hey guys i just bought my first car 2004 Mazda Rx8 manual transmission with 68,000miles. the thing is that i don't know how to drive standard, i know is sound stupid of me buying a car that i dont know how to drive, but i bought it because it was cheap and it is in good condition. Ive tried to learn for a couple of days now but i keep stalling it im getting aggrevated. i saw an automatic transmission for $450 with 72,000 miles on it..my question is do i only need the transmission or do i need more parts?also im taking it to a mechanic to do the work...need help thanks.

 

Ok so I'll try to take you seriously.

Learn harder. Seek out lessons if you must but you can't just throw in an automatic transmission.

 

Well, if this car is your ONLY means of transportation to get around, its the perfect opportunity to learn standard; because you dont have a choice.

Dont give up like a pansy. Pay attention to what your doing and get going. Use your emergency brake if you have to on hills until you get going. Yeah, your gonna take a toll on your tranny learning, but if you can drive a standard vehicle, you can pretty much drive any vehicle. Drive it as much as you can. You'll notice after a while it gets easier. It took me a few months to really get it, but I did not have ANY other vehicle choice, so it forced me to learn. I went on stupid drives around the block to keep getting experience.

Even if it WAS possible to switch what kind of tranny it is (which i dont think it is), I wouldnt want to, it just kinda sounds like a dumb idea. Just my 2 cents.

 

The first car I ever bought had a manual transmission, and I had never driven one before. (My dad drove us home.) After two days of starting, stopping, stalling and cursing in the driveway, I was good to go.

Would I have traded that manual for an automatic for two extra days of driving? No way!

 

If you weren't in Boston I might trade you cars lol.

Do you have a friend that can teach you? I wouldn't mess w/ switching the transmission. That is silly. Even if it only costs you $450, why spend $450 when you could learn how to drive it and it would cost you nothing?

Put it in first - left foot on clutch - push on gas a little and let off clutch a little until car starts to move...let off clutch easily, push gas a little more - & you are going. Change gears (push clutch and move stick to the next higher number) as you increase speed & rpm

See? Completely free! & once you get the hang of it it's so much more fun!!
My cars is an automatic and I am a little bummed about it. But it's an RX-8, which makes up for the bummed-ness.

 

All you need are 20 minutes to learn how to drive a manual transmission...
Try harder!

 

I was in the same boat, but after months of lurking...I couldn't do the automatic route. Its my only car (sort of) and it took maybe half an hour to get down. Its gonna be the hills and stop go that get you most. Don't panic, just relax and have a good time it will all come to you. Start on level ground and throw it in first while your on the clutch. Without any gas, let out on the clutch really slow. You will feel when it grabs and you can creep it forward. That's your friction point. You will want to get a feel for it so you can chill on slight inclines without a hitch and take off smooth. Practice makes perfect. I'm no professional but hopefully I'm helping. As I said I was in a very similar position a month or so ago. Its worth it.

 

it is sad that more and more young guys simply don't know how to drive manual. As I mentioned in another thread, learning how to drive manual was like a rite of passage when I was in high school.

I mean, all kids were just obsessed with finding somebody that could teach them. They didn't want to graduate from high school without learning how to drive manual

I don't think an RX-8 is the best car to learn how to drive manual. The clutch engages very quickly - at least in mine - which is great once you know how to drive manual. But I think it's Better to learn in another car with a more forgiving clutch.

And if you are doing all of that stalling everyday with a cold engine pretty soon you will have a flooded engine. In fact, I'm surprised that hasn't happened yet.

Find somebody that can teach you. All you need - as others said already - is a couple of days!!

 

Manual is easy than you think. Practice, practice, practice, and you'll good to go.

 

there are millions of videos on youtube teach you how to drive a manual. go watch one. its very easy.

 

What you need to be aware of most in driving a stick is to find and control the friction point of where the clutch starts to engage. With the car in neutral, push down on the clutch, put the transmission in first and slowly let up on the clutch until you just feel the car wanting to go forward. Notice I didn't mention feeding any gas. At that point, push back down on the clutch and let it up again. Doing this several times will help you find the friction point and become aware of what is happening. With practice, keep letting up on the clutch a bit more, always slowly, and eventually the car will move ahead with the clutch fully engaged. It is quite possible to do this without feeding any gas, but with the rotary, some gas may need to be applied because of the low speed lack of torque. What I'm trying to do here is to get you to feel the friction point and how the clutch grabs. Years ago, I had my wife go through this routine on a VW Rabbit, and I had her going in about twenty minutes. Within a few weeks, she was a pro. Same with my daughter and son.

Don't give up. Once mastered, it will stay with you forever.

 

Yeah, figuring out the pedal position where your clutch engages is key. Program that into your brain, and you will have no problems getting going, even from a start on a hill.

Stick with it, once you get it it's not hard at all. My first car was manual and every car since, except one, was also manual. The whole time I had the auto, I wished it was manual.

Like mentioned earlier, once you learn manual, you can pretty much drive anything so it is worth the effort to learn.

 

The above method worked with both my kids. Only a fool would try to teach a wife to drive, so I did not test it there. Find a school, likely a middle school, with a bus loop. Practice there. If you have to get someone to drive it there for you, that is fine.

 

Then, read both threads in my signature. Good luck.

 

My Dad brought me to a ~quarter mile downhill with lots of speedbumps, leading to a lake parking area and boat ramp. We drove to the bottom, switched, and he had me drive back up the hill, coming to a full stop right before each speed bump.


Full immersion education

I learned it in about 20 minutes.

 

This is exactly how I taught my wife quite a few years back. She picked it up in about 30 mins.

 

learned in 2 days in my brothers mini, i failed hard the first day, second day i proficient enough to not stall at every stop.

few months later i got my first car (rx8) and drove off with manual.

what i was doing wrong was clutching all the way, then releasing the clutch and trying to gas at the same time as the clutch was dropped, trying to get the engagement point and gas to go at the same time..

then by accident on that second day i left my foot on the clutch and forgot to let go all the way and the car started moving. felt like a retard after that.

DONT GIVE UP! try giving it gas up to about 1500-2000rpm and then sloooowwwwwwwwly releasing off the clutch, keep the gas steady and dont move it from 1500-2000 and the clutch will engage(what Art L was talking about) and you will eventually start moving. The more practice you have, the less gas you give it to get going.

do what Art L is talking about first, put the car in gear and slooowwly release the clutch (without touching the gas, trust me and see what happens)

Oh, and dont forget to clutch when in gear when stopping for stop signs / street lights

THENN! you get to the fun stuff like downshifting / rev matching / heel n' toe

 

I had started off learning clutch with an old ford truck, and all the other manuals I had driven were old ford trucks.
I flew down to Los Angeles to pick up my rx8 and drive it back... and the clutch felt completely different then what I was used to. Needless to say on the way out I had Los Angeles Rush hour to adjust to the change

 

after having not been driving a manual for almost 3 years, I went and picked up the car and hit the road right away. thanks to this.

also being an engineer, I know the inner working of everything pretty quickly and once I know how it works I can use it no problem.

 

You'll be in it for thousands to swap to an automatic, and you'll ruin the value of your car.

Now that your escape path has been removed take some time to read the advice on this thread, go find a parking lot, and practice until you get it down. The only way to learn it is to do it.

 

this!
honestly, RX8's have the best transmission I've ever driven. why change it to AT?

 

Amen to that. I've owned three BMWs, seven Porsches, one Audi, a bunch of other cars, and driven many more.......the RX8 has the best OEM shifter/transmission combination that I've driven. Perfect short throw and excellent mechanical action without being notchy. Once you get used to the low clutch take-up it's actually really good as well, it is not a hard car to drive smoothly after a little practice.

 

complete polar opposite in age from me

I love how the rx8 attracts all age ranges. I especially enjoy how the older guys dont have a problem talking to the younger guys rather than gravitating to people in their own age group. Its just another reason what makes this car so great, a dedicated community of drivers.

 

step one: clutch in, first gear

step two:rev and hold a 2k rpm

step three: release clutch slowly until it starts to grab and hold it at that height

step four: once car starts rolling at 3mph, finish releasing the clutch slowly

memorize where the clutch engagement point is and profit

the most important thing to remember is when you panic to push clutch IN, not let go

 

Or, go ahead, give up on that awful clutch, and post an ad on rx8club offering to trade your stick car for someone's automatic car. You'll get plenty of responses, then at least have a "proper" automatic car.