quote:

Originally posted by SigSauerP226:
That's interesting folks were disappointed. Sometimes I feel like people's opinions hold a bit more water than the pro reviews. I read mostly good reviews, but the rev hang came up a lot. It does sound like a pain in the ass. I wonder if the tuning community has come up with an ECU flash or anything to eliminate it or correct it, or if they will... You're, also, saying it's all newer Honda manuals, even the Fit? Might be a deal killer if that's the case. I just dont know how much of a hindrance it is or not. Obviously, being new, I have no idea what to think about it, but that complaint came up a lot reading about the Si.

I read the Mazda 2.5 was a more reliable engine over the 2.0. That'd be a solid choice. I think it's a good looking car, too.

GTI really seems like it'd be sweet, it just seemed the Civic came with more for a little less money. I was figuring the reliability would much better with the Si over the GTI. That was probably the main thing I was scared of with the GTI. I could go for the 17 Sport, has pretty much everything I want, other than the basic audio. Probably would grab aftermarket sound system. The R would be cool, but I'd go DSG and stage 2 haha. Plus it's way more than I would care to spend.

I've not heard of any real reliability issues with the Mazda 2.0 or 2.5
IIRC, the 2.0 is pretty similar to the unit in the Miata, but with some different plumbing & tuning due to FWD in the 3 vs RWD in the Miata.

On the Hondas, I believe the rev hang is present in most MT cars, except maybe the Civic Type R. I don't recall it being too pronounced in the 2.0T Accord Sport. But, I do remember it being very noticeable in the HRV, and present in the prior generation Accord Sport with the 2.4

quote:

Originally posted by SigSauerP226:
Does the 2018 Mazda3 have a good transmission? Found a brand new 18 Touring left over for $20k. I think that'd be a good route to go instead of buying a used Si or GTI. I really started to look at and zoom in on the Si's I liked and found most had pretty good scuffs and scrapes. It reminded me that you just don't know how the previous owner drove the car, and I imagine a decent amount of Si and GTI drivers are younger guys driving hard. The 2 Fits I noticed looked great in the pictures and I would imagine the previous owners probably didn't drive them as hard. I think the Mazda3 would be a great balance of fun and reliability. Seems like they are nice cars. I feel like it's a car I could drive for 10+ years assuming it is reliable.

I thought the 6MT 2.5l Mazda3 was a nice drive, good shifting & more torque with the larger engine.
No issues with 2 kids in the back seat, I tested a couple hatchbacks, which gives the higher back seat roofline & more cargo space.

I'd vote GTI. They're fun to drive. Kind of up there with Miatas, as fun, not too hectic cars.

My vote is for the the 2.5l Mazda3 hatchback - a really great car that has a superb clutch and pretty damn good transmission. I wish I would have kept mine.

We always have at least one car with a MT; currently it's a '19 Bullitt Mustang. Fair trans and clutch; certainly not in the same class as the Mazda, any of our (departed) BMW's or Porsches.

My wife's SUV has the manual mode, it's okay. I may have to try stomping my foot along with clicking through the gears haha. I dont think I'll quite get the same experience, though.

It doesn't seem like the Mazda3, GTI, or Si would be a bad choice. Each has their good and bad. I'm going to try to check some out this weekend if I can. I think my wanting a nice, fun car for long term is winning out over cheap practicality... A sporty car is what i have been thinking for a long while, just thought maybe a cheap car would maybe make me happy enough. I'm doubting that, though. I want to buy a car I love. I might check out the Fit anyway, just to give it a fair shake.

I started on manual and enjoyed it. I dont have feedback on current cars as I havent drove one in a while but its not terribly hard to pick up I think.

When I was learning my grandfather who was an engineer tried to give me a very technical rundown of how everything worked and it went over my head. My dad who is totally non technical took me to an empty parking lot and said "push in the clutch and the gas then dump the clutch", He then had me use less gas and release the clutch slower. About 5 shoot forwards later I was doing just fine. You'll get to a point pretty quick where its second nature. While its mostly obsolete its a good skill as you can drive about any vehicle.

I had a 2017 Mazda 3 2.5 hatchback manual for about a year before I traded it in on my Jeep. I really enjoyed it. Transmission was great, decent pep. I had a manual diesel VW before that, and was a bit spoiled by the torque.

I like my 6 speed Wrangler more though

Of your choices, I’d go with the Mazda3. When I was buying, Honda’s higher trims excluded manual transmissions.

And when you get REAL good, you won’t even need to use the clutch if you don’t want to!

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:

Of your choices, I’d go with the Mazda3. When I was buying, Honda’s higher trims excluded manual transmissions.

LX, Sport, Si, TypeR are the only 6MT options on the Civic that I can recall.

Decided to go check out a Mazda3 GT in red. It was one I considered over and over so pulled the trigger. It only has 3400 miles on it, so hopefully many years of fun driving ahead. I had them drive it the 60 miles home, but after that went practicing. Got out on the main road maybe 20 minutes later and grabbed Jersey Mikes for dinner. Super excited and very nervous all at the same time. Got a lot of work to do.
Getting going and Reverse are definitely tricky. Downshifting seemed okay, got work to do there, but I did okay. Upshifting after first gear was easy. I'n not sure I'm riding the clutch too much or not... When trying to ease into the garage the first time, I stalled. I don't know if I should have a slight bit of gas, or slight bit of clutch? Can I reverse without the clutch and no throttle? Also, stalled on a decent incline turning right at a red light haha. I rolled back a bit then stalled and freaked the guy out behind me. Luckily, my second try I got going.

Learning to drive stick is all about left foot control. Just hold the engine at a high enough rpm and concentrate on letting your left foot out properly. Once you get a feel down for where and how the clutch grabs, you can worry more about modulating your right foot on take off. You will slip the clutch a lot while you learn but that part of the journey.

The best way to learn how to drive stick is to take a motorcycle safety class.

Learning friction points by hand is easier than with your feet, and the all the good habits (downshift while decelerating, always be in gear while stopped) are transferable.

I love my '18 Mazda 3 touring. Same engine and transmission you have. You should have the hill hold assist, where it sets the brake when you're angled uphill in first or downhill in reverse, and releases after 2 seconds or when you let out the clutch.

As you get used to where the friction point is, it gets easy to roll slowly in and out of parking spots without getting on the gas.

That looks like a fun car to learn to drive stick with.

Find a large, level, empty parking lot and practice just letting the clutch out while the engine is idling. You should be able to do it slowly and get the car moving without stalling it. Once you do that, you can practice letting the clutch out a little quicker while giving the engine a little gas at the same time.

Starting up an incline from a stop is a little harder, but you’ll get the hang of it. Check your owner’s manual for Hill Launch Assist (HLA). If the car has it, the car will hold the brakes on an incline to prevent it from rolling backwards while you get going.

Congrats, lots of enjoyable zoom-zoom in your future.
Soul Red is a fantastic color in the sun.

Congrats! My wife drives a Mazda3 for her commuter and loves it. I actually was just running an errand in it the other day. Great little car.

Mazda is a great choice. Congrats!

Research, or find out for yourself, what rpm range the Mazda likes to live in. Our Porsche loves the 3k - 6k rpm range and I strive to keep the revs there. Just don’t lug the engine. Blip the throttle just prior to downshifting, it helps in matching gear speed to engine (read, “clutch plate”) speed.

It’s a great looking car. Enjoy yourself. Most people’s cars are all beige Buicks to me, yours is inspiring. Drive on

ETA: In everyday commuter driving, rely more on your brakes than downshifting. Save the aggressive downshifts for driving the twisties. Approaching a stop sign or stop light, slip the transmission into neutral, coast up, and stop with the brakes. If the light changes green as you approach, slip it into 2nd (if appropriate) and follow the traffic. Brakes are much less expensive to replace than clutches. At least this what I do, other may (probably will) disagree.

Thank you guys, it seems like a great car. I picked it mainly thinking of it as a good balance between being fun and practical. It has some pep, especially compared to my 06 Sentra. I'm hoping it will last me more than 10 years. I think I did okay for buying my first car in 13 years, and at 19, I had my dad there to help me not get screwed. I really like the red, too. The picture just doesn't do it justice. I was hoping I'd find a red Mazda3, it is one of the only cars I like in red and actually preferred it over the other colors. It was nice getting the GT with the "dark silver" wheels, I think it makes it look even better. I had actually only found that car yesterday morning and was thinking if I can get them to a good price, I'm getting it. It was fairly hard to find a newer manual, and only a couple in red. Saw a few black ones which I didn't want. It is also a CPO, so that's a nice little piece if mind.


I drove it to work this morning, actually didn't stall until I was basically to work. Even had to quickly pull over for cop going code3. Again, was really nervous but had a lot of fun. I feel like I'm better today than I was yesterday haha.

I am realizing I need to use the clutch a bit more than I thought. I was too worried about riding the clutch so I kept trying to get off of it as quickly as I could. I realized I can't roll in 1st gear without the clutch slightly engaged. Reverse was very easy with keeping clutch slightly engaged, as well. I'm going to have to look for the hill assist, probably just use it when someone is behind to avoid an accident, but not use it when I have room to practice. I'm still working on downshifts, but when I know I'm stopping, I put it in neutral when I am close to stopping. The whole slowing down to speed up again will take some getting used to. My exit for work is going from 65 to about 35 around a sharp corner and back up to about 45 and then to a stop light which is almost always red in the morning, all in a matter of like 10 seconds. All in due time, I'm just very happy and excited.

ETA: One cheesy little anecdote I was excited about was I got it at Puente Hills Mazda, which is right next door to Puente Hills mall. This was the shooting location for Twin/Lone Pine Mall in Back to the Future. I really wanted to take it there and get a picture of it in the spot near the front of the mall, but I didn't drive it home. I may go back and do it just for fun.

sharp car. have fun. don't shift into reverse or anything else without the clutch.

Nice car. I like RED.

I have had one Mazda and it was a great car.