o'what the heck its friday and time to be slammed....

what is up with all the 'auto' hate going round?
and what is up with the 'losing so much power'?
at least when comparing an 06 or newer auto to the stick we are talking about only 20hp as I understand it. Comparing an 04 auto to an 04 stick then yes it is more (40hp ??) maybe.

But for a direct comparison of an 06 to 06 or 07 to 07 then it comes down to 20hp and of course the 'if it is a sports car it must be have a stick' mind set. I'm not against that line of thinking if that is what one feels; ride then decide. just don't kill the idea for someone to consider getting an rx8 just because it happens to be an automatic...provided they realize what they are doing and have tried the stick.


not getting an auto in a rx8 prior to 06 that i can understand I would say though I never owned one of the 4speed autos.

Seems in either case, stick or auto (in an 06 or later) one must get the rpm range up before you start feeling a sense of 'power on tap'. getting to that point by stick or auto...doesn't much matter to the engine or the driving. just depends on how much you wish to feel connected to your ride. holding a gear in manual mode with the auto shifter works well enough to me.

and yes I know it is not the same as owning a stick nor am I saying it is better...just for me it works better.