I've been considering getting a 5-speed ford ranger as a daily/beater, especially for the winter, and was wondering if I'll get too used to shifting in that and lose my "Magic touch" in the 8. I've been driving the 8 daily for years, and everything else has been automatic trans. Do any of you drive another manual car on the daily, and does it affect your abilities in the 8?

Let me know what you think! Thanks.

 

Nah. It won't take you long to swap out. I drive a variety of manual and auto vehicles. Your feet will remember quickly

 

I did that last winter too. Picked up a POS ranger 4x4 and parked the car till the snow/salt was gone. It took a couple stop and goes to get the feel again. I think it was compounded by the fact I hadn't driven the 8 in a few months. If I had driven it regularly I'm sure I wouldn't have noticed any difference.

 

You'll be fine, but your RX8 will grow cold and distant. Eventually you'll come home to a note about how she needs someone who revs her up.

Don't do it man.

 

I plan on storing the 8 for the winter, driving the beater to work and back, and using the 8 on mostly weekends/sunny days. I beat the absolute **** out of it when I do drive it, so I'm hoping doing that regularly several times a week will keep the engine in good shape.

I'm just hoping that when I do go to drive it on those few days per week, that I'll still have the feel for it. I currently shift like a pro, rev matching and all. I don't want to lose that ability. Thanks for the input so far.

 

Nah, muscle memory. I go from a high revving Integra GSR daily to a Turbo 8, it only takes a minute or two for my brain to take over and get right back into the swing of the RX-8.

 

My daily driver when I first purchased my RX-8 was a 2005 Mazda3s with a manual transmission. If anything, having a auto daily driver now (2014 Mazda3s) has made me worse at driving the stick in the RX-8, especially during the first few drives after winter. Going between my old 2005 3 and the RX-8 was never a problem.