With all of the looking up of the VIN information by ibfubar2000 (Thank You So Much!), only 4 were with Automatics.

0478 Tacoma, WA Black Grand Touring
0574 Tacoma, WA Red Grand Touring
0606 Jacksonville, FL Gray Touring **Mine**
2975 Hueneme, CA Gray Grand Touring

I just found this interesting.

Please don't FLAME with the "Why would you buy a sports car with an Automatic". I dont have any illusion about pushing this car to the limits. I'm upgrading from a 1990 Honda Accord 4dr EX auto, this will be a huge improvement for me, not that the Accord is all that bad.

 

uh. hueneme is actually in ca. but it is an interesting observance!

 

who's Hugh? and what kind of improvements does Hugh do?

 

he makes magazines much better looking, and the articles aren't too bad either...:D :D

 

ok, so I made a couple of spelling errors.

Glad to see the edit command works well.

 

meehh- I liked "Hugh" better:p

 

at least we are not flaming you about buying an automatic like you asked......

 

I've taken a lot of flak on here on the forums and also from my dealer about ordering the automatic, but i'm pretty confident about how my decision was made (more on that later).

I'm not a speed demon. I like sporty cars, but I've never taken a car out on a track, have never drag-raced, and have never driven a manual. Could I learn? absolutely. But, I am a lazy American, and there are times, especially in traffic, that I would not enjoy manual driving. I live in a very urban area that offers precious little in the area of twisties or places to really push the vehicle.

I don't know what I'm missing, having never driven a manual car. Would I ever consider a manual car? Absolutely. But this decision was made for me, as I'm not the one paying for the car, and it was made VERY clear that the decision was not mine. I'm not about to argue my way out of an RX-8, even if it's a manual.

What I don't appreciate is those who say things like I don't "deserve an RX-8" or that mazda shouldn't make automatics to keep would-be purchasers like me out of RXes. It isn't anyone's decision but the purchaser's on what transmission type is for them. It's one thing to say, I'd rather have a manual, or the automatic is not for me, but a totally different and, I think, uncalled-for thing to say You should not have an automatic, or you don't deserve the car because you ordered an automatic.

Sorry about the rant; just had to let a bit off my chest

By the way, mine is 00574, the Velocity Red headed for Detroit via Tacoma.

 

I just cant wait for my new car. Im guessing/hoping for late June early July delivery here in Florida.

The Honda is up for sale and Im dealing with that issue. Selling an older car is no real fun. The cast-of-characters that has been inquiring about it has been interesting to say the least.

And YES, thanks for not flaming on the Automatic issue.

ibfubar2000, since you are a parts guy, what are the chances of locating the part numbers for the rear fog light?

 

good rant. i agree nobody should ever tell somebody they should not drive a car for whatever reason. i hear complaints about the fact i ordered a yellow one. or that i do not race around town and i shouldnt be buying a race car. or if i shouldve bought a evo instaed of an rx8. hell we are lucky we have multiple choices. its nice everybody gets to personalise the car they way they want. thats what makes everybody so unique and why we have so many different threads to compare them. though my favorite comment is " it must be nice to be able to drive new cars every couple years" my answer is always. "YES IT IS GREAT!!"

 

actullay im a warranty administrator guy. i have only seen the japanese part number for rear fog lights and they are not in our system same with the start push button, i think we will have to order form japan dealer directly for those.

 

Bad news, Thanks for the info!!!!

 

I find it interesting that the lowest reported VIN in the U.S. so far is an automatic.

---jps

 

Since there were only a total of 4 automatics ordered, Mazda thought they would get those out of the way first.
Just kidding. :D

 

ROLFOL!!!!

Not that theres anything wrong with that (getting an auto)...

 

Which one would be faster? an automatic RX-8 or an automatic Mazda 6?

 

6I or 6s? actually it doesn't matter. any 6s you find is going to have the entire appearence package on it so with the extra weight it will still be slower than the auto rx-8. now MPS6 when it comes might be faster than a regular auto low power rx-8 in a straight line.

 

Please make sure to update us on what you think of your auto, after you drive if for a week. I am sure that the 210 hp is enough for that small of a car for most people. I haven't settled on if I would want a stick over an auto. I have a stick Accord, where my wife has the same car in an Auto. And sometimes I just like to drive the Auto when we're doing a lot of city driving.

 

What everyone is forgetting is that not every new RX-8 owner is on this forum. The fact of the matter is that there were a bunch more automatics made in the beginning. The first invoice my dealer got was for an automatic. that was a few weeks ago and it will be the first in.
From wat I've heard from my good sources, there was a last minute change (improvement) done to the higher powered engine which delayed start of production be a bit.
I hope this helps to clarify this issue.

 

I visited Hine Mazda in sunny San Diego today, a salesman named Kurt. He seems more knowledgeable about the 8 than many salesmen I have seen discussed in this forum. Kurt tells me that 30 percent of the 8's ordered from their dealership are automatic. Says many people want the fun drive without the hassle of shifting. I dunno if it's true, just one datapoint to keep this thread moving.