Is everyone happy with their automatic?
 

I read numerous complaints about the 6 speed manual with the higher hp engine, but haven't seen any complaints relative to the automatic. I am expecting mine next week and was wondering what types of problems have been encountered with the auto version?

Please 6Sp guys, don't take this as an opportunity to bash the auto guys. I'm just wanting to find out the satisfaction level with the auto. Thanks.

I have the Auto. 700 miles.

Very, very slow 0 - 15mph A mini van can get me off the line for the first few feet.

However, 15 - 115mph is like a rocket.

Now this is not all bad news, it may save on tires and gas. I don't know that I need to get quick off the line.

The auto was deffininately not in their primary areas of development. I am dissapointed by the off the line performance. It was to round out the appeal of the vehicle.

Dont buy the Auto if you are expecting off the line performance. Buy the auto version ONLY if you want a great handling, really cool car with lots of technology and just don't want to shift, but are willing to compromise acceleration performance. The paddle shifters are very, very cool.

PS. I'm letting them buy it back and replacing with 6sp version of same.

Tit Gray, Auto, Touring, Appearance Pkg, Rear Spoiler, Accents
Replacing with
Tit Gray, 6sp, Touring, Appearance Pkg, Rear Spoiler, Accents, NAV

Mine is not broken in yet (350 miles), but so far I like it. I use the paddles 95% of the time - they are really fun. The initial take-off is not great, but I haven't really got on it hard,and I don't need to burn up my tires on take-off, anyway. The power does come on quickly, and one time I accidentally hit about 8000 rpm in first gear, before shifting.

Can you really do that? There's talk of having to sign something where you agree to not buy an rx8 within (perhaps) 6 months.

nhuhta: With regard to slow off the line speed, have you tried keeping the brake down while putting on some revs, then releasing the brake to let the gearbox engage?
Might improve the performance, but you might not want to do it too much with your car, but if you're selling it back it may be worth a try... :)

Happy Too
 

My RX has 651 miles on it and I am VERY HAPPY with the Automatic .... It could use a little more power on take off ...but then again I don't need Jack Rabbit Starts ... It really takes off after 15mph and will dust just about anything.

This morning on my way to work a friend of mine pulled up next to me in his 1978 Vette ... yes he got me at the start on take off ....hehehehe but I caught and passed him so easy!

In All Auto Mode too no paddles!!

Ive tried several techniques with no noticable difference.

From:
Idle (normal mode)
Partial pedel with break
Full pedel with break (Even with full pedel, it stalls at about 3500rpm)

One technique that I have NOT tried is to put it in neutral and rev it up and drop it in drive. Dont know if this would be equivalent to to 9000rpm clutch drop. Not going to find out, I respect my ride too much.

I have been unable to chirp the tires (period). Even with the DSC and TC turned off. Has anyone with the auto been able to chirp the tires????


Update: Drove the 6sp today to compare.
WOW, there is a bunch more grunt in the 0-20mph. Gosh the 6sp guys have the performance there, Impresive. There also seems to be a bit , not a lot, more drivetrain noise. One thing I noticed in the downshifting was a modest amount of synco noise from the tranny. The 6sp keeps you busy which can be fun. It is the BEST clutch and shifting I have experienced.

If the car ONLY came in a 6sp, Id of still got one and only had one less factor to choose from.

BUT SINCE I DO HAVE A CHOICE, I think I'm going to stay with the Auto and reorder with the NAV. I personally enjoy the car more with the auto, even with the enemic off the line performance. As one of the other posts said, it is a BLAST from 15 to 115.

auto
 

I have an auto, just hit 1000 miles. I like it. I have found from 0 to 30 mph - it is slow, but once I get over 30 - the car is fast. I don't use the paddle shifters or the gearbox.

On the highway, the auto felt the same as the 6 speed. I test drove both. Off the line, the 6 speed is better, get over 45 MPH - they are almost the same. Get the RPM's over 5000 and the car will move.

don't try it!!!!.. say bye bye to your gearbox if u do

I really like it. Mazdas version of the Tiptronic is quite good. One problem I have encountered is that it is "backwords" to my Carrera 993. My brain is used to that shifting,so i will shift "up" when I really want down, On my 993, the buttons are on my steering wheel, sort of at the spot our radio controls are,and cruise controls--so the paddle shifting is new to me, but i like it. As far as power, I am happy w/ the results. I will be using the 8 as my daily driver now, and feel very happy about it. An intresting point, Here in Miami, you see tons of Porsches, but few 8's yet. My kids keep commenting about all the people that stare and point to our car. You can not go anyplace w/ out some great comment. My younger son felt like a "hot shot" when I dropped him at school and kids just stopped playing and tracked the car. It was great.
I just picked up my car on the 27th, so I am just learning all about iy. The NAV is great, a nice toy for us adults!
Back to the original post about A/T -- I feel if you want sportier handling keep in in manual mode 100% of the time. If you want to only start off fast-get the 6 speed. If you drive in hellish traffic like I do, yet love the 8, and just want to have a little fun. DO NOT HESITATE and buy one.. I also think that in the future, we will get the 5 speed A/T ala G-35. Too late for me, but I just could not wait.

One last note.. The missing hp? A blessing for me.. Now the cost of ownership just got less. With the free maint. + $500 in goodies it is as sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeettt as it gets.
By the way,, A great Kudos to the Gunther Mazda staff in Ft. Lauderdale. I was treated very well. NO BS. My saleseman Derryl was tops. I highly recomend that dealership. no 5k "over". All 100% professional. At the end, even the owner Mr. Gunther came by to check out my car and say hello.. Now THAT is service!

I'm having a great time with my automatic. But most of the time I'm not at the front line, so I'm at the mercy of whichever jalopy is in front of me.

I appreciate the fully automatic mode in heavy stop/go traffic. It is fun to go back and forth between that and the other 2 modes of shifting (steering wheel paddles, "sport mode" shift knob).

RX-MEN-8, your dealer sounds great. I'm trying to track the performance of Mazda dealers overall. You can vote in my polls (Satisfied with your Dealer?)

http://www.rx8forum.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=56

Slower Automatic
 

To All,
A few things, everyone is about right with the RX having a slow start. I found it roughly between 0-20mph. But from there it does extremely well. The best part is when you are doing around 40mph and down shift to second and you really take off in your passing gear all the way up to 7200rpm, it can move. Shift is a blast from the shifter and the steering wheel, but you get lost on the steering wheel when you are turning a corner, or on an on/off ramp.
The shift selector is backwards like the other readers carrera, my Ecipse GTS is opposite, forward for upshift, and back for down shift. after doing that for a while and then jump into an RX8, you tend to high rev evey so often because of it

Would it be possible that one of you automatic guys video tape like crusing with your RX8's? I'm curious to how it is. Also, anybody dyno'd their ATs? They might loose less HP than the manuals.

Shifting
 

i agree about the shift up and down - they are backwards. My Acura TL is much better. Sometimes when I go back and forth from each car it gets confusing.

I know some auto manufacturers have patents on how they tiptronic goes, and also the name.

That may be the reason behind the shift pattern.

I'm glad to hear about everyone enjoying their cars. I considered an auto, but I really wanted to get back to a stick and knew I couldn't get this 8 in anything but.

One thing definitely miss is all the free time my hands had while driving auto... I rarely answered phones while I was driving anyways, but now it's impossible without an earbud and mic.

Even then, I'd rather enjoy the drive/ride and company I have (which has been endless... everyone who knows I have this car, wants/have had a ride in this thing already.) :D It's cool, I don't mind at all... they're helping break in my new car and I haven't had to pay for gas yet!!!!! LMAO!

I think the auto shifters are way cool... props to Mazda for not just making it a "regular" automatic, just to get one to market.

I'm sorry to hear about the general dissatisfaction of the off the line acceleration... but then again, it's just the very beginning of your long power range. ROTARIES ROCK!

I'm still babying my new green... well... baby. I'm intentionally not making the jack rabbit starts and keeping my rpms below the recommendations. After she's been properly broken in... I'm sure I'll be hearing lil chirps while I'm driving around that I have denied myself so far. :D

Peace

I like the paddle shifters the way they are. I find that the thumb-activated downshift is a quicker move than the upshifting from pulling the fingers up behind the steering wheel. And that's just what I want, in case I need to downshift in a hurry, as in an emergency stop - I can do that faster, with my thumb, in this orientation than if the paddles were reversed. But I can undertand how, if you're used to having them the other way around, it would take a few days to re-learn.

What I do like is the fact you can switch to automatic while in manual mode .

For example, floor the car real quick and if you don't downshift, the car will do it for you. That is a nice feature.

High-Stall Converter
 

I don't know if there's one available yet for the RX-8 but replacing the current torque converter with a high-stall torque converter may improve the low-end performance significantly. If properly set up it would get more torque on the low-end with very little loss of horsepower on the high-end. Bang for the buck, I heard they are one of the best mods for auto trannys.

I've heard of Corvettes and 350Zs doing this and turning in some impressive times. Doing a search on one of their sites or a Google search can explain a high-stall torque converter better than I can.

This is probably one of the best and easiest conversions that can be made for low end torque for the automatic. I hope to see an upgrade available in the future.

Anyone know the gas mileage their getting with their auto?

I put all info on 4 speed AT rx8 in cartest 4.5 and with test weight as 3253 (curb weight: 3053 lbs.) I added extra 200 lbs. for 1 person. These are the results:

0-30 = 2.9 sec.
0-40 = 3.9 sec.
0-50 = 6.0 sec.
0-60 = 7.8 sec.
0-70 = 9.8 sec.
0-80 = 12.8 sec.
0-90 = 16.4 sec.
0-100 = 20.5 sec.
1/4 mile = 16.0 @ 89.0 MPH
Top Speed = 140 MPH

Now if we could at about 210 HP as it was originally said it had (maybe wit I/H/E it would be there) then 0-60 would be 7.3 seconds and 1/4 mile at 15.6 sec.

The times look correct based off my runnings.

My gas mileage is getting better - about 18 miles to the gallon with normal (relaxed) driving.

Did you get base model AT? In your sig. it says no optional packages. So do you have the model with 16s or optional 18s? And did it come with xenons, etc. Also, what was your total price with tax and stuff.

I have NO OPTIONS.

16's

No Xenons

Nothing.

Paid $26,195 before taxes (I am going to register the car tommorrow, Estimated taxes around $1,500)

I love my automatic Rx8. Its so much less of a hassle than the stick specially since I do 90% ciity driving. Even if I had the money I wouldnt have bought the more expensive manual I would have bought a more expensive package in auto. Im very pleased with how my car feels. I get a lot of looks and people often pull up to me and ask me how much I paid for it. I seem to get the most attention though from racers in mostly Eclipses and Hondas and then when I tell them it is automatic they tell me Aw man you should have it in stick and I tell them the auto was expensive enough.

Only problem im having right now is the heavy gas guzzling but I hope it starts getting better. Im not into racing so the speed was not a big thing for me. What I really love is how the car is glued to the road and this is byfar one of the easiest cars to park. Amazing turning radius too. I havent tried driving with the paddles or manual mode since the gas is pretty bad right now in just automatic. Maybe after a few more hundred miles if it gets better I will see what this car can really do. Even if it isnt that fast I still love it and whats great is the look of jealously on my friends' faces with Infiniti G35s.