

I drive an automatic 8 and I have had it Jerk on me when quickly doing a three point turn. (forward, reverse, forward shift) I'm guesing this is because of the delay the transmission needs to change the gears and I am already pressing the gas. So when the gear finally engages I get jerked

Thatsthe whole point. The automatic transmission SHOULDNT have any friggin delay to change gears especially when theyre this new. I wasjust in an automatic rental Protege whilethe dealership was waiting for the tranny on my Rx8 and that Protege had well over 35000 miles on it and no delays at all. I dontknow why people are tryingto pass this off as normal b/c its morethan evident that its not supposed to behavelike this.

i think i see a bigger issue here than just the rx8 automatic tranny. If i am not mistaken, the 4 speed auto tranny is a ford-drop-in. The ford explorer, which would likely use a beefed up version of this 4 speed auto, has the exact same problem. In fact, there was a news report on TV about it. There is a class action lawsuit being filed about this problem. It would be really terrible if every car equiped with a ford 4-speed auto had this problem. Also, this problem seems to only be happening in certain build times in 2004.

i doubt this is just a little coencidence.

It doesn't sound normal to me. I think you guys should get it fixed. It doesn't do any good to let Mazda get away with providing crappy customer service. You have to complain, you have to be persistent, and hopefully you're making it easier for the next person who comes along with the same problem.

Wow, finally... I found others with this same problem. My AT is now at about 15k miles, and its been doing this for almost 7k miles. I've got most of the problems listed above (jerky shifting, hesitant going into gear and such). I always thought my K&N intake was to blame, so i was gonna take it out this weekend. What should i do? I've mentioned this before to the dealer and he just dismissed it. I love my car and i dont want to get rid of it, but it looks like the problem is getting worse.


oh yea...first post...................woo hoo

i am guessing this jerking problem has to do with all the 4AT on mazda cars... i drove my cousins Mazda3 and i was parrallel parking... this requires shifting into reverse and forware a few times depening on ur skills... welll i notice the jerking too.... specially shifting from forward to reverse and gas it... the car vibs and jerks a little... weird... and i THOUGHT i scrwed up my cousin's new car......

I did what you said. I depressed the brake pedal with my left foot and engaged it into D, the virbration starts. I then give it a little gas to 2k and it goes away, then i let off the gas and the vibration comes back on. What could this be?? I have 20k on my car and I am getting this heavy vibration for the past 2k


When you brake-torque the car (which you are doing while idling in drive or reverse with your foot on the brake), you are putting a torque on the drivetrain. While in neutral, the drivetrain is not loaded at all. This means that you cannot directly compare the NVH characteristics of the car in both conditions. All cars will have more vibration while brake-torquing as opposed to the unloaded condition that exists in neutral.

Try this to help diagnose the problem: while in park, put your LEFT foot on the brake pedal. Shift into drive (or reverse) while keeping your left foot on the brake pedal. Use your right foot to apply VERY light throttle to slowly ramp the engine speed up to about 2000 RPM. Try to find ranges of engine speed where the noise and vibration in the cabin increases substantially. If what you hear and feel is similar to the vibration you are describing in your previous posts, you have nothing to worry about. The powertrain excitation is simply setting off various resonances in the vehicle, which could include exhaust modes, body structural modes, acoustic resonances of the cabin, etc. This phenomenon exists in every car, some worse than others.

Note: don't brake-torque the car for an extended period of time as you could overheat the transmission fluid!

i think i see a bigger issue here than just the rx8 automatic tranny. If i am not mistaken, the 4 speed auto tranny is a ford-drop-in. The ford explorer, which would likely use a beefed up version of this 4 speed auto, has the exact same problem. In fact, there was a news report on TV about it. There is a class action lawsuit being filed about this problem. It would be really terrible if every car equiped with a ford 4-speed auto had this problem. Also, this problem seems to only be happening in certain build times in 2004.

i doubt this is just a little coencidence.
No, the current generation Explorer/Moutaineer has the 5R55S 5-speed automatic transmission. This is NOT the transmission used in the 2004 RX-8. I'm not sure what the 2005 RX-8 uses, however.

As I said before, this is a common problem with some automatic transmissions. I'm not saying it's acceptable, just that a certain percentage of transmissions will develop the problem. The problem mentioned about the 5R55S transmissions in the Explorer/Mountaineer is related to the wrong transmission fluid being used at the assembly plant, according to the articles I read. Other causes of this problem could be bad pressure control solenoids or damaged clutches.

I did what you said. I depressed the brake pedal with my left foot and engaged it into D, the virbration starts. I then give it a little gas to 2k and it goes away, then i let off the gas and the vibration comes back on. What could this be?? I have 20k on my car and I am getting this heavy vibration for the past 2k
Unfortunately, I would need sit in the car myself to get an idea of what the problem might be. I think it's a good sign that the vibration goes away when you apply more throttle. That suggests to me that it's probably just a rough idle that's transmitting energy to the body through the engine and transmission mounts and through the exhaust hangers. The mounts might have become bound up during the assembly process, which would effectively increase their stiffness.

Here is what I suggest: try to sit in another auto RX-8 and see if it has the same problem. If so, it's likely that you are just unsatisfied with the idle NVH characteristics of the vehicle and there's nothing much you can do. If the other RX-8 feels better to you, you should ask the dealer to service your car. There is probably a service procedure to neutralize the mounts, which might help improve idle NVH. This type of work would be covered under warranty.

After the M Flash, my auto tranny does not jerk anymore. It is smooth but I noticed that the 2nd gear does not shift to 3rd gear until about 6000 RPM most of the time when engine is still warmin up. Maybe it's learnt my driving habit of driving the car hard to milk low end torque. Anyway, when the engine warms up, the auto tranny shifts more smoothly. I'm at 2100 miles and no tranny delays yet ... I hope delays dont happen to my tranny. Good luck to all of you in fixin this bug.

I have a quickquestion slightly off topic. Now that I have my car back w/the new tranny my memory aboutthe interior is a little sketchy since I havent had the car for upwards of 2weeks . Whenyou turn on the headlights and the interior lights up -- did anythingever light up downby middle panel around the shifter (like maybe the red M and + and - signs) or was it always dark down there? I just wantto be sure that the dealership didnt forget to connect anything b/c lasttime I hadsomething big done at a dealership they disconnected a fuse below the steering wheel that my amp was using to turn on

The P,R,N,D and the M light up. The "-" and "+" are painted on the housing.

so for the for all you up there having problems with your AT trannys what year and month is your car and have you had the "M" flash???

The P,R,N,D and the M light up. The "-" and "+" are painted on the housing.

Fuck! Iknew something didnt look right.

zoom zoom- I got my car at the end of August 2003 and yes itwas also M flashed but the problemstarted to occur way before the M flash was even out

Mine was bought in October 13, 2003. Yes it had the M flash done.

My tranny seems to be doing the same thing as the previous replys when it comes to taking a moment to shift from drive to reverse and such. One thing that the got my concern this morning was that after I left the house I got my car up to about 35mph (please keep in mind that my engine had not yet warmed up) and let off the gas to coast down a hill and at the time my indicator was reading 2nd gear but as soon as I let off the gas the tranmission shifted quickly to 4th. When I pressed the gas to accelerate it started bucking like a bronco and would not downshift until a let off and pressed the pedal again. Has anyone else experienced this? Also after the engine is warm and I am just cruising down the road and no matter what speed I am going as long as it is above 35 the transmission will shift to 4th when it should stay in 2nd or maybe even 3rd? I do not worry so much about it when I am doing 60mhp or so but most of my driving is all stop and go and I rarely get to drive above 50mph when commuting to and from work. In my opinion a sports car should not behave worse than a pinto when it comes to transmissions.

An update since I sold the RX8. I just recieved a questionaire from Mazda on the Towing of the car. I laughed. Some poor soul that bought the car had troubles.

Then just last week I recieved a questionaire on the quality of the car, the features, styling, etc....

But never a single question about the dealerships service or about HQ and there inability to do the right thing.

So the problem is delayed and/or harsh engagement into drive or reverse, correct? This is a very common problem with automatic transmissions, and any competent transmission technician should be able to diagnose and resolve the issue. There is a step-by-step procedure for doing so, which involves monitoring pressure readings in the transmission and replacing solenoids as needed. If all else fails, the dealer should replace the transmission.

The real problem here seems to be the ignorance/apathy of the Mazda service departments. I don't understand why they would be hesitant to work on these cars, especially considering that Mazda North America will pay them for the warranty work. Dealers are the weakest link in Mazda North America. The level of customer service at most Mazda dealers, especially those who sell multiple brands of vehicles, is unacceptable. Fortunately, the company realizes this and plans to increase the percentage of dealerships that sell only Mazdas.

I had a service manager at a multi-line dealer flat out in anger argue with me about not having time to address a technical service bulletin. I asked that the SB be addressed on several trips to the local dealer that I purchased the car from, but he fired off at me when I called him on why he didn't perform the SB that clearly stated to update the EPROM when the automobile was in for regular maintenance or warranty work. He said and I quote " I don't have time to address every SB that come into the dealership since we have multiple brands, I don't have time to look into them". I then replied as to the requirement of the SB and highlighted the paper prior to arriving at the dealership and showed the text to him. He said "if I address every problem someone printed off of the internet he would never get done". I replied very angrily, you are required to perform this mod as per Mazda instruction, and I was hot and in his face at that point for flat out arguing the point of not having the time to look into a question that I had posed and not gotten a straight answer to after several visits and time off from work to have addressed. I headed straight to find the owner of the company who I know would not have his senior manager yelling and screaming at customers when in fact he hadn't even looked into the SB ever and said he left it up to the techs to make the call. I then questioned the tech I had known for yeans and he said the SM (same guy) wouldn't let him perform the SB. I was in the roof I was so mad at this guy. The owner out of the company at this point, I went to gather my auto and come back later with a well written complaint, was stopped by the SM and he had a print out of the required recalls on my car, which by the way were none, and said "see there isn't any thing on here about the need for your car to have this SB". I then reintroduced the SB printed from the Mazda SB page and indicated that every car manufactured prior to this date or SN required this update, REGARDLESS! He was miffed and muttled off instructing the tech to update the car and sheepishly apologized as he knew I was hot and wasn't going back down from my fight, when I knew he was wrong.
The thing that pissed me off the most, He was willing to argue a point, flat out get into a yelling contest right there in front of the technicians, about something that he knew nothing about, had not even investigated to see the validity of my claim, but was willing to alienate a customer right there. Professional manager material, I think not, not even close to being a leader of techs.

Happy to say we have never experienced the hard starting many have, but we only have about 2000 miles on our car after nearly a year. Just a fun car for us not a daily driver.

My tranny seems to be doing the same thing as the previous replys when it comes to taking a moment to shift from drive to reverse and such. One thing that the got my concern this morning was that after I left the house I got my car up to about 35mph (please keep in mind that my engine had not yet warmed up) and let off the gas to coast down a hill and at the time my indicator was reading 2nd gear but as soon as I let off the gas the tranmission shifted quickly to 4th. When I pressed the gas to accelerate it started bucking like a bronco and would not downshift until a let off and pressed the pedal again. Has anyone else experienced this? Also after the engine is warm and I am just cruising down the road and no matter what speed I am going as long as it is above 35 the transmission will shift to 4th when it should stay in 2nd or maybe even 3rd? I do not worry so much about it when I am doing 60mhp or so but most of my driving is all stop and go and I rarely get to drive above 50mph when commuting to and from work. In my opinion a sports car should not behave worse than a pinto when it comes to transmissions.

This reply's a little late...;) But it does raise an interesting point. I don't know what's with the RX-8's auto tranny, but it's pretty damn horrible. It's like the RX-8 really wasn't made for full automatic mode. If you let it shift all the way into 3rd or 4th at low speeds, it starts bucking like crazy...the same feeling you'd get in a manual when you're just about to stall the car. For this very reason I have to constantly swap between 2nd and 3rd in triptronic mode while city driving, and it's annoying as hell.

Shifting all the way to 4th and overdrive is understandable, as that's what just about all automatics are programmed to do in order to save gas...they all try to get into overdrive as quickly as possible. I wouldn't expect an automatic to keep it in 2nd for city driving. But I don't think I've driven another automatic before that felt like it was going to die if you get it into overdrive at low speeds.

This reply's a little late...;) But it does raise an interesting point. I don't know what's with the RX-8's auto tranny, but it's pretty damn horrible. It's like the RX-8 really wasn't made for full automatic mode. If you let it shift all the way into 3rd or 4th at low speeds, it starts bucking like crazy...the same feeling you'd get in a manual when you're just about to stall the car. For this very reason I have to constantly swap between 2nd and 3rd in triptronic mode while city driving, and it's annoying as hell.

Shifting all the way to 4th and overdrive is understandable, as that's what just about all automatics are programmed to do in order to save gas...they all try to get into overdrive as quickly as possible. I wouldn't expect an automatic to keep it in 2nd for city driving. But I don't think I've driven another automatic before that felt like it was going to die if you get it into overdrive at low speeds.

I think there is something wrong with your car. My 8at never bucks.

This reply's a little late...;) But it does raise an interesting point. I don't know what's with the RX-8's auto tranny, but it's pretty damn horrible. It's like the RX-8 really wasn't made for full automatic mode. If you let it shift all the way into 3rd or 4th at low speeds, it starts bucking like crazy...the same feeling you'd get in a manual when you're just about to stall the car. For this very reason I have to constantly swap between 2nd and 3rd in triptronic mode while city driving, and it's annoying as hell.

....But I don't think I've driven another automatic before that felt like it was going to die if you get it into overdrive at low speeds.

It really boils down to half-assedness (<---new word) on the part of Mazda. They could have taken the time earlier in the cars development to find/build a 5 or 6 speed automatic. And even with the 4 speed, better shift programming is in order. 4th gear at low engine speeds isn't going to save any gas. The bucking is the same thing you'd get with the 6MT trying to drive around at 1500 rpm in 6th gear. I spend all my driving time in manu mode. It's not any harder than full auto, you have buttons on the steering wheel. I've had zero transmission hiccups/problems and I get 17mpg around town without driving in 4th gear. I'll usually shift to 4th once I'm around 45 mph.

I think there is something wrong with your car. My 8at never bucks.

Maybe, but I practically never drive in full auto mode, so it's not a big deal to me. I did mention it once to the service manager and all he said was "oh, it's probably in too high of a gear...". With that kind of response, I doubt I'd get anywhere pushing the issue. It's like, duh, this is an automatic, not a manual...it shouldn't be bucking regardless of what gear it's in.

The more I drive the car around though in tiptronic mode, the more I get pissed at Mazda for not taking some effort to put a 5 speed transmission in. I mean if their family sedan can have one, then I really think they could've taken the time to develop one for the car that embodies the soul and spirit of Mazda, the rotary engine.

The more I drive the car around though in tiptronic mode, the more I get pissed at Mazda for not taking some effort to put a 5 speed transmission in. I mean if their family sedan can have one, then I really think they could've taken the time to develop one for the car that embodies the soul and spirit of Mazda, the rotary engine.

I know what you mean, the gears are just too tall. I think the current setup would work great with sequential turbos, but Mazda needs a 5 speed AT if their going to keep it NA.

I'm a new member, these threads are really helpful.
I have an AT and do a lot of city driving. I have had the car 3 months ( fabulous!!), I now nearly always drive in manual shift otherwise the auto always wants to put it into too high a gear. With the easy revving and power output at higher revs than other cars, I drive mainly in 2nd and occasionally in 3rd (max speed most days 80mph). I hardly ever get into 4th except high speed motorway runs - not often enough!
I do have an occasional problem where the box does not automatically drop in to 1st sometimes when I stop, seems to happen more often when I glide to a slow stop. Anyone else have this problem??
Beware!! Don't drive in manual shift with the music loud!! The engine is so smooth that you can easily forget to change. I was driving around for miles listening to Bare Naked Ladies and looked down and was at 7000 revs in 1st!! oops!

how can you not realize your in first?? I dont understand, you will atleast feel some pull back after u release the throttle

Hey jerky, i have the SAME exact problem. i've had the problem since 7k-8k miles. ITs only 5-6 months old. when my car downshifts automatically and i accelerate, i feel like i'm nuetral bombing it. i've taken great care of my car, i've redlined it maybe 15 times if not less during my break-in period which was 7k miles. now i have 9000 miles and i'm getting a new transmission. the guy who test drove it couldnt find the problem till i had to drive it. i had to slow down then wait my car to downshift and then i would accelerate slowly and then it would jerk. the more i accelerate the bigger of a jerk the car would get. and yess i also noticed the delay when i put my car from reverse to drive, sometimes i forget i have to wait for the gears to change and i would accelerate and the same jerking feeling would happen. you guys arent the only one having this problem, this is probably a big issue for them, they should do something about it.

how can you not realize your in first?? I dont understand, you will atleast feel some pull back after u release the throttle

Easy!! Just driving along in traffic, consistant speed, singing along! I have had a couple of mates with 8's admit to doing the same thing. The fix is to put it in auto mode when you're singing!!

What are you talking about? In 1st gear, once you get up to 6k rpm, the throttle is so sensitive and you can totally tell your car is not in its correct gear. If you have driven a manual before, you would understand what I'm talking about.

I've driven manuals all my life until now, including some nice machines. With the 8 auto box in manual mode the throttle isn't that sensitive, it almost free-wheels when you ease your foot off ( I agree a manual box isn't at all like that).
Anyway, i did it, some friends have done it, I learned from it......

I do have an occasional problem where the box does not automatically drop in to 1st sometimes when I stop, seems to happen more often when I glide to a slow stop. Anyone else have this problem??


Yep, same problem here. Sort of dangerous at times too when you expect that burst of power to do a last minute turn from a stop, only to find out you're still in 2nd and crawling through the intersection. I doubt the dealership will do anything about it either because technically the car CAN start from 2nd gear. Only way I've found to guarantee a shift back to first is to cruise to a stop in 3rd...the computer will realize 3rd is too high for speeds below 10 mph and go back to 1st for sure.

Thanks for the tip, I've noticed it doesn't happen in 3rd, and yes it can be a little disconcerting when you are banking on that stunning 1st gear start!

Why dontyou bastards ever read myposts? This is a post I made last year about the problems w/the automatics tall gears andovercoming its speed deficiencies (read the bold parts particularly):

Now Iunderstand what all those manual 6spd owners were talkingabout when they would mock automatics for onlyhaving 4 gears in a high reving engine. They were just pointing out a major flaw in its transmission setup. I thoughtId make a post about this todaysince I almost wound up in a nasty accident this afternoon. Iveknown about it for a long time now but always thoughtit was irrelevant based on thetype of driving I usually do.

For thoseof you who never use tiptronic mode w/your automatic Rx8s or dontpay attention to how fastyoure going at certain RPMs (which is understandable sinceyou own an automatic Rx8) you may be wondering why it isthat sometimesyou feel no pick up at all eventhough youre flooring the damn pedal. There is a very weak zone in the automatic Rx8 powerband that is extremely noticeable in 2nd gear. If you ever find yourself driving anywhere between 30 - 45 mph and then suddenly floor the pedal --youll notice that youre not feeling much if any pick up at all until you get past 45 mph. Thisis b/c it is notuntil 45 mph or so that youbegin to approach 5000 RPM in the 2nd gear -- which the very beginning of the automatics BRIEF power zone.

The reason forthis is that the car refuses to downshift into 1st gear so longas youre going faster than 30mph. You willbe stuck in the low end power zone in 2nd gear for several seconds ifyou downshift between those speeds -- and the problem is that there is no friggin low end power w/these cars. So ifyou were for example driving slowly or moderately till about 35 mphand then suddenly gave thecar more gas you wouldnt feel that sudden umph you were looking for.

This may be important foryou to understand ifyoure ever in a driving situation where youre cruising between the abovementioned speeds and then suddenlywant or need some power -- like I did this afternoon when I was trying to prevent myself from being stuck at a notoriously long red light in this area. Ididnt notice that I was cruising at 32 mph before the light turned yellow. Once greenvanished I went WOT but didnt get any power to beat the light thanks to the problemI just got through explaining. Moreover someguy almost broadsided me since I completely ran the red light.

The only solution tothe power deficit youre placed in is to slow the car down to 30 mph before applying gas. That way under WOT youll be in 1st gear right at thepeak of the power zone.

Just in caseyou were wondering about your automatic--

1st gear tops out at 45 mph
2nd gear tops out at 80 mph
3rd gear tops out at 120 mph

(This is assuming you use tiptronicand rev allthe way to 7500 redline.)

Im still somewhat happy w/my automatic after a year of ownership and 18000 miles but lately itseems like my driving style has become a little bit more aggressive than before -- perhapsout of boredom. At times like these its unfortunate to have an annoying computer controlling everything w/two repulsively tall gears instead of a 6spd manual.

I know all the weak points w/our stressful 4 gears. Another werid thing Ishould point out is if you drop your speed down to EXACTLY 30mph w/o being in tiptronic mode and then FLOOR the pedal - the car will brust forward. Basicallywhat Im saying is that up until 30 mph you can geta burst of power from the car b/c the computer willdrop into 1st gear automatically up until that point. After that theonly other occurrence of a power burst is at 45 - 50mph in 2nd gear but its nowhere near as impressive.

Hopefully thatwill help some of you out. The computer in our automatics is too intrusive - whichis why I was bitching about switchingto a 6spd manual

Actually I had read your post and I agree with what you wrote, but it's not what I was talking about. What I said was that my AT doesn't always drop into 1st when I stop when in MANUAL mode, and that can cause a problem getting away from a junction. It seems it is a common problem and one to watch.
I know about what you discuss above and that is one of the reasons I always drive in manual mode - and anyway it's more fun!

So it seems some of us 'bastards' actually do read your posts ......

Sometimes it will stay in 2nd gear while you are stopping (a COMPLETE stop not a rolling one) but when Im using tiptronic mode and comingto a stop I usually down shift to 1st gear anyway after 10mph or so.