Ninonemo

Hi, I can't go into 1st from 2nd while the car is moving. But sometimes it does work. I tried at 9mph and 5mph, it's just luck when I do get it in from 2nd.

From stop to start, it's so easy to get into 1st. But, from 2nd to 1st, I feel this resistent and I hear a little bid of a whining noise when I have the stick pushed against the resistent. Is something wrong?

Smoker

That's the safety gate at work. It opens when the Speedo is 10km/h or lower.

If you want to down shift to 1st at a higher speed, try double clutching.

Trekk

My car has 1k miles on it and it doesnt like to go into first very smooth once im rolling.
My last car was a civic and it never wanted to drop down into frist moving also. I dont think anything is wrong with my rx8, maybe it just works like that to protect the tranny.
I dont really ever find myself needing to get into first rolling anyways, second seems to work well enough

daisuke

the whining noise might also be your synchros trying to speed up your gearbox, shifting into 1st while moving is pretty hard on most manual cars, you need to rev the engine to match where the revs should be.

Older porsches from the 80s had an unsynchronized 1st gear which made shifting into it nearly impossible without stopping.

limepro

yep if im going 12 mph or faster i cant go into first just something i live with haha

captain mercury

at first i thought this was strange, too. being at 8mph seemed awfully slow to be in 2nd gear. so when i would be at that point, i was constantly trying to downshift to 1st...but apparently thats normal!

zoom44

i can get it to 1st from 2 at 8. i have done it at 11 but nothing over that.

BunnyGirl

When I come home at night I shift down into 1st from second and I am going around 9 MPH and I have no problem whatsoever.

limepro

12 mph is the cutoff so at or after that u wont be able to =D

Ninonemo

You guys think maybe I shifted too slow from 2nd to 1st causing the rev to go down to idle could be the cause?

BunnyGirl

This is when I am slowing down to park in the driveway, so I wouldn't be going faster. I've never tried it higher than around 9.

limepro

i know i just felt like quoting you i usually just keep it in 2nd but everyone has their own way of driving =D

dmc27

MT's my whole life. Tranny no likey the 2-1 downshift. There really is no need to anyway. Rolling stops is the only time I ever try; not that I'm saying I roll through stop signs. In those cases I'm going less than the speeds mentioned ^^. Even then I can feel the shifter give a little side to side shake going into 1st. Makes my nice, slim, smooth, sexy 8 feel like

NoTears316

You guys suck at the RX8. Learn to double clutch kids. I can go from 2 - 1 at 30+ if I NEED to (not many needs for that). Going down steep hills and having to slow quickly, I use the 2 - 1 downshift to help.

Dro

lol @ suck at the RX-8

captain mercury

im very impressed

blakew15

The owners manual says something about not going down to first around 20-25 MPH. I dont know exactly but its around there.. for safety reasons i guess and its hard on the clutch

dmc27

?? Double clutch downshifting stops the 8 quicker than the brakes from 30mph to 0?? I hope I'm not the car in front of you when you have "to slow quickly".

Spazm

Oh yeah? Well I can go from 6-1 while chatting on my cell phone and sipping a latte!

Hightshoe

I thought down shifting to first at anything other than a complete stop, was bad?

torbee

I never go slow enough to need first unless I'm stopping

NoTears316

So what you're saying is that you just slam on the brakes and bog down the engine by not downshiftng? Thats some pretty sweet driving skills ya have there.

limepro

i think he means from 2-1 u can start and in 2nd and its actually recommended in any occasion where the road is not dry.

u arent bogging down the engine when u dont switch from 2nd to 1st unless u are going like 5mph in which case i would just press the clutch in and let it coast out of gear lol

Rinkadink

I was actually amazed at how I could smoothly launch with second with this car. I though with such low-torque and such a free-revving engine it would be a pain. But at least twice I've done it thinking I was in 1st gear. It is tougher, but definitely doable.

limepro

ive taken off in 3rd just very very slowly by accident also i should add but i was already moving before i realized it so just went with it