Does the manual transmission require a 6-port engine?
 

Hello all, thank you for helping me out with this! I'm days from purchasing my first RX-8 with intentions of doing many things to it over the years. One of which, will be swapping the automatic transmission it comes with, to a manual. I have been doing as much research as I can, and reading on this thread heavily. But this is where I'm stuck, I'm on a budget and want to save as much cash as possible. Does the 6-speed manual need the 6-port, or is that just ideal. As of now, the car has a 4-port. And if so, why does it need it? I'm trying to learn as much as have fun with it!

For any curious, my rational behind this is that, for one, the car is in twice as good condition as any other rx-8 for sale in a 150 mi radius. It has half the miles, and everything about the car is in incredible condition. The one shaky part about it is the transmission, which I intend to swap anyway, so this is why I'm not "just going to buy a manual instead." In addition, I am not doing this for the extra 10 or so horse power, but as a project, I like projects and learning stuff. Not only, but I find a manual a hell of a lot more fun to drive.

So that all said, thanks again for your help!

I know you don't want to hear this, but buy a manual. Wait if you have to, pay more if you have to, but don't by the auto. It's the worst/most expensive/least reliable/least powerful version of the engine, and the swap to manual is a lot more than just drop one trans and mate up another. You will hate yourself if you go down this road. I'm not just saying this for kicks :/

But to answer your question, no the transmission doesn't care what engine it's on.

Also have you done a compression test to verify that 4 port is in good shape?

Thanks for the honest reply, I appreciate it. ;)
I have not personally tested the engine, however, a recent mechanical check would suggest it pulled good numbers. I will find out more about this tomorrow, though.

A manual transmission won't care what it's connected to because it has no electronics. The PCM will care because the PCM out of an auto will be looking for input from the TCM (which will either not be there or be very angry in the absence of an auto transmission).

Alarm flags are raised whenever I see the words "on a budget" or "save as much money as possible" when talking about an RX-8.

Your project will go a lot better if you start off with the best platform to begin with. If that means widening your search or holding off on the purchase until you can save up more money then that would be your best course of action.

Dont do it, all the fecking around changing it will do your feckin head in

I suggest, wait for a decent manual.

+1 to everything Loki said. Especially the bold part. Do not do this. You will regret it.

You'll have enough to do with maintenance anyway. Just get a manual and try your hand at performance mods instead of a MT conversion

Couldn't agree more. Find a manual which, by far, is what most used RX-8s are. Honestly, this is a no brainer.

Shift it or go home.

Wait for a decent standard RX-8. I don't see much of a point getting the problematic version.

Tranny swap can go wrong pretty easily, especially for post-millennium cars. Here is a story from an Acura TL owner that got badly ripped off from a tranny swap. It can get complicated even for older cars. Not only do you need a new tranny, you will also need a new ECU, which is very expensive, along with many other items.

Manual FTW !

Even in Asia (traffic is bad as hell, my 6th gear hasnt been touched for like months), i still chose manual, if not why buy rx8 at all, might as well settle with mazda6.

It's the smiles per gallon! Who am i kidding lol, we use Km and Liters.

Get a manual. Best decision you will make for sure.

Pretty sure that the 6-spd manual has a different bolt pattern than the 4-port auto (starter too if I recall) and will not bolt on in line place of the auto trans.

To me the issue isn't nearly as much the hassle of the MT/AT swap as much as you're still stuck with a gimped motor after all that work. It's just not worth it no matter how you look at it. You'd be better off buying something with a blown motor and rebuilding it then swapping like that.