Auto Manual Shift
 

I have a question this is my first automatic car with manual shift on it and would like to know if your suppose to leave your foot on the gas when your switching the gears in manual? Or can you hurt the engine or trans if you shift with taking your foot off the car and then switching? Let me know whats up!

It's just an ordinary automatic transmission. Like so many tiptronic etc. designated auto trans, the manufacturer puts electronic controls on the shifting. Beyond that, it's an ordinary slushbox, drive it the same way you'd drive any other automatic trans car - it doesn't matter if you pull a paddle, tap a lever, or let the trans decide when to shift for itself, the shifts are identical.

Special units like the Ferrari F1, BMW SMG, Toyota SMT, and a few other European-offered units, are real manual gearboxes with hydraulically actuated clutch and shifters. Those might require a slightly different driving technique. Mazda won't offer one of those in the RX-8 for another year or two.

Regards,
Gordon

in other words, leave your foot on the gas

Gordon:
I think automatics became dominant in the U.S. because it was something else that could be sold at a premium -- and Americans are crazy for "premium" anything. If I recall correctly, Cadillac was one of the first to offer them. So... many of us born to early baby-boomers were taught to drive by selecting P, D, N, or R. Thus, the numbers on the transmission column were never to be used (although my father always insisted he would use "2" when he needed to start on ice -- I never saw it happen... but he liked to point that out authoritatively when someone would ask).

I suspect cas2themoe is asking a different question than the one you answered: How should one best use the RX-8 "slush box?" I've never seen that particular question answered well (certainly not in the manual).

Here's what I did, cast2themoe -- hopefully others will chime in with true "advice" --- this is just uneducated "experience" talking:

Step 1: Didn't use it much when I purchased the car. When I did start playing with it, always moved selector to the manual mode from a dead stop. Drove until the RPM's got between 3000 and the redline at 7500 (staying away from the redline during the first 600 miles of ownership -- the "break-in period"), then shift to second. Continue this process until the car is at the speed, then shift back to automatic mode while in third or fourth gear. I later learned that you can move back to automatic mode at any speed or while stopped. This is good to know when you forget that you're in manual mode and the engine is racing like crazy and you aren't accelerating. Just pop it back to regain control.

2. Repeat step one, but use the paddles. At this point, I discovered I preferred the selector over the paddles. It's hard to turn the wheel and shift.

3. After a while of this, I started trying to downshift to a stop. BIG MISTAKE. The engine does not like downshifting unless you are accelerating. Instead, allow the transmission to downshift by itself as it wants. In other words, if you approach a stop sign from fourth gear, the transmission will drop to "1" all by itself. Begin again.

4. Occasionally, you approach an intersection or slow down and then need to accelerate again. In manual mode, if the car has not dropped all the way back down to "1" by itself, push the gear down to accelerate. This is the only part that seems to take a bit of practice. After a while, knowing when to downshift to accelerate begins to "feel" normal... you can always pop it back to automatic if you aren't yet comfortable.

I've pretty much discovered that the car's automatic transmission suits me well and I don't use manual mode much at all any more. The exception is when I am trying to rev the engine, when it can be fun. Once you get past the break in, I think taking the car up to the red line is "good for the car to burn out carbon deposits" (? - Just repeating what's been said other places...) However, for the type of suburban driving I often do... there's never a need to get to speed faster than the traffic in front of me :-(

I grew up with sticks and automatics. We routinely started in 2nd gear in slippery conditions. I have used the same technique with my 8, it will start in 2nd gear in AT manual mode.

I have played with the Manual Mode a fair amount and have found that you can switch back and forth pretty much any time you want. If you are going fast and switch to manual and find that you are in 4th already, you can tap down to 3rd which brings the revs up and then accelerate from there and tap up to 4th again. I wouldn't really recommend down shifting to slow down unless you are only in 3rd and not going very fast. Sometimes I feel that the full auto stays in 3rd too long before going to 4th so I shift up.

Any other experiences with Manual Mode?

mm

I have just started using the AT in manual mode:

- The paddles are convenient, unless you are turning
- I started to use it to force from 3rd to 4th during city accel
- 4th to 3rd is good at some city speeds to prep for accel
- It does its own downshifts, according to the manual
4th-3rd at 19 MPH
3rd or 2nd to 1st at 5MPH
If you start in 2nd, it may not downshift to 1st
- It has min speeds for upshifts

I haven't tried aggressive shifting.

does the manual mode do a good job of simulating a real manual tranny? I'd love to have the full manual, but it seems impractical for my purposes and I'd love to have auto every once and a while (ie traffic obviously). for everyday driving, is the AT really that inferior to the MT? (keep in mind, I don't really drive like a nut..)

depends on what your definition of "inferior" is...

for me, AT is mostly boring, but sometimes it's a blessing. Sometimes I'm super tired and not in the "driving" spirit, and just want to get home or get to work but I'm stuck in rush hour... In that case, MT just becomes another thing to tire me out.

Because it's mostly a personal preference, calling either "inferior" or "superior" wouldn't have much validity, unless you specify some context to that statement.

Manual gear selection on ATs (ie. Tiptronic), are pretty useless, since the majority of the time, there is no real benefit. Like somebody said, the shifts are just the same. Add to the fact that the "paddle" shifters (not really paddles, more like buttons) are quite annoying because they move with the steering wheel, they're pretty much gimmick, IMO. They may look cool, but practical, they are not.

Yes but can I switch gears in manual mode while letting my foot off the gas and then switching gears up and down without hurting the trans?

Yes - just like any other auto trans.

No, none of these automatic transmissions with electronically controlled manual shift modes simulates a real manual at all - the transmission still shifts like an automatic, all that is happening in manual mode is that you tell it when to shift rather than it deciding when to shift for itself.

Regards,
Gordon

A few observations on the 8's AT
 

You can do any moves you like without hurting the car, because your moving the shifter or paddle doesn't directly shift anything. It just tell the auto you would like a certain shift to happen. If it is a nonsensical one -- for example, hitting the paddle quickly two or three times to get to first gear when doing 80, it will just ignore any shift that would cause overreving. The speed ranges are in the manual.
You can kick down a gear in manual without touching shifter or paddles. In other words, the usual automatic transmission kickdown by hitting the accelerator all the way works in manual mode.
My experience is that the full auto shifts up at about 7,000 even with full throttle, so the manual mode gives you the advantage of being able to use the last 500 rpm and hear the buzzer (there's also a cutoff if you try to go beyond 7.500).
Paddles and shifter are personal preference. I find the paddles more convenient (your hands are on the wheel, so a finger touch is faster than moving your hand down to the shifter) and more fun in straight ahead operation. The shifter is better while turning, because it stays in one place, unlike the moving paddles. That means most work is on the paddles if you follow performance driving rules, because you should not be shifting in the middle of a turn. It is destabilizing, and can cause you to lose control (until the DSC kicks in, if you bought that upgrade with your auto). Of course, for normal road use, the 8 has much more road holding ability than you'll use, so you can make all sorts of driving mistakes and never get in trouble.
The combination of the auto's choice of what gear you should be in -- 4th, at even moderate speeds -- and the low torque in 4th, especially at low revs, like 2,000 for 47 mph -- means that manual mode gives you better options than auto in many cases. For example, I drive suburban four-lane with on-grade crossings, occasional lights, and some mild grades. In manual, I may choose 3, which is less sluggish and still under 3,000 rpm at 47. Even if I'm in fourth, I can just tap my paddle when approaching an incline and smoothly move into third to maintain speed easily. If I decide I suddenly want to sprint away, I choose 2. With the automatic, things are trickier. You will be in fourth. It takes a bit of delicate footwork to make it downshift to third; if you hit it hard, it goes into full throttle second with a bit of a jerk. The delicate nudge to third takes longer than hitting the paddle in manual mode.

BTW, the manual mode 2 is occasionally useful for engine braking on long and steep downhills. Again, that's in the manual.

That's a pretty well written describtion of how the system works Mitch. If there I have any luck I will never have to drive a manual shift again.