Thats why I date paraplegics... no legs to get in the way.

 

^^^^ "Good Job" ^^^^

 

thanks

 

He makes a convincing former F1 driver argument
Fifth Gear - RX-8

He talkes about the shifter around 1:30

 

I thought the hand brake was a standard technique used to break the back end loose by The Drifters.

 

Doesn't the ABS system malfunction when the e-brake is set? Couldn't that have caused it?

 

yeah wellk if he was driving on the right side of the road, then the shifter wouldnt have been in the way... its not in my way...

 

He complains about the shape of the **** too.

There is no way the handbrake can interfere with the gearstick. It does intrude into the legroom but it isn't a bad leg rest for highway cruising.

 

Yeah I disagree about the shifter. I love the way the **** feels in the RX-8. He is just old school racer how has his mind set. He probably thinks paddle shifters are ultra dumb too

 

Yeah, the shifting **** feels great, and fit perfectly with the car and all the rest of the rotary accents.

 

I always hated that handbrake. Disgusting design. Don't understand why it has to be so prominent. Look inside the car and that's the first thing you notice...

 

This is called "trailing throttle over-steer"... when you got the steering far enough to the left to regain directional control, the momentum of the front of the car going left was enough to snap the car into a spin to the right (uncorrected fishtailing). This used to be a horrible problem with Porsche's older 911 designs when entering a corner too fast. This is also why cars are made so that they'll understeer drastically and dramatically when entering a corner too fast. Lifting the throttle on an understeering car merely returns control to the driver at some point. Staying off the throttle in a "lift-oversteer" condition simply results in a spin, usually in the direction of the initial oversteer, but our cars have enough steering angle to over correct, causing snap spins in the other direction, especially when off the throttle.

The correct response is countersteering in the direction of the slide and a CONSTANT pressure on the throttle, not the brakes. Watch Stig drive the RX-8 off the corners in any Top Gear video and you'll see what I mean. You have to use the throttle to keep the rear wheels turning in a forward motion while they're struggling for grip. Formula Drift and D1GP drivers make this look easy.

1/2 up on the E-brake was NOT a factor at all or you would have simply spun out to the left and that would have been the end of it.

 

Still i like e-brake better on RX-8 than G35... They have those stupid foot e-brakes where you have to use your foot to press down. You can't drift like that !

 

Never had that problem with my gf (or any other passenger). If I did, as some have said, new rules would be made immediately.

Then again, the OP said his gf denies doing it. It could've been a very bad accident and that is a great deal of responsibility for her to admit to. Might not be worth pressuring her as I doubt, if she did do it, she'll do it again.

 

Photomunkey could be right, I wasn't too sure what I was doing, it's probably me driving too fast in the rain, and just by coincidense that she jacked up my handbrake at the same time. Like Shinka-dono mentioned, there's no point pressuring anybody to admit anything now. However, we came up with a "so-called" solution.

Now when we go out together, she drives her big SUV, nice and slow. When I drive to work or when I am on my own, I will then enjoy my Blue-8. But yeah, after that experience, I drive slower in the rain, which cannot be a bad thing.

 

True....Mazda was too cheap to change it.

 

cheaper that way. they don't need to make any new parts for the US models.

 

Even though it was designed primarily for RHD the e-brake is still a problem on those because it gets in the way of the shifter. Who knows why Mazda decided they needed the e-brake to be bigger than the engine.

 

The gear **** is higher than the brake and at least 3" away. The only way the brake could interfere with the gear changing process is if you depress the clutch with your left hand.
The gear lever is perfectly positioned so that your elbow rests on the console between shifts. Good ergonomic design.

My only complaint with the handbrake is that its short travel could lead to incomplete application when parked.

 

Ebrake drifts?! The ebrake on our cars is not nearly strong enough to maintain a drift. It can be used to initiate a drift but mid drift I find the "clutch kick" to be more helpful and hella faster. I spent a lot of time this winter fooling around in parking lots....