Compared to other stick shifts, where does the 8 stand in ease of driving manual?
08-21-2003, 12:32 PM
#26
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Be nice if the dealer told me how to go in reverse. He let me drive around on my own so I pulled into a parking lot to check out the NAV.
Cool NAV
Then I spend the next 10 mins how to get the car in reverse. Looked for a button, pulled on the stick, tried to force the thing into reverse. By dumb luck I pushed down then it went into reverse.
It should be marked on the stick or something.
Now since I had it for almost 2 months I drive better on it then my Celica 6 speed.
Cool NAV
Then I spend the next 10 mins how to get the car in reverse. Looked for a button, pulled on the stick, tried to force the thing into reverse. By dumb luck I pushed down then it went into reverse.
It should be marked on the stick or something.
Now since I had it for almost 2 months I drive better on it then my Celica 6 speed.
08-21-2003, 09:36 PM
#27
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I had the same reverse issue as Wolfer, but it didn't take me 10 mins. 
I kept getting 6th before I thought it may be a "push-down" reverse.
But... this ought to tell you a little about the clutch. When accidently trying to "reverse" in 6th gear from a dead stop, I never killed the car. The clutch is that smooth and predictable that I had time to sense what was happening before I stalled it and was able to push the clutch back in.
I think the clutch travel, effort and catch point are probably the best I've ever felt, and I've driven a bunch of manual cars. And combined with the 8s gearbox, I'd say most people should be able to have seamless takeoffs and shifts right off the bat.
It really is good.
(BTW -- I don't own one, and probably won't [wife is too claustrophobic in the rear and *loves* the 3-series BMWs] so this opinion is about as objective as it comes)
I kept getting 6th before I thought it may be a "push-down" reverse.
But... this ought to tell you a little about the clutch. When accidently trying to "reverse" in 6th gear from a dead stop, I never killed the car. The clutch is that smooth and predictable that I had time to sense what was happening before I stalled it and was able to push the clutch back in.
I think the clutch travel, effort and catch point are probably the best I've ever felt, and I've driven a bunch of manual cars. And combined with the 8s gearbox, I'd say most people should be able to have seamless takeoffs and shifts right off the bat.
It really is good.
(BTW -- I don't own one, and probably won't [wife is too claustrophobic in the rear and *loves* the 3-series BMWs] so this opinion is about as objective as it comes)
08-22-2003, 05:24 PM
#28
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I just got my RX8 yesterday afternoon :D. It's the first manual I've owned and my trip home was my 4th time driving a manual any distance. I stalled quite a fews times in the stop and go traffic, but after 2 days of light driving I'm only still having trouble on steep inclines (like the one in front of my garage 
)
)
08-23-2003, 11:31 AM
#29
Bottom feeder
I thought the gearbox was very good, but not astounding by any means..
The shift was quick, smooth, and precise, however like somebody said earlier, it is a bit notchy in first. It might be *just* a tad bit too close together.. maybe a couple of millimeters farther would have prevented me from mis-shifting lastnight from 5th to 2nd (instead of 4th). That redlined my engine big time and pushed me forward in my seat for just a second.. Not exactly good for the car either!
Also, the way the engine is mounted and the gearbox is designed, the actual shifter is located a bit far back for me (I'm not very tall--5'6). The real problem is that the clutch is located too much forward, I'm forced to sit closer than I would like to the steering wheel (about 16").
On my Audi TT, the shifting is superb. It also has a short shifter but not as short as the 8's. The TT's gearbox is amazing. Extremely smooth. Shifting is very precise and intuitive to the touch.. Can't really explain it.. There's a nice firmness to the shifting, but it's not notchy at all. Because the short shifter is a bit longer than the 8's, there is just a tad more movement there's a bit more room for user error, so it is much more forgiving in that sense. That's probably due to the fact that the TT was built around driver comfort.
One last observation, I was at a Tony Bennett the Hollywood Bowl last night and was parked uphill on a steep slope. The car behind me was about a foot and a half away, and the car in front of me was only 3 or 4 feet away. Instead of waiting for the drivers, I opted to leave and in doing so I ended up riding the clutch a lot when pulling out. Boy I smelled alot of burning clutch smell, similar to the smell my friend's S2000 makes when he drives uphill in his neighborhood in LA. With the Audi TT, I have never experienced any burning smell whatsoever when I rode my clutch. While this doesn't mean riding the clutch is okay on a TT, it tells me alot about the reliability of it.
edit - One other thing... I want to add that while the gearbox for the TT I felt to be better, what makes up for it on the 8 is the smooth pull of power on the 8. It's awesome. The TT has a biturbo engine, so with every shift there's half a sec of turbo lag, unless I blip the RPM's ahead of time, but driving like that all the time isn't very confortable...
The shift was quick, smooth, and precise, however like somebody said earlier, it is a bit notchy in first. It might be *just* a tad bit too close together.. maybe a couple of millimeters farther would have prevented me from mis-shifting lastnight from 5th to 2nd (instead of 4th). That redlined my engine big time and pushed me forward in my seat for just a second.. Not exactly good for the car either!
Also, the way the engine is mounted and the gearbox is designed, the actual shifter is located a bit far back for me (I'm not very tall--5'6). The real problem is that the clutch is located too much forward, I'm forced to sit closer than I would like to the steering wheel (about 16").
On my Audi TT, the shifting is superb. It also has a short shifter but not as short as the 8's. The TT's gearbox is amazing. Extremely smooth. Shifting is very precise and intuitive to the touch.. Can't really explain it.. There's a nice firmness to the shifting, but it's not notchy at all. Because the short shifter is a bit longer than the 8's, there is just a tad more movement there's a bit more room for user error, so it is much more forgiving in that sense. That's probably due to the fact that the TT was built around driver comfort.
One last observation, I was at a Tony Bennett the Hollywood Bowl last night and was parked uphill on a steep slope. The car behind me was about a foot and a half away, and the car in front of me was only 3 or 4 feet away. Instead of waiting for the drivers, I opted to leave and in doing so I ended up riding the clutch a lot when pulling out. Boy I smelled alot of burning clutch smell, similar to the smell my friend's S2000 makes when he drives uphill in his neighborhood in LA. With the Audi TT, I have never experienced any burning smell whatsoever when I rode my clutch. While this doesn't mean riding the clutch is okay on a TT, it tells me alot about the reliability of it.
edit - One other thing... I want to add that while the gearbox for the TT I felt to be better, what makes up for it on the 8 is the smooth pull of power on the 8. It's awesome. The TT has a biturbo engine, so with every shift there's half a sec of turbo lag, unless I blip the RPM's ahead of time, but driving like that all the time isn't very confortable...
Last edited by Squidward; 08-23-2003 at 11:38 AM.
08-23-2003, 08:26 PM
#30
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Originally posted by racerdave
But... this ought to tell you a little about the clutch. When accidently trying to "reverse" in 6th gear from a dead stop, I never killed the car. The clutch is that smooth and predictable that I had time to sense what was happening before I stalled it and was able to push the clutch back in.
But... this ought to tell you a little about the clutch. When accidently trying to "reverse" in 6th gear from a dead stop, I never killed the car. The clutch is that smooth and predictable that I had time to sense what was happening before I stalled it and was able to push the clutch back in.
That last time I drove stick was 22 years ago with a POS Chevy Vega. I learned on that in hilly San Diego; what a nightmare! After 22 years and living all over the world with the Navy, I'm back in San Diego and dreaded "relearning" stick here. I expected to take a month or two till I was proficient. Worse yet, I live in a gated community; a steep hill leads to the gate, which opens inward. You have to stop on this hill (probably a 20% grade - real steep), wait for the gate to open, then go out. I dreaded the thought.
What happened from Day 1 is this totally was not a problem. The clutch and trannie are so smooth I was able to start from a dead stop uphill and not roll more than a couple inches back. Better yet, I self-taught on how to use the handbrake and not roll backwards at all. I was astonished how easy this was; I've done it several times on even worse grades and never knew I had the hand-eye coordination to pull it off. It is almost effortless.
08-24-2003, 04:09 PM
#31
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Originally posted by Squidward
...
The shift was quick, smooth, and precise, however like somebody said earlier, it is a bit notchy in first. It might be *just* a tad bit too close together.. maybe a couple of millimeters farther would have prevented me from mis-shifting lastnight from 5th to 2nd (instead of 4th).
I found that over about 1,000km mine smoothed out quite a bit. Over break-in it will get easier. Also, one gets more used to it.
At first I found 2 gear shifts a bit difficult as well, but they are coming a lot easier now.
... I was at a Tony Bennett the Hollywood Bowl last night and was parked uphill on a steep slope. The car behind me was about a foot and a half away, and the car in front of me was only 3 or 4 feet away. Instead of waiting for the drivers, I opted to leave and in doing so I ended up riding the clutch a lot when pulling out.
You might want to practice doing that using the parking brake to assist you. Just pull it on, engage the clutch, and as you let it out, slowly release the parking brake.
edit - One other thing... I want to add that while the gearbox for the TT I felt to be better, what makes up for it on the 8 is the smooth pull of power on the 8.
The other really nice thing about the gearbox in the 8 is that the ratios are very well thought out. When you are shifting the rpm steps are just about perfect.
About the only thing I could wish for would be an overdrive, so that when you are cruising on the highway at 160kmh the revs would be lower.
...
The shift was quick, smooth, and precise, however like somebody said earlier, it is a bit notchy in first. It might be *just* a tad bit too close together.. maybe a couple of millimeters farther would have prevented me from mis-shifting lastnight from 5th to 2nd (instead of 4th).
I found that over about 1,000km mine smoothed out quite a bit. Over break-in it will get easier. Also, one gets more used to it.
At first I found 2 gear shifts a bit difficult as well, but they are coming a lot easier now.
... I was at a Tony Bennett the Hollywood Bowl last night and was parked uphill on a steep slope. The car behind me was about a foot and a half away, and the car in front of me was only 3 or 4 feet away. Instead of waiting for the drivers, I opted to leave and in doing so I ended up riding the clutch a lot when pulling out.
You might want to practice doing that using the parking brake to assist you. Just pull it on, engage the clutch, and as you let it out, slowly release the parking brake.
edit - One other thing... I want to add that while the gearbox for the TT I felt to be better, what makes up for it on the 8 is the smooth pull of power on the 8.
The other really nice thing about the gearbox in the 8 is that the ratios are very well thought out. When you are shifting the rpm steps are just about perfect.
About the only thing I could wish for would be an overdrive, so that when you are cruising on the highway at 160kmh the revs would be lower.
08-24-2003, 07:45 PM
#32
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I was a bit concearned... I've driven lots of cars, only a few automatics and I concider myself to be pretty good... but when i sold my Honda Estate about 18 months ago I was planning to buy a 4x4 and an S2000 to compliment each other... the 4x4 for getting dirty and hauling stuff and the S2000 for fun... Then I fell in love with the RX8.
The problem is that for 18 months I've driven a Landrover 110. It's manual, and quite quick (V8)... plus, with the heavy duty suspension it's quite stiff and handles pretty well (I throw it about anyway)..
Still, getting into the RX8 directly after driving that for 18 months was going to take some concentration...
What I'll say, is that if you can drive a manual... then this car is fine... I had to be conciously cautious because the brakes required much less force than my 110, but otherwise, everything was seamless... I found everything to hand, and the shifter was just right... On the other hand... 9000 rpm after my V8 which whinces at anything over 4500 was interesting!
This may not sound so useful, after all... I've not had much recent experience with OTHER cars... but I took a friend's V6 Vectra out too and that seemed much less ergonomic compared to the 8... and nowhere near as quick.
The problem is that for 18 months I've driven a Landrover 110. It's manual, and quite quick (V8)... plus, with the heavy duty suspension it's quite stiff and handles pretty well (I throw it about anyway)..
Still, getting into the RX8 directly after driving that for 18 months was going to take some concentration...
What I'll say, is that if you can drive a manual... then this car is fine... I had to be conciously cautious because the brakes required much less force than my 110, but otherwise, everything was seamless... I found everything to hand, and the shifter was just right... On the other hand... 9000 rpm after my V8 which whinces at anything over 4500 was interesting!
This may not sound so useful, after all... I've not had much recent experience with OTHER cars... but I took a friend's V6 Vectra out too and that seemed much less ergonomic compared to the 8... and nowhere near as quick.
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