I haven't driven the 2010 Mazdaspeed 3 enough to understand all the things that make it so happy all the time, but I can tell you one thing that puts a smile on my face: Driving a manual transmission again after years of automatics.
I forgot how much fun it is to drive a manual (particularly one with a six-speed transmission). I forgot how it keeps a driver engaged. As I got the feel of the gears last night in speeding and slowing rush-hour traffic, I found I wasn't as bored as I sometimes am. I didn't even shake my fist as traffic crawled through the South Bay Curve.
Maybe the joy of shift would wear off in time. After a few years of driving my manual-transmission Toyota Corolla, clutch tedium definitely kicked in. But in a car like the Mazdaspeed 3, I think it would take a long time for my smile to fade.
Carroll Lachnit, Features Editor @ 21,038 miles
jaguar36 says:
11:59 AM, 10/27/10
Ugh, I hate 6-spd transmissions, the extra gear is such a waste. In my 335i I almost never use 5th gear, skipping straight to 6th. I miss my old 5-spd.
firstwagon says:
12:04 PM, 10/27/10
6 speeds are great on engines with narrow power bands or low torque. Neither of those problems apply to the 335i.
In most cases, manual or automatic, the trend to 6 or more gears is for marketing.
santiagofdz says:
12:05 PM, 10/27/10
The look of the smiling 3 has grown on me when I see one in the flesh.
But this pic makes it look ridiculous, LOL.
lostboyz says:
12:13 PM, 10/27/10
@jaguar36, 5 is way too many, I often shift from first straight to 5th.... I miss my 2spd...
you obviously don't get the benefit of having more gear options. Its not that you have to shift through each one, its so you can be at a more optimal rpm given different speeds.
ptcdawg says:
01:24 PM, 10/27/10
Save the Manuals...
kevm14 says:
02:56 PM, 10/27/10
6 speeds are also great for V8s that both rev and have tons of low end torque.
Also I find this feeling eventually wears off. The fix is to own multiple cars and switch between them.
huyracing says:
03:42 PM, 10/27/10
yeah, LA traffic makes me curse the manual transmission. of course its fun, but its not worth the pain for me. if i lived somewhere without traffic, life would be much better.
blueguydotcom says:
04:36 PM, 10/27/10
Too bad Mazda can't gear their manuals correctly...
stovt001 says:
10:29 PM, 10/27/10
@jaguar36: I'd kill for a 6th gear in my Miata. I'm turning 3500 rpm at 65 MPH. As firstwagon alluded to, the Miata is a bit low on torque, but the rather short gearing really makes the performance acceptable. I'll disagree with blueguydotcom to some extent. I'd find my Miata's gearing to be brilliant, if they were the first five gears of a six-speed rather than the only five gears. At freeway speeds in 5th gear I have no problem passing, so a double-overdriven 6th gear bringing things down a couple hundred (maybe a thousand) RPM would be very nice for cruising when I have no intention of passing.
stovt001 says:
10:32 PM, 10/27/10
Oh, and I agree with the general point of this post. The clutch and shifter in the Miata are so sweet, I feel like I'm missing out when I'm not shifting. I can't imagine getting tired of it, even sitting in westbound-out-of-the-Inland-Empire rush hour traffic. I arrive at work every day with a huge smile on my face, and when I get home I don't want to stop driving. The satisfaction of a proper heel-toe downshift, or just being able to shift a little bit better than the day before, gives enormous satisfaction.
blueguydotcom says:
10:36 PM, 10/27/10
stovt - , my experience thus far with Mazdas has always indicated a dogged resistance to giving us a freeway gear. Too often their cars feel like 6th (5th on some) isn't a tall cruising gear but instead a gear designed to keep the engine in the powerband at 55-65 mph. It's almost like the designers of Mazda's manuals fail to realize people who buy manuals in the 21st century are enthisiasts. They don't mind downshifting to pass...
chunky_azian says:
02:38 AM, 10/28/10
"yeah, LA traffic makes me curse the manual transmission. of course its fun, but its not worth the pain for me. if i lived somewhere without traffic, life would be much better."
I've driven buses with a manual, the kind that you need precise rev match and double clutching to avoid grinding gears. That clutch is worse than that of the MS3's as there is about one foot of free travel and one inch of friction zone. You're dangling your feet in the air when you use that thing. After you are done driving thru LA in one of those, you're literally limping toward your car. I really don't understand what kind of pain an economy car's clutch can inflict. Push on the pedal to go, release to slow, downshift to brake. On the other hand, jumping back and forth between the loud and stop pedals in an automatic is aggravating, when the transmission is about as predictable as traffic. It is not there to help, just one more element on top of all that traffic to react to.
Another thing that I can do is 3rd, 4th, 5th gear cruise control. That is, idle along in a high gear without touching the pedals. I've tried that in one of those auto with manual shift. The computer just ignore my requests at such low speed.
thejoshdude says:
08:10 AM, 10/28/10
HA I love this picture.
kurtamaxxxguy says:
09:32 AM, 10/28/10
Cute, but , uh, where's the bumper on this car? What'll it will cost to fix that happy smile should you accidently bump wall, tree, another car, etc.?
exnevadan says:
09:54 AM, 10/28/10
after years with manual five speeds in a Miata and then an A4, both needing high rev's at freeway speeds, now have a six speed manual. would prefer a slightly taller sixth, to lower engine speeds, but it is nice to see (far) less than 3,800 RPM at 70 MPH. mostly a perception thing though, since the new motor (larger/more powerful) gets no where near the mileage of the two older/smaller motors and it isn't much smoother at speed.
skyggge says:
12:52 PM, 10/29/10
blueguydotcom says:
"stovt - , my experience thus far with Mazdas has always indicated a dogged resistance to giving us a freeway gear. Too often their cars feel like 6th (5th on some) isn't a tall cruising gear but instead a gear designed to keep the engine in the powerband at 55-65 mph. It's almost like the designers of Mazda's manuals fail to realize people who buy manuals in the 21st century are enthisiasts. They don't mind downshifting to pass..."
Umm blueguy, I know myself, and whoever previously posted on Insideline about how nice it is to pass people without downshifting, are definitely enthusiasts of the 21st century that DO mind downshifting just to pass.
That's one thing I love about my MS3 compared to my friend's 97 Z28. 6th gear is actually usable for something other than cruise control, AND is usable as low as 35 mph. I live in the city, and 90% of my time on the freeway is spent navigating traffic, not sitting at one engine speed for hours on end, so a smooth accelerating 6th gear is excellent for me.
Not to mention 6th gear can actually be used for pretty damn good acceleration above 110 mph (with a professional driver on a closed course, of course...) compared to totally overdrive gears on cars with similar power.