Ok, here is the deal. I am a proud owner of a 2006 RX8 SE (Shinka). I find that the second gear is a bit tricky. Also, I can't engage 5th and 6th smoothly - a bit of a jerky ride. These should be the smoothest gears. Am I doing something wrong or is it normal?

For comparison, I just drove my brother's mazda 3 on the weekend. Silky smooth transmission and silky smooth driving on my part. His vehicle has over 20k on it vs under 2k on mine. Will the transmission get better, smoother engagement, as the car breaks in? Or is this as good as it gets.

2nd gear is not smooth, while 5&6 I can't get to drive smooth.

I'm hoping 2nd will become smoother to engage with time - no?

As for 5th and 6th, what can I try to drive smoothly? I don't think these have anything to do with breaking the vehicle in.

Thanks.

 

Its all subjective. The wife thinks the RX8 is clunky, but I think its OK. Coming from a Miata as a previous car, anything feels smooth compared to that.

Agree with you on the 5th/6th, but who the hell ever uses 6th gear anyway? Maybe shove it there and put on the cruise when highway driving for long peiods, but that hardly ever happens.

 

I had the same problem with 2nd gear engaging a bit 'notchy'. i dont think it will go away with time.

Check out Richard Pauls short shifter, that helped my shift to 2nd a lot...its much much better than the stock shifter imo. Highly recommended.

 

when u put it into 5th or 6th give it a little gas before letting go of the clutch if its jerking when u let go of the clutch u are feeling, 2nd gear if my car is cold has a little group getting into but once its warm no problems itll also probably get better with some more miles and use on the car...i use 6th gear when im driving from san diego to fresno lol

 

You have to treat the shifting a lot like a motorcycle transmission. I don't have a problem shifting under casual diving but for "sport" driving it helps to "blip" the throttle while the clutch is in between 1st and 2nd gear, especially if you are taking it to the beep. I don't have a problem with the rest of the gears. It helps to blip the trottle in this style when downshifting as well. Shifting gears is an art form, I'm convinced.

 

2nd gear always seems a bit rough to me. ~4500 miles young, so I'm still getting used to the new tranny/clutch. I've tried all sorts of tricks to make the transition (from 1st & 3rd) a bit smoother, and nothing seems to make any difference. Just have to pay 100% attention to 2nd, and get used to it. Don't have the short shifter, so dunno 'bout dat.

No problems with any other gears, though. 6th is my favorite!

 

I hate 2nd gear! It's feels notchy and the clutch engagement is all over the F'n place. The clutch never seems to engage the same way twice. (25,000kms on the OD)
I too have tried all sorts of tricks, trying to perform a normal shift can end up jerky if I don't ride the clutch a bit to try and get a smooth engagement of the clutch to the clutch plate. Under WOT or Beep mode the well I'm always worried about missing the gear as it seems that unless I have the clutch peddle to the mat I'm going to grind the gears (ZING!!!! OUCH).

No problem with any other gears. I just hope I learn 2nd before I blowup 2nd.

 

2nd gear always sucked for me.. got RP's short shifter last week and it's exactly what was needed. every gear is perfect.. it's a bit more effort to change gears but it'll never miss again. I have yet to grind a gear... used to always grind 2nd coming out of first at redline.

 

Like...all the time. How's your gas mileage?

2nd gear is also a little hard to lock into at 22k miles. I'd like to get a short shifter soon.

 

Ok, so it's good to know that it's not me.

As everyone said, 2nd is a bit notchy. I can drive smothly 1-4. I am waiting for my af ss, so this hopefully makes the 2nd more manageable.

As for 5th and 6th, it looks like I need to experiment a bit more. Limepro, that's what i'm trying now; trying to give it a bit more gas while letting off the clutch. I've never seen 5th so weird. I've tried everything, letting it off fast, slow, more gas, less gas - very sensitive to say the least. I guess this vehicle was never meant to be driven in 5th and 6th. Forget the gas mileage.

It all depends on your driving. When I'm doing more spirited driving, I will go up to 4th or even 5th. For cruising, I'll go to 6th. You can't race all the time.

 

I use 6th gear all the time. I also get good mileage, averaging high 22s to mid 23s consistently. I haven't noticed any problems shifting into 5th or 6th. I also haven't noticed anything with 2nd. Mine all shift smoothly unless I happen to let off the clutch too quickly. Otherwise it is all fine.

P.S. The manual says to shift into second at 14.

 

I assume your issue is the feel through the shifter when you shift from 1st to 2nd and not how smoothly the clutch engages after the 1-2 shift.

If that is the case then (FWIW) I have two suggestions.

1. Make sure you put the clutch pedal all the way to the stop on the floor before attempting to shift. Slow shifts were fine but my transmission was a bit notchy on fast shifts until I started doing that. My take is that an stainless steel clutch line would probably also take care of it.

2. Switch to a synthetic transmission oil like Redline or Royal Purple. I can tell you first hand that the RX-8 tranny is picky about the oil. I had the dealer replace the transmission oil at 3K miles and while shifting was silky smooth with the factory oil, shifting became notchy in almost all gears with the dealer oil. It was terrible. I then put Redline in (which I had used in my Miata) and its now smoother than when it came from the factory.

 

1st to 2nd needs, at least for me, a wee bit of a pause between cogs.. 2-6 are much faster.

I guess the triple-synchros need some time to even out when coming down from 9000+ rpm

The rest of the cogs are so close together (ratio-wise), and the engine sheds revs so quickly, that a lightning-fast smooth shift with no effort is possible..

But 1st-2nd takes a little practice...

 

^good advice.

I can say that the first few months of driving I was a bit annoyed that the 1st to 2nd was a bit "notchy" but after awhile I've gotten so use to it that I don't even notice it now. IMO it certainly isn't bad enough to warrant installing a SS,but that's just me I guess. All other gears are smooth as butta.

 

Here is something you should look at. I think it will fix some of you clutch probs. Get it printed out and show to your dealer. Then come back and let us know if it did.....

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...04-06-1641.pdf

 

Old rotor, thanks for the info. The post about the squeaky clutch is unrelated to this one - it just started to squeak when ambient temperature is high. This one has to do more with the nature of the transmission, 2nd being notchy, and 5th and 6th not smooth when coming out of. But thanks, will observe the clutch if the squeak continues and then will notify the dealer.

 

For the 1-2 shift, I find that you have to pull straight rearward on the shifter. If you happen to be pulling rearward and also applying pressure to the left, it is going to increase the notchiness.

Synthetic oil is a must. Also kills the input shaft noise in neutral almost completely.

 

I'm getting that squeaking noise too. It's incredibly annoying. I think I'm going to take my car in tomorrow to get the squeaking noise, rattling under the dash, notchy 2nd-gear, a/c, and bad starting fixed. WTF- this was a $30k car. I love driving it, but quality control really really sucks.

 

Funny thing I find the opposite.

For the best shifting always pull towards you. That is in towards your body. Sure you will feel it click in, but you will never miss a shift, especially if your accelerating hard.

The trick is: always pull it in towards you. It slides in and then notches.

 

my clutch pedal has started to squeak a bit too since about a week ago. Dont know if it has to do with the temp, but it has been pretty hot around here lately.

Its never hard to disengage a gear though, and it seems to catch just fine too. Although the catch point does seem a bit higher...not sure if its just my imagination though.

 

Mine started to squeak about a week ago and it's also been hot here...engagement point didn't seem to change but the squeak is driving me insane! What should i say when i bring it in?

 

Drove the vehicle to work this morning - no squeaks whatsoever. It will be interesting to see what happens when I drive it home in the afternoon when it's hot. It heat is the cause, then that service bulletin might be a partial explanation. But other than the squeaks, nothing is wrong.

I was 'playing' with the 2nd while driving to work. I was trying to figure out what minimizes the notchiness - pull straight down and pause briefly between gears. Not an answer I was looking for. When you want to have some fun with the vehicle, the last thing you want to be doing is pausing between gears.

But, one thing is for sure. Make sure the engine/transmission is warm before trying to fast shift.

 

x2. couldnt agree more. i also rev match when changing gears by blimping the gas during gear changes, which was mentioned before. Couldnt be smoother.