if i were to pick the transmission to go into the rx8, it'd be a sequential gear box.

automatic and manual.

how can you go wrong?

 

As a lover of manual from several years ago I got used to thinking of it as a technically superior transmission (better mileage, quicker reaction to throttle input, potential for quicker shifts). For a variety of reasons, including improving technology and human limitations all of those have pretty much disappeared.

All manual drivers have to face up to this, the manual is becoming (or perhaps already has become) a technically inferior transmission.

The question you have to ask yourself is: Why do I like manual?

The simple fact is, I enjoyed being able to gloat over lowly automatic (slush-box) drivers with my superior transmission; BUT that is not why I like manual.

I like the extra control I have (yes I actually like the clutch pedal).
I like the feedback I get from the shifter and the clutch.
I like that the manual makes me pay more attention to driving.
I like that it is more engaging.
I like being able to tell when the transmission is cold or warm just from the shifter feel.
I like that it has 'personality'.
I like that it lets you get to know your engine better.
I like that it is challenging.
I like that it is rewarding.

Of course the wife has a automatic BMW 328i, and it is very good, I like that when I'm feeling lazy.

 

I have a moral objection to the use of torque converters in automobiles.

 

I also was brought up driving stick. Even raced manual(Now auto) for awhile BUT seen the overall advantages over manual and since went auto and never looked back. The auto transmissions are changing. Just look at all the different auto makers and how the A/T is changing(Nissan for one). Once I seen the paddle shifters on the 8 I sold off my Z and like it alot! Not like some of the dummies I did testdrive it first. I bought my 8 for the overall experience. The looks dont hurt either. If it was all just a power thing my Z would win the 8 hands-down!
My choice ALMOST GOT ME FIRED being a Nissan Service advisior back then.

Lucky for me the Company owner also owned a Ford/Mazda dealership and was able to transfer.

 

Im new to the RX8 world. Ive been just trolling the forum to learn more about the car. I always thought if you were going to have a sports car it might as well be a stick. I didnt know the RX8 AT had paddle shift. I test drove the the 09 R3. Loved the car and if it wasnt for me having 6 months left on my current lease I would've got it. Im also trying to decide if I want to buy or lease. I think I might lease the MT and see how I feel at the end of the lease. See If I want another MT or just buy the AT.

 

I love the stick. I have driven my bosses new C63 and his CL63 and the auto/manual feature just does not cut it for me. I have driven my friends new M3 and the BMW manual kicks the **** out of my bosses C63.

However, the standard manual is not for everyone and the option to switch to full auto is a very nice thing on road trips. I the way autos are going now is the better of the two for the majority.

 

I just got an 09 AT and am happy as can be. I don't race and don't mod. I love the 8 since there is nothing that handles corners with such confidence and smoothness all while 3 other people are enjoying the ride with you. I very nearly got the MT since so many people on these forums made it seem like only an idiot would get the AT but looking back, I know it would have been a mistake since I would have been miserable.

Sure I know the HP, and torque converter etc. may make it slower than the MT but that doesn't make me like it any less nor would that make any happier having to mess with a stick and clutch.

So to anybody thinking of getting the auto, give it a drive, compare it to the manual and pick what you like. Don't let others make the decision for you.

Oh, and thanks to the NorCal TriValley 8 club members for making me feel welcome at the meet. I was afraid everybody would ridicule my car because of the AT but it turns out we all just love the 8, modded or stock, AT or MT. Still, I'm never getting in Silver8's car again. The guy drives like a mad man.

 

um, i sit in horrible traffic nearly every time i drive mine.

suck it up, it'll make you a better driver.

 

Your 93 Honda Accord?

 

laugh now, but we'll see whose 8 lasts longer.

the accord is to keep the miles down in the 8, not because i can't hack traffic with it.

believe me buddy, i had a great moral dilemma when buying that thing, seeing as how it was the first automatic i've ever owned.

 

There's a debate about this subject?

I've never owned an automatic transmission car and don't plan on it until I'm unfit to drive an automobile.

 

so you are saying, once you are unfit to drive you will then keep driving, just using an auto?

 

I read on forbes that a MT rx8 0-60 time is 6.4 and the AT rx8 is at 6.9.
So its really not that big of difference. Plus a RX8 is not suppose to burn cars on a strait away.

 

MT 5.9-6.4 AT 7-9.5

 

i try to limit paying for sole convenience. somethings are better to be done by yourself. or hurt yourself a little learning it :-\.

Manual wont kill you, just do it.

 

I have an automatic. The only thing that gets to me is the 0-60 speed being slower than the manual. There's times I regret the AT and times I know i'd defiantly regret the MT. So i'm happy, it's still an RX8

 

There's still a debate about this?

 

wow all the hate on the auto 8 i bet half of the Mt 8 owners would pull better circuit times with the auto 8 just because they are not as good as they think they are with a manual transmission

 

i know for a fact im better with a manual rx8...i used to own a auto 8 and there was not enough control i shaved off alot of time at my local track with a manual...the at's are so slow and i cant control revs...and dont even have enough power to come out of the occasional slide and the missing LSD sucks for automatics

 

^I take it you had an 04' or 05' base?

 

i have an 04 AT and yes i wish i did have a MT but the fact that i love the engine and i love the look of the car and the feel and the GRIN and the super great deal i got on it, im still super happy, everything about the car overides the small fact that its auto, and it still gets looks i just love my car.maybe ill get a manual later in life

 

yes but i have also driven 06 6sp at and while it was faster it did not give me the control i wanted

 

I rather buy a civic si then an auto RX8.
The civic is faster, and save more gas.

 

no offense but in my opinion civics are gay ill take a 5 HP Rx8 over a 500 HP civic lol

 

It's the drivers that make Civics Si undesirable to me.
I can tell the demographic of owners of a specific car by taking a look at their message board.

IMO, transmission choice is simply, a choice.
There're pros and cons with either transmission, but to tell someone that their choice is wrong, is less than courteous.

Sure I have a 6 spd manual, but that's because it's the most advantageous to me. Same theory goes to why I wear boxer instead of briefs, have a PS3 instead of a XBOX, have a wallet instead of money clips, use banks instead of credit unions... etc, it's called choices, you know, what democratic countries allow?

But then again, there're people out there that criticze other's choices outside of the automobile world. Such as Politics and Religion, and that to me, isn't all that different than what some of the people here on this thread are doing.