We never really did find out how it broke. The dealer couldn't identify how it happened. My mom was just driving me to work one day and exactly half way through we heard a loud popping sound going up a hill and the whole car started filling up with smoke and poison smells. So we ignored it and continued driving but it was gradually getting slower till the car just stopped in the middle of the street and the key wasn't working and the clutch was stuck to the floor. Had to get it towed and they fixed it. Now the smell is coming back though and it's only a month and a half later.

And exactly, i always loved driving out manual Scion XB till that car started falling apart and we had to get rid of it. The dart just isn't the same somehow though. It has a much narrower window between stalling and take-off and just didn't have the smooth transitions and speed i liked. I love the orange color of the dart but just hate that car in general.

lol

Transmission problems or other problems? RX-8s were notorious for engine failures from massive oil leaks after the seals failed. And clutches...I don't really consider that a "failure" from a technical perspective, because usually clutches are destroyed from user error (ill timed downshifting, poor rev matching, etc).

Agree about the rest of the post though. My late uncle had a 99 540i with 6MT and the clutch pedal was like a light switch; there was very little middle ground. Of course I wasn't really used to that, and after a couple runs through the gears I got used to it, but for someone without a lot of experience it probably would get frustrating after a while.

He had just about every issue that you could think of in that piece of sh*t. A couple of transmission issues where it wouldn't go into gears correctly (or something like that) or he'd start to "lose" a gear. And none of them are from user error, considering the fact my brother is a fine manual driver.

BMW's transmissions are my favorite so far. The Ferrari transmission just requires a decent amount of force to actually put it in gear. Plus it can be rather fussy if it isn't warmed up enough or just for no reason. The clutch also has a long throw.

Is it a sin/am I going to Hell if I went to church for the first time blazed.

We traded it in

So what did you get?

2012 Chrysler 300 S

All red

My flight was delayed yesterday, so I managed to capture this pic of my plane

I'm pretty sure your brother got a lemon. RX-8s were notorious for engine problems because the seals would fail and spew most of the oil all over the place, but this is the first I've heard of problems with the manual transmission. I have a feeling one or more of the shift collars might have failed if he couldn't get it in a certain gear or if he was having issues with the shifter popping out of gear.

Yes manuals are a lot easier to shift once you've gone through the gears a few times and warmed up the fluids in the car. In my A6 the shifter is pretty stiff for the first couple of shifts, especially in the winter, but once the engine and transmission are both warmed up, it's easy to drive, and I can shift it a LOT more smoothly than my mom's Passat or my dad's Allroad shift (both automatics).

Also, nice pic CanvasRider!

Just reached 250k views on Autogespot.



I wish ES would display view numbers.

Congrats man! I agree that would be cool to see, especially on that over-commented Gallardo shot LOL

Thanks!

And yeah since they obviously are keeping track of how many times a spot is viewed since you can sort them by "most viewed", so why not show it?