hi, i just got my 2004 mazda rx8 just over a week ago,

i have been using the tiptronic/shiftronic mode over the automatic b/c one it's a lot more fun and two, the guy who owned it before said he used it b/c he found that it shifted too fast on automatic where he could feel it.

so i have been playing around with rpm's and finding the smoothest spot to shift from one to two two to three etc.

few people have told me that between 3-4000 but i find that from one to two if i shift just over the 2000 mark, its pretty darn smooth, is this okay? what do you guys find that work the best?

i have never driven an actual manual so have basically no clue about the do's and don't of shifting and i really want to take good care of her.

thank you

 

Yup, that's okay.

 

You really can't go wrong. Lower Rpm shift = better gas mileage, Higher Rpm shift = more fun. Same as manual except you can't mess up

 

Its an automatic, just shift it when the engine is struggling...that's all

 

Try to avoid taking advice from Monchie. He means well, but... Well, I guess you'll see...

And, welcome to the boards! I see you're local to me. Make yourself welcome in this thread https://www.rx8club.com/canada-forum...thread-207204/
Include pictures and a quick bio

 

Shifting at a lower RPM will help your gas mileage some, but keep in mind that if you shift at low RPM all the time, you will carbon cake your engine to death. This engine needs to spin up higher and breathe. Take it to redline and shift there every so often. It's one of the funnest aspects of this car and it's good for the engine. Just don't sit at redline though. That is just overheating your transmission fluid and soaking the engine with excess wasted heat. Take it up to redline in gear at full throttle, and shift.

 

These systems are quite advanced with automatic downshifts so you really cant go wrong. Are these unrestricted to the point where you can bounce off the rev limiter?

 

Yes, you can take it to fuel cut using manual mode. It's not really a "tiptronic", as that is the brand name of a specific manufacturer's transmission. It's like calling Toyota's VVTi system "VTEC". They are both variable valve timing, but VTEC is Honda's specific name for it.

It's also not all that advanced of a transmission. You can just overright the default ECU logic by putting it manual mode. The only time it will ignore you is coming to a stop, it will drop you to 1st gear. It might automatically upshift you at the rev limiter under some conditions. I wasn't able to thoroughly test that on the only automatic 8 I've ever driven.