Sportriderwv

Thought you all might get a kick out of this,, I am having a hard timing driving my new 6 speed. I keep stalling it at stop lights and stuff.. dont think I am a newbie or something cause i have owned standards my whole life. I am a truck driver and the clutch on my rig is a very long throw, and on my drive to work everyday truck ( chevy s10 )the clutch is all the way out... So when i get in my new car i am all messed up trying to take off, and I guess having no low end grunt doesnt help either in our cars.

Nodoz

i'm was in that same boat. my last car '87 civic was my first standard, and it had a longer throw. i was stalling all the time at stop lights. it took a few weeks before i could go a whole day without stalling.

BunnyGirl

I do that to, although not so much. I've stopped stalling but I don't take off so smoothly. I kind of jerk a little bit, although not to bad. Although occasionally I may peel out, usually because I am on a bit of an incline and someone is right up on my rear and I panic so I give is way to much gas because I'm afraid I may roll that whole inch between me and some crappy truck and hurt my car. Of course, I have had very limited experience driving a stick until I got my car. I learned six years ago on a friend's car and that was pretty much the end of it until I got this car, so I pretty much feel like I am learning all over again.

That pisses me off so bad when people stop practically inside your trunk!!! I never stop that close behind anyone and I just can't see why everyone else feels the need to stop that close behind other cars. What if they roll back? It's just ridiculous. Of course, if you stop a little too far back behind someone, the car behind you will then start honking like it is life or death for you to move forward an extra foot or something.

pieter3d

iTrader: (7)

When that happens, just use the ebrake. Hold it up with the button pushed in so it doesn't lock, give it some power, sowly let the clutch out and when you feel it grab (the rpms dip), let off the e-brake. You can start from any hill this way without rolling.

yiksing

I did the same thing last night in front of 12 car nuts at my cousin's place, that was humiliating.

voodooray

Always wondered why it's called the e-brake here, back in the UK it's used all the time for just what you describe...a hill start. btw we call it a hand brake I'd hate to have to use the hand brake in an emergency!

yiksing

It's called an emergency brake because it is the only thing that still activate the rear brakes if your brakes pedal doesn't work anymore. I think...?

LostAngel

I agree with you on the stupid people that get right up on your butt! I'm also new to stick (since september), and I still catch myself stalling sometimes...and also peeled out a few times.

New Yorker

There's another good reason not to stop right on someone's tail, at least here in NY—if they suddenly decide to turn and they don't move when the light changes, you have enough room to drive around them.

Skiptomylue

and here some of you are, bad mouthing me becusae you think i stalled it when my Instrument cluster was going faulty.. and here you guys are talking about how you stall the car every time you drive it...... forshame.... i owned a 94 6spd trans am, a mazda protege 5 5spd, and ive driven my dads mazda 5spd truck.. ive never stalled any of them... and they are all differnt... specially my Trans am....

BunnyGirl

Gee, everyone around me calls it a "handbrake" but on here I see everyone calls it an e-brake. I've only had two occasions where I've "really" needed to do that on a hill. My problem just seems to be on a very slight incline where it freaks me out and I peel out. I notice that a lot of places I go the road always angles up at an intersection to another road. I don't care if I have a "minor" roll of an inch or two when starting to go, it's just that when someone is so close on your rear that it's a problem. Maybe everyone just drives an automatic anymore and has completely forgotten about the "joys" of driving a stick.

mmetzger

I've found lately that if I'm on a hill and I have enough time to let it roll back a little before the car behind me gets there - they get the point and give me a foot or so. As my fiance stated, if nothing else let them think you're rolling backward - they don't see the reverse lights and aren't sure what's going on. I've had my 8 a week now and only stall it on the occasional start... I'm just glad I'm learning in Texas as opposed to North Carolina...

bbtheory

Cool thread actually. My 8 is my first stick that I own, but I have driven many, including my wife's Beetle 5spd and her new TDI beetle. The TDI beetle is hilarious, probably the easiest stick I have ever driven. I think the low end torque makes it hard to stall.

According to my wife, who has owned a GTI, Mazda 3, and two Beetles and always driven stick, the RX8 is not the easiest to master, and she has stalled it. In spite of that, she loves the transmission in general... I would agree with her... After one month of driving I have gotten to the point where I don't stall at all most days. Maybe twice a week. I do have jerky starts and the occasional peel out (fun to feel the rear kick a little), but when I looked at the car I made a last minute choice to go stick and I am VERY happy I did, even in D.C.. I just got over my Mazda recommended 600 mile break in so I have revved the engine up over 8k RPM a couple of times... amazing.

NgoRX8

iTrader: (1)

i learned on the 8. took me 3 hours till i could launch easy and without stalling. haha...

BunnyGirl

I only seem to have issues when my mom "instructs" me on how to "properly" drive my car. I told her it seems to take everyone awhile to get used to the clutch in this car. She didn't believe me so I let her drive it. Damn!!! No problem whatsoever. I was so pissed. She didn't stall it, jerk, or peel out at all!!!! So not fair. She did say that it feels a little different than anyone stick she has driven before. She hasn't owned or driven a stick in six years, gets in, and drives it perfectly.

She said she wishes the gas or clutch pedal were in a different positioning. She said you need to have a really long left leg or a really short right leg for it to be just right, which she thinks must be why I give it a little to much gas and peel out sometimes.

I have my seat positioned according to my clutch, but the gas pedal is a little closer than I would like it to be.

mysql101

I only had a year of driving stick (in a honda civic) before the 8. I've only stalled it out once - and that was several weeks into ownership. Wasn't paying attention, was slow to get going on a green light and I rushed into the shift.

It's really an easy car to drive once you get used to it - the only problem I have is getting into second without a slight jerky motion sometimes.

mkztg

I've been driving a stick for ummm wow... 21 years now and didn't have any problem with my 8. My wife just a MazdaSpeed6 and that clutch is very touchy...

That one is the one I do the "herky jerk" on. Her car will get some getting use to. She is getting better with it but that is because it is her daily driver.

aggietiff28

Wait 'til you guys get good at a stick, then it is lots of fun to play with people on those hills. Freaks the guy behind you out when you roll backward that inch that they gave you before balancing the clutch and gas (on purpose). I usually scoot up a little after that and they don't bother me anymore. One of my favorite things to do actually. I agree with using the e-brake if you are new to stick shift, it will help you in those tight little situations.

So far the only times that I really have trouble with this car and stalling is in reverse while backing up a hill. For some reason the car doesn't like to have to pull in reverse.

mysql101

I usually let her roll back a little when coming to a stop on a hill so the guy behind me knows not to pull right on my *** as they're stopping. Unfortunately if I pull up any, they tend to also pull up as well.

I don't mind someone right behind me, but if they're only a few inches away, it pisses me off.

RazzyBRX-8

I learned on a mustang with a bad clutch haha. It was a fun fun experience.
Relearned on a Mazda MX-3, then got a Nissan 240SX and that was by far the easiest clutch Ive ever had besides the RX-8.
The only problem with this car i have, is that when i reline 1st and go into second i always give it too much gas. One time in a parking lot I did it and the back tried to race the front.
It was really cold. Thats why. Haha.
Back on topic though!...
When I first got the car I stalled it like maybe 3 times. Now I dont at all. Ive had it for like 3 months. It really is easy to drive this car.
Rollback is really fun when you have the younger girls that havent been driving for very long behind you. Because their faces light up with fear when you do it.
Maybe, just maybe, someday everyone will learn that people still drive manuals.

toxin440

my 8 is the first standard ive ever owned or driven. My ex-gf gave me 10 minues of instructions in her miata (god damn small car - im 6'1 and that sucked) but yes, when I took delivery I was so so worried about stalling the car out in front of the mazda guys as they waved me off. Thank god I didn't though, and Bunngirl for the first few weeks I was like you coming home from work in dallas traffic I would be stopping on inclines on the freeway and give it wayyyy too much gas for fear of rolling backwards into someone elses car because they get to freaking close to me. I've logged almost 20K miles on my manual and I'm loving it - it does suck in stop and go traffic but hey gotta take the good with the bad.

I stalled out a total of 3 or 4 times total the first two weeks I had my eight, it really is an easy car to learn on - love that gearbox!

Cheers
Jeff

pieter3d

iTrader: (7)

RX-8 is my second stick. The first was 13 year old Taurus SHO (fun car). Its e-brake was in the same spot the automatic Taurus' have them, a small, high mounted left foot pedal. And an even smaller release lever. That makes it useless for helping with hills.
The shifter itself was huge. It was so nice going to the RX-8's short throw shifter. I can just push that back and forth with one finger - great!

BunnyGirl

I've discovered that stop and go traffic isn't too bad, although I would definitely prefer to avoid it, although it is okay if it is relatively flat ground. I always make sure I stop with enough room between me and the car in front of me and wait to make sure they are actually moving before I go since I don't want to give it too much gas and then plow into them if they couldn't actually continue driving. Of course, this usually totally pisses off whoever is behind me and they will generally start honking at me, so then I will make sure I keep driving as slowly as I possibly can in the hopes that they will go around me.

One time that happened and the guy (some guy in an orange 350Z) got into the other lane next to me and started swearing at me and calling me all kinds of names for slowing him down and keeping him from getting on with his day. I just sat there and continued driving the way I was and ignored him. When traffic started moving better after we were on the highway he started weaving in and out of traffic and changing lanes all over the place. We get to the stoplight at the end of the stretch where it starts dividing off into other roads into Oregon City or heading off towards I-205. He was sitting at the same light in a different lane so I smiled and waved as I went cruising on past him and then he got stuck having to wait at the next light. I was so amused.

astrozoom

The RX-8 is a fun car to master driving a stick. If you can tame the 8, you should have no problems with most other manuals. I am actually surprised to see how many others had similar problems that I had when I first got my 8. Don't worry, the more you get use to it, the more you fall in love with this car!!!!

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

Be honest the 8 is my very first personally owned Manual Car. and hey I stall like a **** on my first day, took me a week to "get less stalling" and finally no more stalling (well, mostly not, cuz sometimes you know you still stall by accident) in like 3 weeks.

So take your time. no biggy