vibrating gear stick whilst idling
 

Well I've had my lovely RX-8 for about two weeks now, but something I've now noticed that I don't remember from earlier was that at idle there is a fair amount of vibration particularly in the (manual) gear stick - e.g sat at traffic lights, in 1st but clutch depressed. Seems like a diesel :-(

The dealer is a good hours drive away so any advice on whether to worry or not would be greatly appreciated! I remember being blown away by how smooth the engine so I'm a bit concerned in case it's not normal.

should be normal with some vibration since the gear shift is directly connected to the tranny.

It's nothing to worry about. My shift knob has been vibrating since the day I bought it, and aside from the slight annoyance it causes, I haven't had any mechanical problems with it and/or associated with it. Months ago I took it to the dealer for advice, and the service guy told me that some vibration is normal due to the direct linkage.

cool, thanks guys for the amazingly fast responses!

I'll be sleeping a little easier tonight.

Why are you sitting at a traffic light with the clutch depressed? That's what neutral is for. That's excess wear on the throw -out bearing and your knee.

heh. I never step on the clutch unless i'm shifting.

Lets me know the engine is running, hand on the knob, waiting for the light to change!

Yes, it is surprising that there are apparently plenty of people out there who still do this......including my wife!

I am trying to break her of this bad habit!

When you get to 3000-5000 miles put Red Line or Royal Purple in tranny and diff. This will almost get rid of vibration. :)

I have redline in diff and tranny, the gear shift still vibrates. What it did do though, is make the shifting much smoother, and lower the whirring sound in the transmission when in neutral.

I have Redline in my tranny as well, and do have slight vibration. I do not consider it abnormal nor excessive.

Enjoy your new ride.

the vibration is normal, in order to save weight, I'm sure they skipped on some NHV (noise harness vibration) equipment as the vibration lets you feel the car at work. unlike a cable driven shifter (most FWD and mid engine cars) ours connects directly to the gearbox

is this the first manual car you have ever driven? all manual tranny's gearshifters vibrate at idle. its because the gearbox is bolted directly to the transmission. if it doesn't vibrate, you best be worryin'!!

do you have the dynamic damper recall? it is for older builds...after the recall was done on mine the vibration decreased DRAMATICALLY

Nothing wrong with a little vibration in the stick at idle. In fact, that's the MOST vibration you're going to get out of the drivetrain. What's important, and great about the 8, is that the engine and transmission of power are so smooth when you're driving. The only engines in the same ballpark for smoothness are inline 6's and 12's. A BMW 330ci is a $40k car with a fantastic inline 6. I'd love to have one but I got a very servicable, fun to drive, well built car for $26k. That's a lot less...