Hey what's going on guys, I just recently purchased an 04 rx8, I've owned stick shifts in the past but never one like this. So I wanted to get advice from y'all on how to properly downshift my rx8, and pointers on how to drive it in general, this is my first ever rotary motor I don't wanna mess anything up

 

What is your question, exactly? What are you trying to achieve ? Is this for racing? Daily?

 

Because the 8 revs down pretty quickly, you often need to blip the throttle right before you let out the clutch to bring the RPM back up to where you think they should be in the lower gear. This is easier on the synchros and makes for a smoother experience for you.

 

Press the clutch down, bring the revs up to match while you select the lower gear, then let the clutch back up.


To avoid lurching, when decelerating you would aim to have the revs just slightly lower than they would be in the lower gear when you let the clutch up. Bonus points for doing this while braking (heel-toe).


If accelerating it's vice versa - have the revs just slightly higher when you let the clutch up and feed the gas in as it bites.




Be smooth and kind to the car

 

Rev match when not braking. heel and toe when braking.

 

actually unless you double clutch, there is no difference in wear on the syncs between rev matching or not. of course if you don't rev match, you gonna wear the clutch.

 

To OP. Stick shift is stick shift.There is no difference between RX-8s stick shift vs other stick shift.

 

And if this is on the street you should only downshift when absolutely needed because brakes are cheaper and easier to replace than clutches and transmissions.

 

Where's the fun in that?

 

Well, there is a right way to drive a MT and a wrong way and most are not taught properly which results in unneeded wear and tear on the car. I'm not saying to never downshift but a lot of people do it during casual driving when it is unecessary, not just when driving hard. I personally think this is a big part in why the S1 trans fail prematurely for those that do not track or autox.

 

You're right about most people not being taught the proper way to drive stick, I wish it was a requirement to drive at all; at least to get your license that is, I'm not knocking auto's as a luxury.

I'm just saying that with cars like these, it's so much fun to drop a cog and feel the trans slip into gear with little to no strain on any wear items. That obviously comes with practice and I can think of several instances of unsavory noises coming from my car as a result of that learning curve.

In response to OP's question, just keep driving and learn which RPM ranges feel right to shift at depending on how your driving. Also, are you running a lightweight flywheel? The rev's drop off quickly but not that quickly...