Maybe if by hesitation you mean DSC kicking in because there's so much power.

When do we get to see your new whip?

 

very soon... my family took some half-*** pictures of me at the dealer driving away... hahaha at least I didn't stall in the photo. They even took a home video of me driving away, cause it's my first car ever.

I still have to go back to the dealer to install the front crest, and after that, give her a wash and as per the people's suggestion here, do the NXT TECH wax once over.

I have the MS CAI, maybe I'm not driving the manual correctly at the moment since I'm not very smooth, but once in awhile, when I start rolling in 1st gear, the car hesitates like crazy, so I switch to 2nd gear and everything is okay.

Has anyone ever gotten that? and I granny shift terribly from 2 --> 3. I'm not fast enough yet fearing that I'd go from 2 back to 1 by accident.

 

Don't worry about accidentally going from 2nd to 1st. Once you've got some speed it becomes extremely difficult to force it into 1st. I don't know if it's even possible. I've never wanted to try. 3rd is about the easiest gear to go in. just push up with no lateral movement.

 

I don't know if this will make sense... but I find 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th gear are all really smooth to slide into but 5th and 6th seem a bit stiffer. I haven't used them much, little highway driving so far, do they get smoother with use? There's nothing mechanically wrong just a slightly different feeling getting into those gears. Did I explain that ok?

 

If you just "push up with no lateral movement".. that goes from 2nd to 1st doesn't it?
I find that I have to nudge it to the right a little bit to make sure it goes into 3rd instead of 1st, that's why I shift so slowly...
and by then, since my clutch is out.. the RPM has dropped, and when I pop it back in and release the clutch, it lunges forward a bit

not smooth...

 

mmmno. Think about it... in neutral, the stick is between 3 and 4. you have to push it left to go into 1 and 2, and right to go into 5 and 6. Sit in your car in the driveway and go through the gears. It'll be pretty obvious.

 

I know, but if you're in 2... then you're directly in the same plane as 1 and 2.. so if you move up, it'lll go into 1. Don't you need to nudge it slightly to the right to enter the pathway to 3.

 

No, you don't need to nudge it slightly to the right. It wants to go slightly to the right. Just ease off the kung-fu grip and let it center itself as you push up.

 

hahah yeah.... how did you know I have the kung fu grip! LOL!..
it's all sweaty afterwards too, cause I'm all nervous when driving manual new now

 

I find the metal on the shifter is slippery when my hand sweats, which is basically every time I get in the 8!

 

Okay thanks guys,

I got the shift from 2 --> 3 smoothly now.. and 3 --> 4 is no problem..

But now it's bad from 1 --> 2...

I get the car rolling in 1st gear.. it goes up to about 4000 rpm (I'm still in break in period)...
then I:

1) get off gas
2) push clutch in
3) move lever to 2nd (straight down)
4) let clutch back in

Now as soon as I let clutch back in.. it isn't smooth, it goes BANG in, and jerks the car..

5) I resume the gas and drive normally.

I do the same for 2nd to 3rd, and from 3rd to 4th and it's fine.

Something I need to do especially for 1 --> 2?

 

Practice makes perfect. The rpms are probably dropping too much or you're kind of dumping the clutch. There is more room for error as you go up the gears because of the longer gearing. 1-2 takes time to do smoothly. Kind makes you respect the friends you ride with that make the shifting seem super easy.

 

You'll get used to it Footman. A good way to practice and learn the clutch take up is the following:

With the car on relatively flat ground sit in neutral. Put it into first and try to get the car going just by letting the clutch out slowly. Don't give it any gas. You will be able to feel where the clutch starts to engage, and it will give your foot/brain a nice memory of what to do.

It will be hard at first as the 8 has a soft engagement point, but it is worth the effort. Also sit with the car off and practice going up and down through the box.

Juergen

 

Okay, i'm going to do that tonight late at night and practice for several hours overnight in an empty parking lot. What a great way to spend thanksgiving.

 

Alright, after spending 2 hours on empty roads just starting stopping, starting stopping with no gas, and clutch only... and then add gas when it starts to engage... and all that exercise... I have noted the following.

As you go up in gears, i.e. from 1 --> 2... from 2 --> 3..... from 3 --> 4, it requires DECREASINGLY SLOWLY letting out the clutch after the shift to ensure smoothness. What I Mean is from going 1 to 2.. I atually have to give it a little gas, and let out the clutch slowly after the shift for a smooth shift. Then from 2 --> 3 I can let out the clutch a little faster... and etc... etc... as you go up in gears.

There is a sock that is currently wrapped around my MS CAI (I looked under). Should I remove that sock or not? Will it affect low-RPM hesitation and hiccup?

This hesitation and hiccuping happens ONLY at certain times during launch... I still don't believe it is normal. Or am I just too used to the smoothness of low-rpm driving on automatic transmissions?

Does anyone else get hiccuping/hesitation with MS CAI (with sock on) and low RPMs? It's not all the time, but it just jerks you forward and back consistently.

 

Leave the sock alone! The last thing you want to do is to start tinkering with your car. The sock protects the filter from water. Don't you have a friend who drives standard that can drive your car? You need a second opinion.

 

Hey Footman congrats on your purchase i know you were in the market for a while....Anyway when i wax i do it by hand nothing gets the wax worked in like a good handjob ;p sorry had to say it

 

About your shifting problems going from 1st to 2nd....your not used to driving manual 1st gear is a real heavy gear to get out of smoothly but you will get used to it i had the same issue but after a few weeks i was fine

 

Any knowledgable drivers out there near Scarborough or Richmond Hill that wants to check out this hesitation problem I'm talking about? I'll come meet you around your area for some coffee/?

 

I remember way back when I was first learning to drive a standard. My dad took me out in our old Volkswagen Beetle and we drove to a long street that was uphill all the way. Starting at the bottom, my dad made me put it in first gear and then start from a stop without stalling, lurching or rolling backwards. Then stop. Start again. Stop. Start. Stop. Over and over, all the way up the hill. Talk about frustrating! The neighbours probably thought we were looney, but I sure learned how to drive a stick shift. Not until I was able to go all the way up the hill starting and stopping, was I allowed to take the car out on my own.

 

That was a cool story, Julica. Makes sense.

When I got my first manual (but not my first car), my dad drove it home from the dealer and it sat in his garage (I had moved out) and I would go over there every day, take the car out and practice, then back into his garage. When I was finally confident enough, I took the car home and never looked back. Every other car since then has been MT.

Good luck Footman and congratulations on having an 8 for a first car!

 

seriously man... at low speeds the hesitation bothers me.... are you guys rolling along "smoothly" in 1st gear, clutch engaged... ??? same with 2nd gear at low speeds.

 

If you need I can meet you on a weeknight this week or something to show you the car and give it a test (no racing I promise ~wink~). MY car rolls smoothly along at idle with the clutch out at 7km/h in 1st, and 12km/h in 2nd gear. I don't get any hesitation.

Juergen

 

That means there's something wrong with my NEW car you're saying.

I get off work in Vaughan area at around 5pm. Incidentally, I work 1 minute away from Dooley's where a lot of RX-8 people like Darkbrew and Neo go shoot pool at.

I live in Scarborough, where would you like to meet?

 

Well it turns out I can't meet anymore during the week here. I picked up a new receivership at work and I am going to be putting in some late hours. I will probably be at Dooley's on Saturday night though if you want to pop by there for a bit. Sorry.

J