Hey guys, just traded-in and bought an RX8 today (2009).

After lots of researching and suggestions, I decided to go for Manual transmission despite never driven one in my life. I stalled a few times in an empty lot I was practicing in, and then just once on the drive home (about 30-40 mins of rush-hour traffic).

I understand that learning the manual takes patience and at the end it'll be worth it.

Just a quick question, I notice when I start the car from a stop (first gear OR reverse), if the car doesn't stall it'll jolt forward and rock a few times (quick tire skid sound). Seems like this is from too much gas, but I hardly feel like I'm pressing the pedal. Any tips? Thanks.

BTW, doing hard turns in 3rd gear is probably the most fun I've ever had.

 

Near as I can tell, you are half right. To control jolting starts and squealing tires, you need to practice synchronizing your feet to work as a team. I had the same problem years ago when the earth was young. I was given a 4-speed car to run an errand for a friend even though I had never driven anything but automatic. Took me a while, but once I got used to the fact both feet were involved, I quickly brought the shaky starts under control (except when intentional lol). Keep practicing and soon you will get it like I did.

 

Like mysterion said, just gotta practice synchronizing your feet. Also, I've noticed 1st gear in rx8's is REALLY torquey. I even get a little bit of jolting every once in a while if I have to drive REALLY slow in a parking lot or drive with a new pair of shoes. The best way to stop this if it's getting ridiculous is to push the clutch in and try again or shift into 2nd (as long as you're going ~10 mph, you won't stall in 2nd)

I have a series 1 though (pre-2009) I know the series 2 transmissions have longer gearing so maybe 1st gear isn't as torquey as series 1's

Just a tip though, learning how to drive stick on ANY car puts a lot of wear on the clutch, and clutch jobs aren't cheap on rx8s (paid ~$1,000 the last time I had mine replaced). That being said, it's safer (and cheaper!) to give as little gas as possible and risk stalling than give it a lot of gas and not stall, but burn your clutch. While daily driving I usually rev it up between 2k-3k RPM and let out on the clutch, anything less than that and the engine bogs down (when the car jumps forward and then slowly accelerates as opposed to accelerating smoothly).

Also, if you're going to overtake someone on the freeway and you need to down shift, blip the gas and get the RPMs up to about 4-6k before releasing the clutch and going into a lower gear, this'll not only save your clutch but also make the downshifts much smoother.

Good luck! and big ups for learning how to drive stick instead of settling for the performance-lacking automatic!

 

You definitely made a good choice of getting a manual will be worth it when you get used it it

 

What you are doing is normal for learning to drive a stick, you are letting the clutch out too fast which is causing the transmission to engage forcefully. Slower clutch engagement and a little more gas will fix that.

 

^Yep! find the sweet spot and ease it out while easing in the gas. Lather. Rinse. Repeat and you'll be golden in no time!

 

A top tip, or at least what worked with both kids,,,

when you first feel the clutch bite, either by the engine going down a few RPM, or the pressure on the pedal changing, or the car moving; STOP releasing the clutch. Let it engage on its own. Then let the clutch the rest of the way out.

Once you get that hooked up in first gear (without pressing the gas at all), switch to learning to start in second with the clutch and gas all working together.

Good luck.

 

++1 with 04Green.. Letting your clutch engage itself without the use of Gas pedal will turn out to be very helpful during traffic jams. Also, I have noticed that it prevents premature clutch wear. No facts no data to back it up just what I have found in last 4 stick shifts I have owned.

all the best

 

Thanks for the tips, much appreciated.

Been noticing my car is idling at just about 1000 RPM on the nose. This seems a little high to me? Or is that fine? 22K miles on it.

 

It should normally idle between 750-1000, 750 being ideal.

 

Check the idle when the car is warm, mine idles around 1k or even a bit higher until it warms up, then it idles at around 750k. I believe I have read during the colder months it will idle much higher until warm up as well.