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Today I took ultimate pleasure in driving what i had been waiting for! The manual gearbox R8. I have driven the R-tronic and loved it, and thought it was way better than id expected.

Unfortunatly the manual was already on a high pedestal, as i much prefer manual cars due to the proper feel of the car, you can control and feel everything, manual lovers will know what im on about....
Anyway... Fortunatly The manual drove like a dream!!! It was awesome, from the moment i selected first gear i could feel the difference. i knew straight away manual was for me... And was not difficult to select gears, as i thought it would due to the gate, and having never driven a gated gear stick like that.
There was a nice little chink chink noise when a gear was selected, which was nice, and the clutch was very smoothe and light.

There was one thing that did annoy me slightly, and that was the foot rest is so close to the clutch pedal that when the pedal is depressed the edge of my shoe just clipped the edge of the foot rest, but im sure it something to just get used to, or maybe the shoes i was wearing were just a bit wider than the ergonomically tested shoes.

In comparasion to the R-tronic model, i can say that the gear changing in the R-tronic is much quicker, and smoother than the manual, so if looking at using the R8 for solely performance then the R-tronic is the quicker, and one for you. But if your interested in drivability and feeling the car, and being able to do what you want, and for me personally more fun, then the manual box is the way to go.

All in all i am impressed with both gearbox varients and which ever you have ordered im sure you will love as they are both very good in different ways.

R8ROB wrote:There was one thing that did annoy me slightly, and that was the foot rest is so close to the clutch pedal that when the pedal is depressed the edge of my shoe just clipped the edge of the foot rest, but im sure it something to just get used to, or maybe the shoes i was wearing were just a bit wider than the ergonomically tested shoes.

Yes. I commented about that a few weeks ago here. What did you think about resting your left elbow were the drinks holders are located

Ah ha! I remember that post, and i stick with the same answer, but having felt and witnessed it myself i did find it a tad annoying. but i was wearing work boots and not racing shoes.... as for the elbow and cup holder situation, I must be honest and say i didnt notice, as i had 2 hands on the steering wheel. But ill have a look!