Bankotsu

Yea, I am a noob driver also(2 years experience). I would really like to learn how to drive a standard. Those with the RX8, is this a good car to learn in? My dad said he don't want me to get a standard though because the transmission will mess up easily though.

nash

I learned stick on the first car I bought, having never driven standard before. The salesman helped me out and I got around a few blocks on the test drive (more like driving school). After that I was confident I could learn it quickly, so I bought the car. I cooked the clutch only once on a hill, and stalled a few times on the way to work for the next couple days, but after that it was smooth sailing... it's worth it - once you go stick you'll never go back!

Magnesium

IMO your Dad is totally wrong. My experiences with manual and auto trans is quite the opposite of what he is saying. To me auto's usually have to be serviced more often than manuals.

Sputnik

This has been recently discussed in other threads.

---jps