tee_rx8

Always a hard time for me at the first and second gears. It not smooth at all and pretty slow. Wat is the good speed and rpm for first and second gears?I have no problem in drivin a manual cars but for me the 8 is a different thing. Teach me guys!!!! It weird when ur cars sound big but slow.

fullsmoke

... Are you kidding? Obviously you haven't driven a precise sports car--our clutches are very grabby. You probably just need more practice.

FS

wedge357

There are a few threads here that discusses the proper shifting procedure for the rx-8, you may try using the search function above to access these previous posts.

Having said that... The RX-8 has arguably, one of the most smooth-shifting transmission of all production cars. However, there are still some techniques you can apply to further your skills. Just for background, the car has a tall 1st gear relative to the others which means you will get the least smoothness shifting in-out of this gear. you may try feathering the release of your clutch in order to improve the acceleration.

Second, the rotary engine needs to be revved very high in order to take advantage of its torque and improve launch feel. However, the RPM also tend to wind down quickly in rotary engines so you would also need to shift quickly so your RPM does not drop too low and fall out of optimal range.

Third (but not required), you can try practicing proper heel-toe techniques which this car is very good to perform on. I'll let you go ahead and use the "search" button to find threads on this subject but for now rev it high, shift fast, and try not to drop the clutch going from 1st to second... :D

Dima26

I think, I know what you mean. I have been driving manual cars for more than 10 years and never had a problem with smooth shifting at any other cars. By smooth shifting I mean the shifting you can expect from a nice automatic when you are not pushing it. The RX-8 seems to require a very precise rev-matching to shift smoothly. Try to concentrate on rev-matching and if it is still jerky, you can try to feather the clutch a little bit during the shifts.

Dima26

Regarding your questions about RPM and good speed in 1st and 2nd, that dependes on how fast you want to go. I vary my driving habbits a lot and so are my RPM's for shifting. Normally I shift to 2nd around 4K under normal driving. The third goes around 4K as well. But these numbers are highly subjective. When I want to get some fun, the shifting points move to 9K. The engine is very smooth and it is not jerky even if you shift to second at 2K RPM in first.

Regarding down-shifting to first. I would not recommend doing that at speeds higher than 4 MPH (the synchros would not be happy as I read on this board). You can rev the engine up to match the RPM you would get in the first gear before shifting. This way, you can shift at higher speed (up to 20MPH?) but you need to be precise at the throttle and be fast at shifting. This is basically what was referred by wedge357 by heel-toe technique except that at heel-toe technique you are pressing the brakes and throttle at the same time.

automaton

I've found that the quicker I get from one gear to the next, the smoother the shift (as in, from the time you take it out of first to the time it is fully into second). Compared to every other car I've driven, it takes a distinct effort to shift this car smoothly, just because it seems like you are shifting too fast.

It is an extremely smooth deal once you nail it, and just remember that you almost need to pull off snap-shifts to smooth it out, even if you're just tooling around town.

juikster

maybe change out that factory trans gear oil with redline/ royal purple or equivelent synthetic and see if it makes a difference. they have threads on this, search is the key.

tee_rx8

Thank for all advice guys. Maybe i need more practice.

staticlag

Mmmm, guys u are making me want to go drive my car!

Styjan

My first to second syncro is very notchy. 2000K to first service. I'm going to have then take a look at it. I have driven other 8s that were very smooth. It seems worse when cold.