dammit. ahh well. i just want him gone thats all

 

That's his car, but I don't remember him ever saying he bought an S GT model...

 

that is my car i never said i had a 5 door but that still doesnt matter, 5 DOORS COME IN 5 SPD. and so do S-grand touring model. what i had stated was that when i was looking for my car in august of 2007 i was looking at buying a GT which is the grand touring model in the United States, it was the same thing it had a 5 spd. you need to realize that standard equipment is what came with the car itself. thats what your not realzing. all mazda3's came with 5 spd and an automatic option. get it right.

 

Sorry it took me so long to respond to this, Dale. I was not trying to ignore you. "Other things" sometimes get in the way...

Since after all this time this is rather old news now I will say only that we agree to disagree here all the time. It"s part of what many of us like about this forum.
And inspite of being the first to use them in production cars, from what I have read, VW/Audiis still behind some other manufacturer"s in this technology. That even the second gen DSG, (IIRC, they are calling it the Tiptronic now? *edit* Ooops! Audi/VWare calling it the S-Tronic) is not up to parwith others, but still shifts in0.41 secs up, and 0.52 secs down, compared to 0.65 up and 0.57 down w/the 6-sp manual... I"m sure that"s under "normal"circumstances though.
Shock is also greatly reduced, even with the DSG1setup. 0.12g vs. 0.78g up, and 0.13g vs. 0.17g down.
Also, that I was not trying to say that I know everything about everything w/my reference to the cars/trannys that I have experienced. Upon re-reading what I wrote I don"t think it came out quite the way I had intended, which was thatauto trannys have never been part of my personal automotive world but that I am willing to try and accept this new rethinking of the automatic.
I know that even after years of practice, and many cars w/manual trannys that my shifting isn"t always perfect.Also that I am not planning to race any more in this lifetime, so if the technology exists to keep the intimacy and directness of a manual while making the drive more pleasurablethat it might be a good thing for some of us... especially for those of us that do not like the feel ofa std slush-box, those that are already automatic trans driversand where fuel mileage is concerned.
I hope I will have an opportunity to own and enjoyone of these transmissions some day. At their current cost and level of technology, perhaps not any time soon.But I dobelieve they are the up and coming thing in transmissions and they will continue to improvethem. I have a positive outlook on this technology.

 

For whatever it's worth...I bought a 2007 Mazda 3S Touring back in May 07'....yes, it's a 5-speed Automatic with 2.3 engine. I'm actually very pleased with it as all of my previous cars were manuals (VW - Jettas and Golfs). Traffic in Seattle sucks and my commute of only 17 miles each day took well over an your and never got my manual cars out of 2nd gear. After I ruptured a disc in my back my left leg went numb due to nerve damage...I had to pull over one day in the middle of my commute cus I could no longer depress the clutch....needless to say the automatic has been great at least for me. I'm not a speed demon these days but I think I did mention on one of my only posts hear that I got into a bit of trouble in Utah while doing a wee-bit over the speed limit. Anyhow, in regards to MPG I've driven my car from Seattle to Tucson, AZ and from SEA to San Fran and back and averaged (at least from the computer) 31mpg and I can't complain about that....it's a very comfortable car to drive for 10hr + stretches and having that automatic has not in any way reduced my love of the vehicle. Just my perspective...Cheers!

 

It sounds like you have a perfectly legitimate reason for choosing an auto, and it"s a good thing that you are enjoying it too. While I admit to being a prude when it comes toautomatic transmissions, they do have their place and I could never short you or think of you as lazy under those circumstances.
After having driven a Mazda6i auto around for a few days, I think it would be the beginning of the end for me. But I guess if I had to, I"d have to.
From the first, I have never liked that "disconnected" feeling you get from a slush-box, and these new, lock-up capable, 4 or 5 speed shift-ables are no different. I even tried to get my HS Driver"s Ed teacher to take me out in my own "57 Chevy 3-sp. I didn"t get too far with that though. A "72-"73 Chevy Impala (a big boat w/auto and power drum brakes) was allI could muster. I nearly put the poor guy through the windshield the first time I hit the brakes in that thing. He could tell from my "heel-off-the-floor" style that power brakes were not the norm for me back then. I feltmore out of place in that car than in any I"ve driven since... save for my Bro-in-laws "80"s something Town Car we went to Maryland in once.

 

your car was in the shop there rich? anyway to what remindlessness said thats a perfect example. more or likely if you didnt rupture a disc youd probably be sitting driving standard still in your mazda3. but see the good part is you still have the autotragic which makes you drive a standard without the clutch... well up and down with the push of your pinky. ah well i like that example... welcome to the forum remindlessness

 

I've also flown many planes and only use the slightest of fingertip movements to control the aircraft...

 

yes however to move the rutter you do have to use your legs. and the brakes

 

The rutter?