Rambling Man

It’s not ‘cause she can’t drive a stick, she can. She hasn’t asked, I haven’t offered.

Aratinga

That's kinda weird, if you ask me.

What if you guys go out together and for some reason you're unable to drive home (you have a bit too much to drink, you lose a contact lens, whatever). Wouldn't you want her to be at least somewhat familiar with the car so she could get you both home?

Why don't you ask her to take the car to get gas or something -- don't go with her. Just let her take it by herself. I have to wonder why she hasn't ever asked to drive the car for a whole year. Is it because she knows you don't trust her driving?

Urchin

It took my wife a while to drive the 8. The last time she drove the RX7 she got hit (not her fault) so she was aftraid of someone hitting her kf she drove the 8. Now that she has driven it, she loves it. Offer your wife the keys, you will enjoy how much she will lke it.

JoePaterno

My girlfriend hates the RX8, hated the RX7, and has refused to drive both. She knows how to drive stick too. I just had to tell her to STFup tonight. I had to take her car to work cause it's snowing. She said something like "Oh, so that means I have to take your stupid car to the gym then. I hate that thing." She just doesn't like to drive stick.

VikingDJ

You poor poor man. My woman loves driving stick, as do most women, but she doesnt like manual transmissions.
Sorry I couldnt' resist.

Rambling Man

Well, sure, if I was drinking or really tired, she would drive. I generally like to drive, and she doesn't, so even if we are in her car I drive, especially if we have to get somewhere fast. I usually don't think about this, but coming home yesterday from Vegas to Long Beach it stuck me: she's never driven my car.

Perhaps she thinks that if she dented it that my wrath would be terrible (one of the first things that I did after buying the 8 was to revoke her right to park in the garage citing all the dings on the side of my Saab that was facing where she parked; the side that the pesky children exited). I suppose I could ask her why she has never had an interest in driving the Mazda, but it's much more fun to let this thread run semi-wild with conjecture.

Rambling Man

And Viking, my man, no need to tell me that your woman loves da stick....trust me, I know. She was surprised to find out about second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth gear. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

fullsmoke

What about reverse?

FS

VikingDJ

Only if you aren't wearing an umbrella, and you don't want little rotaries running around. :D

fullsmoke

HAHA! :D

VikingDJ

More like pleasantly surprised. As you get older and experienced with stick you learn how to use 5th 6th gear, and prolong the life by staying in OD, then downshifting when ready to accelerate. Most younger people can't get out of first or second gear, and they blow their engine. Ok I'm done.

GRT8

My wife drove my RX8 the first week I owned it - she let me buy it.

She stalled a few times in reverse getting out of the driveway but otherwise was ok. She drove my Mazda6 some and she scraped the wheel at a WalMart parking lot island and I wasn't too happy, so I don't think she drives the RX8 anymore because she KNOWS THAT IF SHE HURT THE 8...

rx8wannahave

LOL...my wife has been talking to me about this kind of stuff. She tells me, if I can't drive your 8 you can't drive my 6....lol

Right now I'm keeping everyone back by saying that until I hit the 1,500 (semi-RB break in) I wont let anyone drive my 8, but I'm at 1,350 now...I need a new reason...lol

My wife does not have alot of experiance with stick cars so I kind of worry about it, but I think I will give in soon. I think it would be fun to see how she might enjoy the car. Also, I"ll let my bro drive pretty soon also since he knows how to drive stick and I know he would like to drive it. Oh yeah, my dad too since he took a trip with me to Miami to get an 8 and we came back empty handed. Well,...then there is that paying for everything while I was growing up thing, so I'll let the old man take a spin also.

Rambling Man

While I’ve considered a Borla exhaust system to allow for more horsepower, my wife, after 20 years of marriage, believes that it will invalidate the warranty.

StewC625

And this is a bad thing because ... ????

jsh1120

My wife took the 8 yesterday since I needed the wagon to transport the family hound. On her way home she called to inform me that "all the guys" on her ski bus gathered around to admire the her and the car and that while on the drive home she was enjoying all the attention she was getting from male drivers. I may have to reconsider this car sharing arrangement.

P.S. She was duly impressed that she could fit her skis, boots, and ski bag in the 8 with so little difficulty. Fortunately, she had only to drive the car to the meeting place for the bus that took her skiing. I don't think she would have enjoyed the trip up the mountain on icy roads on summer tires.

velocity8

So she actually found some snow in WA.

Gambit

My girlfriend drove it once around the parking lot, and when she stopped she said something like, are you supposed to let go of the clutch? I think the look on my face scared her, because she hasn't driven it, nor expressed a desire to, since.

jsh1120

Yeah, but it was a struggle. The Californians have stolen our snow and our rain this year. Frankly, I think it's a plot to stem the flow of California refugees to Washington. Show them what it's like to live in Washington and maybe they'll stay home.

velocity8

hehe. To bad the weather has been so nice here lately so all the refufees will want to stay here.

Aratinga

Shut up. Just.... Shut up! I'm starting to MILDEW, fercrissakes! It's been pouring non-stop here for the past five days. :p

StewC625

My wife has driven my car exactly three times. Once when I had had too much to drink to be able to drive, and boy was she pissed off, once when I took her car to Home Depot and forgot that she needed to take the kids to soccer practice, and once on a familiarization drive. That's it.

GotZoom

My wife has driven the 8 just a handful of times - says it is growing on her (hence the New Miata, MS Miata, S2000 thread). She does loves the attention when she is behind the wheel though. I'm lucky; she indulges me in my toys (auto/computer/audio/tv, etc) - her philosophy is as long as she can "work" it, she doesnt' really care what I buy.

OBryanRX8

my wife knows she is not allowed to drive my car. i wont let anybody drive it because my luck something will happen.

FLYN8

I offered the 8 to my wife on several occasions but she always had some excuse not to drive it. Usually "I have a headache".

Finally it just so happened one sunny afternoon that she had to take it to pick up our child. She commented on the phone that she had exceptional difficulty get it to go and that the clutch was even more difficult than my Mitsubishi was, which isn't true at all. She also said there was a funny burning smell. I said, oh you're just getting used to driving a stick again. She said " I suppose so, but I killed it four times in a two mile drive" I didn't know what to say to that but reassured her that she would do fine on the way home and said good bye... that's when it hit me as I'm sure it has you already. I yelled into the receiver in hopes that my voice would carry from the now descending handset to her ears and could catch her in time. After a slight pause, thankfully not filled with dial tone she says "WHAT" . I then calmly asked her, with some fear of offending her intelligence and possibly sparking another "headache", if she had released the hand brake?... another longer pause this time, and then the response came. Oh I was wondering what that handle was.