dude if you like your car and enjoy it the way it is dont go crazy over it. i myself owned an AT 8 and tormented myself for 2 years before trading it in for an MT. Big difference in power. but seriously, if you like the car keep it. and especially with traffic MT isnt to fun. if your still having doubts try to find someone in your are that will be willing to take you for a spin so you can see the difference

Not true, none of those soccer mom's know how to launch :spank:

well ill throw in my opinion i guess...same as everyone else though..this is my first MT. and the learning curve on this car (although ive driven friends MT's in anticipation of this one) is the shortest posssible. i learned how to drive it the same night....its alot of fun, but some people do regret gettting manuals. not on rx8 per say, but i know many ppl that trade in MT for ATs .. its all about your style of driving and if you really feel that u wouldnt get sick of shifting all the time.. some ppl do get sick of the shifting (i dont see y ). i love this whole MT thing...so much more control of what you wnt to do. especially with this engine because u can stay around 5k rpm and use the power whenever you want if you feel like it without the strain non rotary's have...either way welcome man ....and if you made the decision dont look back it will only make u wonder. just be happy with what u got .

"Either way I love the car, so its no biggie"

You better believe it, this car is a blast to drive no matter how you shift it and looks and handling are second to none. We ordred ours with an AT as we will never own another MT. Unless you plan to drag or track it, you will never miss the gain by goin to an MT.
The MT vs AT lives on. LOL

Some people are saying that they should not make the 8 in an Auto. A friend of mine is a Mazda salesman. He sells about 5 autos for every manual. The market is there. I drive a manual. I have been driving them for almost 22 years, so I feel strange when I drive the wife's car. As for being "fast" the 8 is not a drag racer. Was not intended to be one. Just take it down a very tight and twisty road at least once a week. That is the nature of the 8. Also, don't worry about getting ridden for having an AT. Enjoy it and watch how many times a day you get stared at by people as you are ridding around.

The 8's 6M is particularly a good transmission. I think it'd be easier to learn on this than some long throw notchy 5M.

2007 Nissan Altima SE V6 270hp:
Auto: 0-60 mph in 6.6 seconds, 1/4 mile in 15.0 seconds.
Manual: 5.9, 14.6

Toyota Camry SE V6 Performance:
Auto: 6.1, 14.6


I notice that while driving on the freeway, if I need to accelerate and drop a gear or two, there's nothing within eyesight that is going to out-accelerate me and cut me off. Some people consider this slow, but every day during basic defensive driving maneuvers necessary to protect myself and my RX8, I out accelerate other cars at will, in a straight line, and there's nothing any of those auto drivers can do about it no matter how floored their gas pedal is, no matter how high on drugs they are, no matter how late they are running.

Truly, it is highly offensive to some RX8 drivers that I consider my car even remotely fast. In fact, I think fast may be a four letter word to them.

People with fast cars consider theirs slow; people with slow cars rice them out and consider them fast.

auto is a manual
 

use the paddle shift and then you have a manual, I smoked same car with a manual and used the paddle shift to do it.....

Wow Spencer excellent first post.
You revived a thread that is worthless to start with and almost 5 years old.

Bravo

And you are so wrong, so very very wrong.
The paddle shift on the Auto is not anything like a Manual trans.

an overdose of truth.