Quick question. Is there a way to adjust the idle speed on the RX8? It has been 10 years since I drove a manual transmission and I am finding that 1st gear is a little weak when starting off. I sometimes almost stall out or end up burning the clutch. My old car would pull you forward without even touching the gas and once the clutch was all the way out, I could then hit the gas and take off. It is a real pain in stop and go traffic. Any suggestion?

 

I suggest just driving around with the car. Within a week you'll be completely used to it.

Trust me on this - I found it difficult to shift smoothly, not jerk the car around in low gears, and not reving it too high to avoid stalling, during the first few days. You'll get better at it.

PS: You have to feather the clutch at low rpms/gears, or it will jerk around. I don't think there is any way around it.

 

Just a guess, but likely no easy way...as the car is drive by wire throttle, all part of the ECU and it's electronic brain I believe.

Also, the guy at autoX tech inspection went looking for a throttle - couldn't find it, so I told him the same and he went, "...uhhhh? Ok"

 

Engine idle is controlled by the PCM (computer), so the quick answer is no, you can't adjust the idle speed.

One of the reasons that it is easier to stall this car rather than what you used to drive (I assume it was a conventional engine), is that the rotary is a low torque engine. Torque is what will prevent the engine speed from dropping when loaded.

As Jason stated, give it time and you will get used to properly modulating the gas for smooth starts and low speed driving.