PRiiCeLeSS

At trading in my mazda 6s for a possibly 04-06 rx-8 gt auto. The reason auto is because i cant drive a stick for the love of life. anyways good idea or bad idea i know my mazda 6s is faster stock i believe but i like the looks of the rx-8. It has that "true" four door coupe feeling that i like. So good idea or bad?

hirev8

I'd try to learn on a beater on how to drive stick...........you could pretty much get the jist of it in just under a week and be well on your way to driving a manual easily...don't be intimidated by the stick. Many probs with the auto's with the 04's. Besides stick is much more fun to drive especially in this car you'll appriciate it so much more.

PRiiCeLeSS

nope just pretty much a coupe.

PRiiCeLeSS

i tried to learn how to drive a manual on my mom's old 5 series but she told me no and sold the car. i could do the movements of a manual sitting down in a chair but not in a car. Plus i live in LA so there are hills that i would have to learn as well.

mikesol

Honestly, if you want an RX-8 you need to go and borrow a beater to learn standard on first. There is no point in owning an automatic sports car - and if you insist upon it, you would do much better to find a car with a lot more torque.

I borrowed a friend's 1995 Pontiac Firefly. 55 HP, 3 cyl engine. It was a piece of **** through and through, but if you can shift smoothly on that you can drive anything.

It shouldn't be too hard to find a friend with a standard beater. If it is, just go take driving lessons. You will thank us if you do.

PRiiCeLeSS

Excellent thank you for your advice..... hopefully it wont be bad as they say as driving a manual in LA is kinda sucky due to high volume of traffic

Socket7

Define "cant drive stick"

How much practice have you had?

When I bought my 8, I had maybe 1 hours practice with driving an MT.
It took a couple weeks of looking like an idiot, but once i got used to the friction point of the clutch, things got a lot smoother, and a HELL of a lot more fun.

My best advice is this. The clutch is designed to be expendable. The gearbox isn't. It is better to let the clutch out slowly and wear your clutch out a bit sooner then it is to release it to fast and slam all that power into your gearbox suddenly. Also, if you're in first and starting out (which is the gear you will have the most trouble with) remember that you don't need a lot of gas to keep from stalling, you just need it at the right time. Keep your revs under 2000 when starting until the clutch is released, and once you are comfortable with that, work on taking off with lower and lower RPM's.

Driving stick is not as hard as people make it out to be, and the 8 really comes alive when driving stick. I test drove the auto version, and for me, It just doesn't compare. I'm just along for the ride in an automatic. In a manual, I'm driving. If you enjoy driving, you WILL be happier with the manual.

If you don't enjoy driving, and just want an 8 because it looks cool and will get you from A to B, go for the automatic. If you are going to spend lots of time in heavy stop and go traffic, buy a prius or something, and at least get decent gas mileage.

Either way you go, you cant hate the 8.

PRiiCeLeSS

my main problem with driving a stick was that i would either shift to late (thatz my problem) or when sitting at a red light i would stall it. those r the two biggest concerns.

the other problems were

-when to downshift
- reversing


everything else i have got down

RotaryP7

Whatever you choose, AT or MT. It's still an RX-8. You might get bashed 24/7 after admitting you got a auto but hey, I'm living with it. Plus, I love my AT.

tajabaho1

your choice, if u get an 07, not that far off from an MT in terms of speed

Spinning Sushi

iTrader: (21)

Don't forget to mention being on a hill...

tajabaho1

LA+stick would be death to your left leg, coming from a guy that got stuck in little tokyo for 45 minutes in an AT rx-8, trust me I know, everytime its traffic jam, I thank mazda for making an AT

PRiiCeLeSS

is there a real signficangt difference in modification as far as from a mazda 6s and a rx-8...

because it seems for lots of power on a rx-8 you have to go FI... as as i have been reading intake only gives minimal power gain

as while with the 6 i could get headers and and intake and have around a 23hp gain...plu ssome other stuff involved.


also when i was in the shower i thought about it like this with transmission.


with automatic i have the option of manual (manumatic/tiptronic)....with manual i have the only option of manual.

Spinning Sushi

iTrader: (21)

You're also missing that cool looking pedal that sits on the left side of the brake pedal.

Veight

You don't really need to worry about downshifting until you're comfortable with the transmission. If you need to shift to a lower gear, you can throw it into neutral and then you have about 5 minutes to figure out what to do before your car loses all momentum and comes to a stop. You'll figure it out eventually.

Reversing is easy. Just give it too much gas and never let go of the clutch all the way. Eventually you'll get a feel for how to do it right.

There's really no point in asking people online how to drive stick. You learn how to drive stick by feeling your car and every car is different. I got a 3 as a loaner while my 8 was in the shop. When I got my 8 back, I sputtered out of the dealership like an idiot because my brain had gotten used to the piece of *** transmission in the 3. You sound like you have the basics down so the only thing you can do now is practice.

Razz1

Yep, bad idea.

Ike

Find another car, an AT RX-8 ruins the most fun part of driving a car with a rotary engine. But if looks and some pretty good handling are all that matter to you, go for it. Anyone that tells you any AT RX-8 is close to an MT in terms of speed and fun is just trying to fool themselves.

champi0n

iTrader: (1)

lol you have "everything else down" except the changing gear part

i do like the 6's tho, they look nice. And the rx8 looks good in both MT/AT. If performance is an issue you'd drive an MT to begin with.

There are lots of people that drive AT rx8's and love them... others are sad they didnt get a MT because they tried to race someone with their AT and lost.

If i were to get a mazda 3 or a mazda 6 i'd go AT over MT. (For some reason the MT version seemed cheap in those trims) Plus i wouldnt be looking for performance.

ac3mastuh

iTrader: (1)

ive never found driving in la to be a problem (Im from socal but im in mt for college) especially with a manual, I've mainly found myself even forgetting completely about trying to shift after a month or so of driving. I would still stick with a MT just because its a whole lot more fun going out on a drive in some twisties

yes it still is

ken-x8

With an automatic, you only have the choice of an automatic. Torque converter, planetary gears, bands. You have the illusion of manual by using the paddles to override the programmed shift points. But it's still a slushbox.

Ken

Rhawb

Don't forget the nice delay you get while the car tries to figure out what to do with itself when you tell it to downshift.

Rems31

dont be scared of learning to drive stick. You really just need to get behind the wheel and practice. Quite a number of people learned to drive stick on this car - including myself

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

when i first got my 8 i had about 1.5 hours of practice with a manual. and about 1 hour of that was all highway. (ie, no shifting)

you stall out a bit, you make a fool out of yourself a bit. buying a nice sports car and not knowing how to drive it. BUT!!.. once you do learn you feel like a million bucks.

its really not that hard. although, in my opinion the transmission is very sensitive. if you learn to drive the 8 well, you can drive anything. i find it much easier to shift my buddys 89 bmw 325is when it is to drive the 8. the 8 has a very specific point that takes practice. versus the bwms like 2" of overlay for a perfect shift.

i drive a MT, i wont lie, but i dont see the problem with a 6 speed auto. if you get an 06 automatic it has 6 gears. the first 8 i test drove was an 04 auto. i was disappointed by it only having 4 gears. but 6 gears, hey, sounds good to me. but as ken said, the paddle shifters are not manual shifting like the paddle shifters on an F-1 car. this transmission still has the torque converter which loses more hp through the drivetrain. and since hp is a precious commodity on the 8, you should really get the MT. but a 6 speed (dont get the 4 speed) automatic is a good compromise. traffic can be a real bitch in a manual.