mitchb_3

I was wondering if instead of buying a supercharger would it be worth it just to try and sell your auto and instead of buying a supercharger for the auto, to pay the difference to buy a manule rx8? I'm not gonna be doing this anytime soon, but i was just wondering if that was the better path.


EDIT. wow i just realized i spelled "manual" wrong my bad i feel really stupid.

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

Depends - why did you buy an auto for in the first place ?

sosonic

I would never trade my RX-8 Auto. I bought an auto because of traffic and I like doing things like watching DVD videos while driving. The manual would just be an unwanted hassle. I just got too annoyed in traffic. I can drive a stick by the way and even took my driver's license test with a manual. If I lived in wide open country with no traffic, than maybe I would keep to shifting the stick.... but, I don't live in such a place.

Plus, you can always switch to manual mode in the RX-8 Auto, if you want to be a little more in control.

So the choice for me would be go S/C. Either twinscrew (Pettit appears to have done a good job) or AxialFlow (still waiting for it and Cobb's Accessport before making final choice).

Phil's 8

iTrader: (3)

I prefer my a/t 8. I've driven both - yes I would like the responsive lower RPM of the manual so that is why I decided to go with Pettits s/c. I own one but do not have the ability to install it. Charles R. Hill will be in Vegas early next month to install it and I will post my feelings at that time. I have no problem driving a manual - but feel that shifting in traffic is stupid. Sell the a/t for a manual? Not me.

Endgame

Pretty much what they said. My last car was a MT. I have to drive out of downtown every day I go into the office. It was a PAIN!!! I have a 6 speed AT and am just fine with it. I plan to stay NA, but if I was in your situation, I would just keep the AT and go w/either Pettit or the AF.

Some extra power at the top end vs. ease and hassle free driving is what you must consider. **You will probally end up still wanting forced induction even if you go MT as you will still want more power.**

Red Devil

That's a joke, right?

Clavius

Hey in Pettit's S/C thread Moon said that Cam thought his A/T could take his S/C 8 which is obviously a M/T so thats saying alot right there. Mind you Moon has the prototype on his car.

To me it wouldnt be worth the hassle and the extra spent money. For the money you'll most likely end up losing out on you could of just bought the S/C. Now unless you've come into a HUGE windfall of cash and doing this wont even hurt your budget then go nuts.

Rootski

iTrader: (1)

If you go S/C, you've payed a lot of money, put up with a lot of hassle, and voided your warranty so you can still not dyno as much as a manual. Trade it.

As for the rest of you dudes: delusional.

Red Devil

I think the numbers should just speak for themselves, the AT produced ~210whp, as I recall. The MT ~260whp. From 0-30, Moon stated the Automatic seemed faster, but after that the MT was faster.

If you'd be happy with ~210whp and like the comfort of your automatic - go for it. If you're looking for every amount of hp, you're missing a portion of the upper rev range where the rotary gets good and maybe you'll have to bite the bullet and trade.

NgoRX8

iTrader: (1)

I was just about to comment on that too... that is very unsafe.

zaku

Why do you say that? This thread is located in "AT-Specific Performance Mode"forum,right?
MT maybe better in everyway,but a guy stick with a AT car still can do some thing for performance.

therm8

See the quote again and look for the bold text.

mitchb_3

Thats another thing i was wondering if you put a SC on a AT would it still not beat a stock manual on the dyno?

Also is swaping the auto transmission for a manual a be more cost efficient than trading the whole car.

(again this isn't something im going to be doing soon but i'm just looking for future reference.)

therm8

peak dyno #'s are for dyno queens. A supercharged 4 port might dyno slightly less than a stock MT(at the peak), but it will still be as fast or faster(because it'll make more average power). Swapping transmissions is not financially feasible. We're not even sure that it is possible.

sldrmr21

meh, its up to you what you would do, i've seen people be completely satisfied for what the a/t has to offer and others just totally disatisfied. it really depends on why you would want the s/c in the first place. if you just want more power for just straight line racing then your better off just getting the manual, if your actually wanting to get either one because your disatisfied with the car right now then why did you get it in the first place? or maybe you've had it for a while and decided that now would be a good time for the s/c or the manual. so speak, now dont be shy just what are your intentions with either option?

BigAAA

The first response says it all... If you want the higher power version of the 8, you deal with the hassle of shifting. (Although I have yet to see a dyno run of a SC 6sp auto with the rev limit bumped to 9k. I would assume it would make a big difference.)

I know watching a movie is unsafe, but what about eating, or talking on the cell phone? Everyone does it, and it is much easier to do in an auto. If you want to walk around showing people your dyno sheet, get a manual. If you enjoy the car as a daily driver, and just want more power than you have now, you should probably stick with the auto.

Anyways, If you are worried about dyno numbers you got the wrong car in the first place, auto or manual...

mitchb_3

Alright, well I'm still pretty new, but I'm satisfied for now with the A/T especially since I live in Kansas, and am moving to Virginia where traffic is going to be a lot worse. But in a year or so I know I am going to want a little more variety so I'm just trying to figure out what my best option is. If it ever comes around I will probably trade in for a manual, but thats a ways off and for now im definately fine with the auto, I love it.

N rider89

do you mean a n/a manual or a sc manual?

also you always seem to put down the a/t. you are free to say what you like in other forums but its not cool when its in the a/t section, so you just seem rude and offer no help with the delusional comment.


i think if you are in a situation where you are comfortable to switch to a manual, go for it. it could be cheaper, retains warranty and gives you more control. if you choose to stay with the a/t a SC is a nice way to go also.

for SCs, i would go with pettits SC kit. it is fully set up for the a/t and its from a good company. the Blitz one is very poor so forget that one. and the axial flow one is still not out yet and RP said that a/t would have to make some custom modifications for the SC to be adaptable.

N rider89

easier said than done, the problem is the torque converter cant handle the higher revs stock. an added tranny cooler would help with the added heat.

also you could go customized torque converter but that would be a last step

mitchb_3

I'm sure this has been answered, but i dont know what exactially to search. Does the A/T engine actually have less power than the engine in manual models, or is it just that the MT allows so much more control that they can get more power out of the same engine. Newbie question but i dont know the answer...

tajabaho1

hey, my rx-8 just got pwned right now, but seriously though, I must agree with most posts in here, the auto is wayyy more convenient, you can do a bunch of stuff without having to worry, like eat...........

Easy_E1

iTrader: (2)

2004-5 4 port Rotary 4spd AT 7500 rpm redline 197hp
2006-7 6 port Rotary 6spd AT 7500 rpm redline 212hp
2004-7 6 port Rotary 6spd Man. 9000 rpm redline 238hp

Clavius

...and get road head without having to worry about using the shifter to interupt it hehehehe!

sosonic

First off, the non-FI MT does not produce 260whp. The MT is rated around 238HP and the AT is at 197-215HP (depending in which country you are in OR if you have a 4AT or 6AT). Many believe Mazda just straight up lied about HP or were forced to decrease HP for emission reasons.

The reality is that the HP difference between the MT and AT could be an average of around 25 to 30 HP. That is not some unachievable distance that can't be matched with the right mods on an RX-8 Auto. Keep in mind that Mazda was de-tuning the AT on purpose to prevent blown AT transmissions that could not handle high revs.

What some of you MT guys that hate ATs don't understand:

The whp limit comes from the ECU limits and issues with the AT transmission handling high RPMs.

The RX-8 AT ECU can be flashed to go beyond the rpm restriction and ATF cooler can be added to allow for going into the higher rpm range. I've pushed my RX-8 Auto to 8000-8500 RPMs with ZERO problem.

Now on the 4AT you can argue about it getting enough air, but FI will give you more air and so arguably would a well designed ram air duct (not as much as FI, but would help some at high speed).

However the 6AT does not have that problem and can get as much air as any manual 6MT.

Mazda de-tuned the RX-8 Auto on purpose, so as not to be liable for any blown AT trannies. Therefore, there is more room for performance improvement than many MT people know about.

The Auto's have slightly more torque than their MT cousins. Shifting would be very consistent in auto or manual mode of the RX-8 auto. So unless the MT person was a pro at shifting gear, he could lose out due to mis-shifting to the right gear.

With the right SC kit and the right mods, the RX-8 Auto can hand out defeats to non-FI RX-8 MTs. With the right mods an FI RX-8 Auto could also handle FI RX8 MTs. In a drag, if the torque converter problem was corrected, the RX-8 Auto could hand out defeats to RX-8 MTs in that area too.

As time goes by and more solutions come out, I'm sure there will be many surprised RX-8 MT people.

Lastly, people have the right to do what they want. If you love shifting in traffic, more power to you. If you don't like shifting in traffic, like watching movies in the car, and getting kissed "down there" by your girlfriend than more power to all of us too. If you have gone in and out through traffic at high speed, then you will understand the love of an RX-8 Auto. It's too easy to make a shifting mistake or lose focus in an manual, in that type of situation.

Different strokes for different folks.

sldrmr21

i was wondering if anyone else caught that....no way does either model make over 240 hp.