I know the MT is faster, but!
 

I've been reading reviews and posting my $0.02, and now it's time to ask the questions that could change my mind from AT to MT.....I know the MT is faster, but the speed difference doesn't matter to me.

1) For those of you with paddle shifting AT's---How high can you rev while using the paddles? (I wanna know if my baby will purr for me :cool: )
2) How often do you use the paddles? :o
3) For the manual guys, being a n00bie MT driver, will learning w/ my brother on the 8 possibly hurt it at all?---I don't want to accidentally wreck the tranny before I get to unleash it...

Again, I know the MT is more powerful, but I'm looking for everything else too...

*puts on flame-retardent suit* :suitdance

Well you get better response with MT, you get the fun of watching the needle reach 9000rpm and off course speed does matters

#3- i learned on the 8, and it took about two hours to go over everything. after that, everything was good. i highly doubt learning on the car will cause much damage.. unless you serious aren't able to get it. you will be wearing the clutch a lil, but its fine. don't be scared of the burning smell you may have after. it needs to wear in.

just don't grind a gear.

and go manual.

Hey new here too...
 

I just got my MT 8 this week. I have driven both the AT and MT, and the MT has more pull to it when coming off from a stop. I haven't pushed my 8 to the limit yet though, as I'm still breaking the engine in, stretching her legs, etc. It all depends on your preference, as for me I would have loved the AT to be as strong as the MT, and wished the paddles shifter was as responsive as a MT. But the truth of the matter is it isn't. Get the AT if you easily get tired of shifting, you have a lot of slow traffic (i.e. L.A. freeway congestion) on your daily drive, or if you must always pick up your cell while driving. But if you want that sporty feel and more pull on the line, then I suggest getting the MT, as I eventually did. It's my first MT, as long as you know the basics of MT shifting then you should be ok with MT driving. Be like me and practive on a beater MT for one day and then pick up your new MT 8. I'm still learning but hey I'll eventually get the hang of it. Just try not to stall too often like me LoL, good luck on your purchase and as long as you love your 8, you'll be ok with either AT or MT. .........get the MT.....your won't regret it :)

My 1st MT car is my RX8 - I had about an hour or practice in my (now ex) Gf's miata to get the basics down, it was easy.

If you are in learning mode you really cant hurt anything TOO badly... expect a few grinds but that wont hurt it really. The biggest thing for me was starting from a hill or incline in rush hour traffic. Everything else is easy.

My biggest fuckups with the tranny has been in the last 2 or 3 months I was driving pretty "spirited" and did a high rev shift to 4th and missed and had a bad grind :( made me feel terrible and i sweet talked to the car the whole way home (no damage or any weirdness i was just an idiot) Axial flow short shifter will help with that soon

Do yourself a favor and after you get 100% used to the tranny and shifting and put 1000 or 2000 miles on your car swap out the tranny and diff oils with Royal Purple synthetic gear oil you will love it.

There is no better feeling then zoom zoomin' around town in 1st,2nd, and 3rd exclusively the feeling of a 9000RPM downshift feeling the gears slide in perfectly and everything synched, its almost like you are having sex with the car. LoL


Jeff

You can rev it to redline with the paddles. I use the paddles quite a bit.

ooooo---So I can still get up into the 8k's with the paddles?---Ahhh decisions, decisions...

Nope, the AT redlines at 7500rpms.

1) you can rev to the same point about 7800 or so. i dont remember exactly

2) i actually never use them. when i use manuall-mode i just shift off the stick.

3)as long as you dont seriously mess up it will be fine

Man!---I knew it was too good to be true..... :dammit:

N Rider---Thnx for the input, too. I'm leanin' towards the automatic just for my free hand...it's a throw up, and by March (maybe even Christmas), I'll have my mind set.

I would make sure you keep up on the tranny, Mazda tranny sucks!

You can get to 8000(Just hold the paddle/stick & dont release it) just dont make much sense. The max HP is around 7200

My first manual car is the 8. I took one 1-hour lesson and I was fine after that. Peeled out a few times but you should be able to get the hang of it in a few days.
When starting on inclines, use the parking brake if you're not fast enough yet with the pedals.

just make sure you drive both and then make a decision. i have an a/t cause well i just prefer it but some time i get the m/t bug.

either way enjoy the 8 and good luck

If you get the automatic, you may as well set yourself up to trade the car in after a year for a stick shift. Automatic in a sports car sucks ass. I made the mistake of getting the automatic in my old RX-8. Never again will I buy a car in anything but a stick.

I know what this guy is going through because I am in the same predicament. I want to get an RX-8 but I am just alittle crappy at driving stick. Had a friend let me borrow his car for a half an hour to practice. My only problem is take offs. I dont stall i just jerk the car. I am just going to push myself to spend a good part of the day once i get my MT 8 and practice my start off until i get it.

I know each car has its differences so i may have an easy time with the 8 than i am in my friends Dodge Stealth lol. Just crossing my fingers and hoping to god that i get good or I am screwed lol.

dont get the automatic, you will regret it!
itz really not that hard to learn stick shift if you know the basic of it!
i tought my gf now and my ex how to drive stick!

Really, the question has very little to do with the 8. For anyone at all considering learning stick:

DO IT. Learing to drive manual is a gift you give yourself for the rest of your life. For people who can drive either and really prefer automatic (very much the minority!), fine, more power to them. But "I don't know how to drive stick!" is the worst reason to pick automatic in *any* car. My experience is the vast majority of those who can do both prefer manual. Me, I'll never go back. Taking the plunge and learning to drive stick was one of the best things I ever did. It takes a little practice, but it's not that hard. And a couple learning-mistakes aren't going to destroy your transmission.

I agree with Kranor, regardless of what you choose you should definitely learn how to drive stick. This is a must.

As for your questions, I test drove both the MT/AT and ultmately decided on an 06 AT and love it. The option of shifting with the paddles or the stick is great....and when you run into traffic or need a free hand for, i.e. coffee, drink, cell phone, blackberry, laptop, or running your hand up your date's skirt, just pop it into drive and relax.

I find the shifters to be very responsive while in Manual mode. Obviously, it's not as fast as an MT and in the open road MTs are funner to drive, but you have to decide if you'd rather be a second quicker, or have options in the way you can drive your car.

I agree. You are just adding a skillset to yourself.

Plus, it really only takes, maybe, a week or 2 of driving to start picking it up & probably a month or 2 to be really comfortable (just stay away from the local mall or drive-thru in the meant time :hahano: ).

RX-8 is my first Manual. It is one of the better manuals, the clutch engages quite early and the short (stubby) shifter is great, its not vague or spaced out so much. It is one of the easiest manuals to learn on along with the miata and some hondas.

Have to agree with an earlier post about people who know how to drive manuals and autos, prefer manuals. In my opinion, if you get the automatic, after a few months you'll start wondering and getting the idea, i wonder how it would feel if this was manual. and if you do learn later on how to drive manual, you'll kick urself over and over for not getting a manual in an RX-8.

Traffic wise, i dont see a problem with the RX-8, it doesnt' have an high clutch engagement point like some VWs have and unless you have some kind of leg and calve problems....then really it shouldnt be a problem in stop and go traffic. Actually in the end, if you dont' get stick, ur left leg will start to get jealous of the right leg :).

Ya seem to have two types of people in this world, stick and automatic people. Probably part of someone’s innate characteristics. If you have any doubt, than you are an automatic person.

Forcing an auto person to drive stick is a useless proposition; they'll never do it right.

Auto is a joke for this car. And, the 8 is a very easy MT to drive. If your going to do it, do it right and get the MT...period.

i've taught several people how to drive stick in my rx8. never had a problem.

ALOT of women I've dated all know how to drive MT's because thier dad's made them...

Don't you feel inferior to all those girls who can do something you cant ? :p

i think this is the first MT vs. AT thread where i didn't want to pull my hair out b/c of all the back and forth bantor. i also agree with krankor - whether you do it now or later, you should add this to your skillset. once you have it under your belt you can then decide whether or not you want a MT car.

my learning on a MT was a quick 2 hours b/c of circumstances. my first car was AT and didn't work and my father told me you need to learn by tomorrow morning on my RX7 (such a rough life). my difficulty, aside from the incline learning, was downshifting and releasing the clutch too quickly. by the end of the evening i had mastered it and haven't looked back for 12 years.

see if a friend would let you ride around in their MT. if they have an old RX7 or celica, it'll make life a little easier as the clutch release point is similar. i only mention the celica b/c that was another i had and found the transition very easy. i have also tried subis and found theirs to be a much higher release point but that was a few years back so things may have changed. even if you can't find one with a similar release point, try it out. the only difference is that you may end up stalling a couple times once you get into the 8 b/c you're used to releasing later.

i have seen a few burnt clutches out there but that was b/c the person learning was just plain stubborn and didn't seem to want to learn. luckily they were learning on their beater civic but if you're willing to learn and listen to the car, you'll be fine and may just have a couple hiccups. it's all part of the learning process and your clutch should be fine.

go out and learn that way you can make the decision rather than having the decision made for you.

I can drive an MT(raced also) but likes the AT now. Maybe its an age thang or something.....nay just getting lazy :)

I agree with NGO. once you get it down i think you will be happy that you went with MT. As far as AT 8 i would not know :( i have never owned a auto before, and also i only driven a auto like 5 times. and that was back in japan. one of my friends owned a mini type car jsut for going to work in. But yah dont be affraid i know you can pick up on learning how to drive a MT fast. Once you get the basics down you wil be smooth sailing.

Yesterday I drove to work in an automatic car.

this morning I drove to work in my RX-8. It's a 6 speed. There was traffic all the way to the office, yet I had fun the entire way. Some people complain about traffic and a manual, but to me, the manual gives you something to play with even when there's nothing else to do. It's fun.


Far as learning on the 8, as long as you're pressing the clutch all the way in when shifting, you'll be fine. You'll likely be pretty bad when moving from a dead stop, but after a month you should be a pro.

lol yep me too. i dont know how traffice in manual is bad. i guess because japan is so crowded you get use to driving mt in traffic. But i must say breaking down in traffic sucks axx. especially if your 3 lanes away from the sidewalk . it sucked because it was the 2nd week owning my 92 rx7 and i wasnt getting enough cooling for the turbo that i could no longer drive it with out tearing up car.

Lucky i had ppl to help me push, but push car over 3 lanes in traffic was a bitch. ppl honking making my face turn read lol and i was shaking. guess at the age of 17 you tend to get ambarrased pretty easy it seems. and also i didnt want police to come, because i would get ticket for having after market mods, and i would have to strip back to stock and get it reinspected :( so i was scared also.

get a manual. much more worth it for the rpms, and trust me, speed dosn't matter untile you buy the car.

as the great somebody said:
"Learning dosn't burn your clutch. Racing does."

when your learning, the only thing that could possibly break on a new or fairly new car is.... well..... are you planning to hit anything? alright, nothing should hurt it.

As many others have posted, my rx8 was my first MT as well. self-taught (best thing ever is to go to howstuffworks.com and understand the mechanics involved with shifting and what you are actually doing to the car).

The short throw shifter does make it nice to learn on, however, i found the narrow clutch point somewhat challenging to get smooth with. I had friends who have driven MTs often comment on it, and they had trouble adjusting. However, I think about it as (and a couple people have commented) that if you learn an rx8 MT, you can probably drive most things on the road pretty well (i.e. when I drive other MTs its extremely easy, even if you are "rowing" the gears).

I haven't driven the AT, but....

I used to hate driving. Now, with my MT RX-8 I actually drive FOR FUN, even when its not necessary. Dont know if i can attribute that to the MT or just the car in general, but I definitely think the MT helps.

if you are thinking about your car enough to post on the forums (and taking 5 months to decide) I think you would be the kind of person that would like an MT

GET MT! the rx8 is my first and i learned how to drive manual the first day i test drove it... not any more then what 6 min and i picked it right up! maybe thats just me but MT also keeps you awake on those long trips. :D

if you're afraid, why even bother with a brand new car ?

get a beat up civic instead.

Just get MT, a few hours of driving/stalling will get you going.

Auto
 

I have 04 with the shifting paddels and when I use manumatic I usually use the shifter but when i was recently racing a 3000gt through a windy county road doing 80mph the paddels help a lot!!