MT vs AT & other Car-Newbie Q's
 

I'll be the first to admit it, I know very little about cars. But I know what I like, and from what I've seen of the RX-8... I LIKE IT!

I've only ever driven AT before, never driven a MT car. Living in Seattle, a place with plenty of parking space on the freeways and sidestreet hills that seem to impossibly reach 89 degree inclines I'm a little weary about going MT... but the extra horsepower and such on the MT model seem to justify getting it.

Obviously I'd have to learn to drive an MT first :) And I wouldn't be practicing on my RX-8. I have enough friends that have old beater MTs that I could practice, and I have enough time to learn before buying an RX-8 because, unfortunately, my current financial situation does not allow for the purchasing of a new car. I've got at least a good six months before I could consider adding a car payment to my monthly dues.

I'm not sure if anyone here has the RX-8 AT, but maybe those of you that drive the MT know enough about the difference between the models. How much would the lack of approx. 50hp effect the handling of the AT?

The only "Pro's" for AT that I can think of are the fact that as I said previously, I live in an area with a lot of stop and go traffic on the freeways, and inclines (which often require being stopped on) on the side streets, and an AT would make driving in those environments easier. I'm sure the "Con's" are more, and outweigh those few Pro's though... so if any experts feel inclined to share their car knowledge, please do!

If you've got 6 months to practice, S&G traffic and hills won't be a problem. Heck if you can eventually move into a MT daily driver without the AT crutch, you'll be quite skilled in no time.