VWjet

I was at the NAIAS the opening day for the public and the black RX-8 had paddle shifters. Is this going to be standard with the auto trans? I can't get into mazdarx-8.com for some reason (heavy volume)? Shifting on the wheel would be sweet, but I can't justify the decrease in power for that!

zoom44

yes paddle shifters are standard with the auto.

psukhu

Note that it is a standard automatic with "shift buttons" rather than the F1 type transmission found on Ferraris, M3 and the MR2.

http://www.edmunds.com/news/innovati...3/article.html

psukhu

The SMT would have been a nice choice in place of the automatic:

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/roadt...5/article.html

zoom44

or how about a "6-speed" CVT?
audi

Hercules

And make the car FWD? no thanks

zoom44

:o no no i didn't mean that. i was just throwing out another example of new trannies. god forbid

Sputnik

Patience...

---jps

cueball

An uber high horsepower 4 rotor enigne would be nice too, but everything cost $. Hopefully we will get an SMG, but it takes time for new technology to come down in price.

red_base 95

Sputnik - your comment on this may lead some to believe an SMG may be available at some point in the future, say from a MazdaSpeed model?

If thats the case - WOW!!!

tallguylehigh

Isn't there talk of the MPS RX-8 having some type of variant of SMG technology?

Strider

Wasn't the only talk of a MPS version only in our minds at this time?

Sputnik

Yep, that's the buzz from reliable sources. We'll just have to see if Mazda can get it to their liking (in other words, reliable enough that they'd sell it) by the time the MPS is ready to go.

---jps