Please give me your input as to whether I've done BAD things to the car....

- I've sorta overrevved the engine from going about 65mph in 5th gear, then suddenly going into 2nd gear...... my tail sorta wiggled/fishtailed....
(I've done that 2x).

- I've ground the gears a little bit by not engaging the clutch completely while going maybe 40-50mph (a second or two)

-I've ground the gears in low gear, going slow in a parking lot and just sorta not engaging the clutch all the way..... I've doen this around 4 times :-(

- I know, I don't deserve my RX-8 But I've been driving stickshift for 3.5 months now, I've had my car for 2.5 months... and I'm 24

Please let me know if you think I've ruined in any way my RX-8....

by the way....where can I tell you guys about an OUT OF THIS WORLD laptop trade-in deal? I'm a corporate account manager for Zones, Inc.

here are some pics of my '05 Velocity Red RX-8 (touring package):

 

I went through the same "learning curve" that you did, your car should be fine. Remember, find em, don't grind em.

 

Not at all. Your transmission could sustain slight damage, but most people grind gears a couple times in there life. And the over-rev...As long as you didn't hit fuel cut, you didn't do anything bad. And if you did, meh, a lot of people have and have had no problems.

65 in 2nd is just about redline, so no big harm done.

 

dont worry about it. youll get better with the stick (if you know what im saying) over time, and i doubt that those 6 or 7 mistakes will cause any damage to your car. just enjoy it.

 

thank you very much for the peace of mind. I just updated my post with more pics of my 8 if you guys care!

I want a spoiler...but hmm... I kinda like the stock... I wish it were higher or more wide of a wing.... possibly something like the old eclipse spoiler. I don't like the R-spec one... the Mazda Speed one is not bad... bah.

 

From what i've heard, this is a rather strong tranny. I've heard WORLDS less complaints about this tranny then the T-45 that came in the Cobras. Reliability seems to be rather high on this one.

I personally have encountered a situation when I was following a buds story so close that I didn't even realize I was trying to dig into reverse instead of 6th. I have no idea why i did so, but it was grinding a little too. No problems since. I'm pretty sure you'll be OK with the tranny. The syncros seem to be amazing in comparison!

As for the engine...rumor has it that this baby would be able to rev into the 13K range before real engine damage would occur. Besides, fuel cutoff is there for a reason, and if you didn't even experience that, yur defintely fine!

As others have mentioend...you live you learn...no biggie!

 

what exactly is fuel cut-off... sorry to be a newb... will it kill the engine? I thought fuel cuts off at redline...lol

 

As long as your engine revs did not hit 13000 when accidentally?? changing down to second gear then you should be ok. If you did exceed 13000 rpm for a short period then the internal gearing has been overstressed and could fail at some point in the future.

 

The fuel cut off will only do just that - cut the fuel off. If the car is still moving at high speed when you change down to say second gear it can still over rev because of the cars momentum - the fuel cut cut off will not protect you in this instance. Failure due to over revving would not be covered by Warranty.

 

he does make a very good point though. The momentum of the tranmission (upon clutch engagement) would be enough to take it over fuel cutoff.

And the other truth of situation is that the main reason for a 9K redline isn't because the engine can't handle it, but because that's right at the transmissions limits, not the engine.

I'd imagine that it wouldn't have did any perminent damage @ around 9K (which is right around 65MPH in 2nd). As long as you don't practice this act religiously, you should still be good to go!

 

You're front wheels are dirty. They build up more brakedust then the rears. The only damange your doing is to the beautiful appearance of your car

 

To all the 13,000RPM comments..no..it is impossible to hit this. He stated he was going AROUND 65mph. This would lane him around 8000-9000 RPM in 2nd gear...90mph would land him at 13,000RPM.


And the flywheel would most likely shatter and cut off your legs before you ever hit 13,000 RPM.

 

Pics or Video of this would be really REALLY niffty.

 

Yeah. I wanna watch someone get their legs cut off!!!

 

+1

LMAO... I almost drowned on the water I was drinkin at my desk when I read the shattering flywheel of death comment

 

you crazy [wo]man, you CRAZY...

 

If you hit 13k rpm you have bigger problems to worry about then hurting the engine, like what wheel chair you should buy after the fly wheel ripped your legs off.

 

i really do not think you have nothing to worry aobut. every day i drive in 1st gear to work, guess im just to lazy to shift and all. MY work place is 20miles away from home.

but good luck on the learning process with the mt.

 

1st gear?????? LOLOL..... what kind of gas mileage do you get on that? ............................wow, i can imagine 2nd gear...but

 

I do reach 13.000 routinely. OK, not in the cage... er the RX8, but on the Suzuki.

 

Everyone grinds. Just do not make a habit out of it. The worst thing I have done is curb my rim while going about 15mph.

 

Go practice shifting on a beater!

 

Uh, why is this funny? Someone having a flywheel cut their legs off is nothing to laugh it...

 

Not true at all, Ive gotten up to 20,000 RPM and no flywheel came out and cut my legs off.......

 

Ihave found out with mine. That if I baby her and treat with her with respect. She doesn't mind being slapped around once in while. She is always willing to perform upon demand everytime. Oh wait, this a car forum.....Sorry! LOL