With a manual transmission you are driving the car; with an automatic transmission you are just steering it.
All my cars except one have been stick shifts, including some pretty fair-sized V-8s. I don't even consider automatics when car shopping.

Manual, because manuals are so much fun.

I got the AT but every sports car i ever owned was stick. But I live in NJ ang can't do it any more because of the traffic. The auto shifters are so cool and fun to drive I had to do it.

I think the big difference for the next model will be transmission offerings.

Too much traffic for me to deal with. I had to get the automatic. But, I wish Mazda would come out with an automatic with higher horsepower.

i havent bought my rx 8 yet bur im definetly going to get it with a manual tranny. more power and no sports car shold have an auto.

No matter what car I drive it will have a cluth I control until the day I can no longer use one.

Prefer the manual, can't buy a sports car with an auto, it just doesn't feel right.:D

learned to drive on an automatic... 69 Charger with 383 magnum...:D

Bought a 66 Mustang 289 with an automatic and shift kit...


Then a friend taught me how to drive a stick in an Olds 442... and I have never looked back. For the last 28 years I have had manuals.

Then I met a lady that liked manuals... so I married her and we have ALWAYS had sticks. Nothing better... She absolutely hates automatics... and the lag... oh how she hates the lag....:mad:

Hi- This is my first day, and my first post. I chose the manual trans. I like the control it gives me, and manuals are a lot more fun to drive. Since the RX seems to be an entirely different car when the tach is above 4 grand, I can always find the perfect gear with the 6-speed. -The only automatic I've owned in the past 15 years is my '67 Corvair with a 2-speed Powerglide!

manual

same reasons as everyone here :)

manual.. obviously
auto is just such a crap...

Automatic and proud! Everyone loves the autostick and especially the paddle shifters. And I love going to automatic mode when im on the phone. I can drive stick but I'm lazy, so phuck it! Oh and the paddle shifters make me feel like I'm driving a indy car or Pod racer! Fun as hell!

I'm happy with my auto

the paddle shift is very nice

and I have the option to switch between the two

got the manual for all the reasons one can think of, however I should have bought the auto because:
I sit in traffic getting to and from San Francisco
I have a chronic left ankle injury.
I am 2% thinking I need to sell it and get the auto, but I sure would miss driving the stick.
Happy trails

I got the manual because it's sporty and SOOOOO much fun!! :)

Wow, I sure did not expect 20+ % to have an AT. I would have expected 5%.

Yesterday my dealer had 6 RX-8s on his lot, all MT. Yes, I looked in each of them :-)

Actually, that's about what I'd expect for this poll. It's certainly not any indication of what the actual auto/manual split is on the forum, but just that most of the auto owning forum members will have voted, and many of the manual owning forum members will not care at all about auto trans threads and will have ignored it. Mazda's own production numbers will be the only real indication of what the actual auto/manual trans ratio is, any polls conducted here on the forum are pretty useless.

Regards,
Gordon

i think the whole auto / manual debate really depends on the car. if you're going to buy a car like a civic, i would say it really doesn't matter whether it's manual or not. however, if it's a car like the rx-8... i would really feel bad for the car if it wasn't a manual. i mean, this car SCREAMS to be driven manual. i understand people who got the auto for convenience, but really... i don't think the auto / manual debate works with the rx-8.

automatic of course
I don't ever want a car with manual
i just dont want to drive a manual