Just bought an 06 mazda 6 with the auto/manual TRANSmission but still waiting for my handbook to come in. Isnt there a special term for these kinds of transmissions? and how in the world do you use em? how do you shift wirhout a clutch? thanks in advance- Toby.

 

It's still an automatic transmission...some call it manumatic, tiptronic, whatever.

Push to the + to upshift, - for downshift.

There's a little time lag to the shift so you'll learn to anticipate when you need to shift.

 

make sure when you are in 1st gear and you are driving that that gear goes very quickly. let's say you are at 2000rpm while in 1st gear, if you hit the + shift at that time, expect your car to go another 500 rpm before it shifts into 2nd. with that being said, make sure you shift earlier if you want it to shift at lower rpms.

its a great and fun way to drive as it makes you feel more in sync with your vehicle. just don't forget you are in manual mode when driving or you may destroy your tranny/engine if you abuse it too much!

 

It's pretty straight forward. Pull the **** back to shift up, push it forward to shift down. Clutch is not needed since this is an automatic transmission and as such has a torque converter rather than a clutch. The transmission will down-shift for you in this mode, but it will not up shift. As mentioned there is a lag between when you tell it to shift and when it actually occurs, but you can learn to compensate for this.

-Cameron Keffer

 

I have found that this setting is only really useful in a "mountain roads" type of setting, in order to keep the transmission from "hunting". Around town, it's not as smooth as the true automatic, but can still be fun. Downshifts in this mode are best done with a little bit of throttle applied, to minimize clunking.

David