Well am going to purchase a 2006 RX-8. The only thing that bothers me is that if i should get it in AT or MT transmission? Am kinda leaning into the AT transmission because of the traffic i go thru in the highway. I'm 75% in the highway and the other 25 city.

I dont know how to drive stick is the other thing but my friend is willing to teach me. Is there a big difference in performance between both transmission? I guess performance will set my choice. Which will be able to handle more power i might wanna go to 350hp?

Dont know anything about RX-8 been reading about them and love there style. I think its better to get peoples opinion which have the car and have a better understanding and feel for the car.

Any info you can give me would be awesome thanks

 

You have no idea what you just did by starting another AT vs MT thread...

 

there is a big performance difference between to two. I have owned both the AT and the MT and it is pretty obvious. 40 horses. You wont regret going stick. You won't be playing with 350 hp right now unless you wanna void your warranty with a turbo kit. rx-8's have 238 bhp manual transmission. But if you are serious about wanting 350 bhp... this may not be the car for you.

 

We, or at least I, don't really know how significant the performance difference between the 2006 AT and MT will be. There are changes between the 2005 and 2006 model year with regards to the AT equipped car. More power, different engine (though I saw some speculation that it's still using the 4 port), and different tranny, I believe.

I would really suggest you take your freind up on his offer and learn to drive manaul so that you can test drive both and make that call for yourself. You're going to have to live with the car, you should get hte one that is best for you, not me or anyone else.

With regards to traffic, I really don't find it a problem to drive manual in traffic situation. Being new to a manual, you may find it straining at first, but your clutch leg will soon eclipse the other in size, and all will be well.

 

MT

If you really want an AT - buy an G35C - you can get away with an AT in the G35 coupe but for the rotary - you want the MT.

 

The RX-8 was designed with a manual transmission from the start; the A/T was an afterthought.

Learn it. Live it. Love it.

 

everyone should learn how to drive a manual, I say get the manual and learn and learn to live life to it's fullest

 

BlueEyes has the right idea. Learn how to drive a stick anyway. You'll learn if it's something you want to be doing on a daily driver and you'll also gain a skill for emergencies. Then you can go and test drive them both. You'll learn very quickly posting here that most are very closed minded about owning AT anything. Some even suggested an MT when the poster makes it clear they have a disability and CANT drive MT anymore. Test drive them and make the decision based on that more than anything you read here.

 

MT...sigh

 

I'd say there's way more closed-minded pro-AT people than anti-AT people.

At least all the MT drivers know how and are able to drive AT. Definitely not the case the other way around....a lot of pro-AT people on this forum don't even know how to drive stick.

I don't know how you can be closed-minded about something you've experienced and completely understand the pros and cons of.

 

I was in the same boat as you when i bought my rx-8. I never drove stick but i road motorcycles so i knew about shifting. I bought the MT and learned fast. I LOVE IT

 

I don't think he believes the supporters of MT are close minded about the differences, and they're preference, but rather in their ability to make a suggestion for someone elses situation.

I saw the thread where the guy said he couldn't drive a manual because of an injury, and still, dozens of people told him to get the manual, AT's a for girls, the car sucks in AT, etc etc.

 

Mazda automatics suck! I would get a different car if I needed an auto.

 

If he's able to, learn the stick. It's good to at least know how, even if he gets the AT. You never know when it'll come in handy, I'm thankful for it! (but mostly because I drive the MT 8 haha)

 

I own an AT and I know how to drive MT so I grow tired of the constant AT bashing because I love my car. I still think he should test drive and make the decision based on the feel and personality of each regardless of your opinion on how many pro-AT versus anti-AT people exist on the forum.

 

Yeah I'd never recommend a stick to someone with an injury (or who's really old)...that's just retarded. I saw that thread too...some people just don't bother fully reading before they respond I guess.

 

Well after reading your replies i have to thank you. I called my friend he be here in a hour to teach me the basic's for today and then get a lil more intense. I guess MT is basically the same in every car except the gear differential am i right? I really want a RX-8 right now am a owner of a Mazda3 and lacks power. Eventhough i added a lil performance parts in it.

Is there anything out there to put some juice in this car. Am just used to my old car which had 550hp. Miss it like crazy R.I.P. got into a accident and got stuck with a mazda3.

 

I'd recommend doing a search about the RX-8's manual transmission in the Tech Garage forum before laying out the dough for one. Seems like I read about massive problems with it every other day in there. And there's enough complaints in there that I wouldn't consider it as just another case of forums making problems sound bigger then they are.

 

You will never get close to the monster you owned before w/the RX8. You should expand your search candidates. Not to mention the fact that most likely the car you owned before had a ton of torque which the RX8 lacks. Your 3 probably throws you into the back of your seat as much as an 8 would.

Ask yourself this question, what do you want out of a sportscar?

 

Well amma go learn to drive stick right now. Maybe this week or next week i will go drive both RX-8. I was reading in another thread that someone replaced the factory engine with a stronger engine. I dont really know how rotary engine work and there name 13B or 20 not sure.

Is a swap possible?

 

Yeah, for the price of another car.

 

That's what I said. If you really want something with tons of torque and hp ratings all the way up there, there are other options. If you want a quick cruiser, that handles exceptionally well, the rx-8 is a great car for you. It depends on what you prefer.

 

Yep, I was right on with my first post in this one... oh BTW, get the MT.

 

You don't even own the car yet and you're talking engine swap. I seriously think you should look at something else. You could get a Vette cheaper for the price of buying an RX8 brand new and paying for an engine swap.

 

Pretty much. Everything you learn in driving an MT will transfer to any car with an MT. The most noticeable difference will likely be with the clutch. Different cars' clutches engage at different points, so it just takes a small amount of time to get used to any given car's clutch. After you've driven your own manual for long enough, your clutching becomes automatic, your foot just automatically goes to the right place to engage 1st gear from a stop; then if you get in a different manual car, you have to adjust to the fact that its clutch isn't quite the same. But it doesn't take that long before you've adjusted to it.