When i first went to test drive the RX8 i couldnt get the thing started and finally realised that i had to hold the clutch down to start it. Im from England originally and im sure that you didnt have to do that. I was just curious if anyone knew whey im America you have to do it?

 

Too many people starting their cars in gear, then they sue the car company.

 

Welcome to America ! a Place where you can sue McDonaldos selling a Hot coffee thats too hot !

 

Easy to bypass, if you really can't get used to it.....

S

 

im ok with it now, just sometimes like if someobe else uses my car, like valet a auto shop and they would leave it in first and i would forget then i would jolt forward without thinking, i just always wondered why

 

Yea, having to disengage the clutch ALL THE WAY is pretty common in the U.S. Not sure about Canada. And yes, its because stupid people know how to get smart lawyers.

 

IMHO, it's because too many people put their car in gear when they park, instead of using the parking brake. This breaks them of that habit.

Had an amusing incident a year or so ago. A friend had a gig road testing cars for a local paper. We sat in a Prius hybrid for a long time, with the thing not starting. "Stating" amounts to throwing an on/off switch. Eventually one of our gang, a parts manager for a Toyota dealer, called his service manager. Who looked it up, and said you had to step on the brake for the on switch to work. I guess that with no clutch they need to put that interlock someplace.

Ken

 

It's actually a US government requirement, for the car manufactures, to have the lock-out there. I've disabled it on my cars before.

 

how do you disable it?

 

I think you an figure it out from this thread https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/connector-identification-under-dash-124276/

 

Instead of?? I was under the impression that you use the parking break and then putting it in gear is a back-up. Didnt think anyone used the gears as their main way of keeping the car in place...

 

Nope. If anything the parking brake is the backup.

 

I think most people use both methods. Brake + 1st Gear.

Well, its nice to have some safety feature sometimes, like this one. cuz I think there are TONS of morons out there who dont check their gears when startin the car.

 

I've driven an '8 in a couple of different countries now (England, Denmark, Canada and Spain) and I have yet to come across one that didn't have the clutch cutout switch.
Who doesn't have one for sure?

 

I use brake and first gear. Last night i let my dad borrow my 8 and he stalled the thing the moment he took his foot off the clutch after starting it.

Good thing the handbrake was on or he probably would have jumped the car straight into the the cement parking brick that was inches away from the front fender.

 

i had a bmw that didn't require me to engage the clutch first before starting, so i don't think it's a us regulation unless maybe i had some other spec (but that would have been evident from the vin). I dunno. I don't mind it.

 

My old Jeep doesn't have the interlock, either.
But every '8 I've sat in abroad does.

 

I know that auto bimmers require for you to step on the brake before you start the car

 

I've talked with English owners who were installing the start button mod - they have a problem with my instructions because they DON'T have the switch at the bottom of the clutch travel.

S

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...5&postcount=51

 

I thought reverse was the back up...

Ken

 

Thank 60 Minute's botched & wrong witch hunt of the poor Audi 5000 in the mid 80s.

 

Not with a rotary.

 

Yeah, rotary motors don't have much static, cold compression to hold you on a hill.

 

That b!tch owns time shares all over the world!

 

The brake pedal in the auto Porsche Cayenne has to be depressed in order to start the engine.