Mazda sports sedan question (2005 M6 model)

[jbmagic]

i renting this car out, until my vehicle gets fix


its an automatic. but i notice by the Drive gear (D) there a M to the right and it has a + and - i can move too.

no manual.


what does this do?

thanks

[Fonzie]

I believe it allows you to manually upshift and downshift.

[jbmagic]

I believe it allows you to manually upshift and downshift.


thanks

when am i suppose to use it?

i been keeping it on D for drive when driving the car.

[Fonzie]

thanks

when am i suppose to use it?

i been keeping it on D for drive when driving the car.
Use it whenever you feel like controlling the transmission manually. If it is at all like my VW Passat's transmission, you can slide it over at any time. But, you'll need to remember to do the shifting as it won't be in "automatic" mode any longer.

I would imagine its primary uses are in improving performance (accelerating longer in lower gears) and for safety (greater control over speed when decelerating by early downshifting). But I never use it, as I just don't see the need. And I'm lazy. :)

[terpkristin]

It's a sport shift, I have the same thing on my 2003 Mazda Protege 5. You can shift over to it whenever you want, whether the car is stopped or not. You'll probably notice that when you shift it over, a little display on the dash tells you what gear you're in.

It's as Fonzie said, good for improving performance and for safety...and somewhat for going up hills if you car shifts when you don't want it to. Also helps get out of the snow and ice, being able to manually shift and thus control how fast the engine turns in bad conditions...

/tk

[jbmagic]

terpkristin

thanks

i notice a little display on the dash when its on D for drive too. showing numbers.

any advise when to use it for regular driving?

so i just put it it to M and move it to + and - while driving and stopping?
there no clutch.

[terpkristin]

Use it whenever you want in regular driving. It's particularly useful for getting an acceleration boost, like when you're passing somebody or trying to get more power up a hill. IIRC, when you stop, it will automatically shift itself to 1, so you don't need to downshift if you don't want.

Yep, just put it to M and tap it to the + to gain a gear or - to drop one. It'll pop back to the middle after switching gears. :)

Yep, no clutch. For me, it's nice to use every now and then when I miss my old stick-shift car. It's not QUITE the same, but it helps bring back the feeling... :D

/tk

[jbmagic]

very cool thanks.

its like a trainer for stick shift :)

[WSUCougar]

Actually, it's a [M]asculinity shifter. You can go up (+) for a macho boost if, for example, you are driving to a football game, or (-) if you are driving to a screening of Beaches or something.

[Ryan S]

Actually, it's a [M]asculinity shifter. You can go up (+) for a macho boost if, for example, you are driving to a football game, or (-) if you are driving to a screening of Beaches or something.
Real men drive stick shift. :)

[Craptacular]

LOL. We have a 2004 Mazda 6 with the sport shift. I basically use it in the same ways as others have posted ... accelerating on my terms, downshifting to slow down on hills instead of riding my brakes, when I want to feel like I'm driving stick, etc.

And Ryan S, I usually drive a stick shift. :) For right now, the 6 is our doggie car. I also use it when it's really hot and my wife takes my normal car (Elantra), since the A/C in her Geo doesn't work anymore.

[jbmagic]

i been playing with it today.

i dont see no use for it. it already goes to 4 on the dash board pretty quickly when i have it on "D" drive. so using the sports shift to accerelate doesnt do nothing because 4 is tops already.

[Rizon]

It's an overdrive/passing gear. Used (+) when you're on the freeway, and you check down (-) to get a burst of speed to pass.

[terpkristin]

It's an overdrive/passing gear. Used (+) when you're on the freeway, and you check down (-) to get a burst of speed to pass.
Yep, that's more or less how you'd use a stick shift on the freeway too. Downshift for more engine power/better acceleration, then upshift to get back to normal engine speed.

It's also useful like Craptacular said, for controlling downhills...

And like everything else I said. For just normal driving, it's not necessarily evident how useful it is, unless you're going through stick-shift withdrawal. My first 2 cars (well, the car I learned on, which was my dad's, and then m first car that was my own, which kicked the bucket) were stick shifts, so sometimes I use the sport shift for a bit of nostalgia. ;)

/tk

[Rizon]

Overdrive is more than likely not useful at all at lower speeds. It was mostly made for freeway cruising.

I'm not sure of the effect of going downhill. Were you guys talking about going down an incline at a higher speed? If going up/downhill (sharp) at a slow speed, it's probably best to go into 2nd in an automatic, if you really really need to. I think the only time I've had to drop to 2nd was in the San Francisco hills. You could probably notice the difference shifting from OD to D at slow speeds because you should probably be in D anyways. I could be wrong because I only shift into OD when my car hits 35.

Of course, if you know your car, you can just feel or hear when you needed to switch between those anyways. I love using the passing gear on the freeway though ... exploding from 60mph is always such a rush.

[Peregrine]

How do you like the 6 overall Craptacular? I looked at one for a while before I decided to go with the RX-8, seemed like a pretty nice car.

[Craptacular]

Rizon: Yes, I was talking about shifting down to 4th or 3rd (the 2004 6 is a 5-speed automatic) to slow down, or at least minimize the acceleration when going down a steep incline. It's better than riding my brakes forever.

Peregrine: We have the 2004 6 Wagon. Considering our two other cars were compact sedans, we needed something that could hold a couple of dogs and their crates. The 6 wagon has a built-in net that comes up from the cargo cover, which can be mounted with the back seats up or down. It helps keep the dogs back.

As for the car overall, I really like the handling, the power, and the looks. So far, the only things I'm disappointed with are the fuel mileage (about 20-21 mpg in mixed, but slightly more highway, driving) and the automatic climate control. I would really have loved to get a Subaru Outback (or Legacy) 2.5 XT, but couldn't afford to drop $30K on one. We got a 6 wagon (V6) with the Bose audio 6-CD changer and sunroof for less than $20K after rebate, which was about $6500 off the sticker price. For the money, and getting a "family car" (including dogs) that was still fun to drive, it was hard to beat. If we didn't need the wagon, I probably would have gotten the hatchback version. All-in-all, we're happy with it.

Still, you wanna trade your RX-8 for it? :) That car is sweet! However, I'm interested to see how the new Mazdaspeed 6 pans out ... too bad they probably won't make it in a wagon!

[jbmagic]

overall i really like the 2005 Mazda 6. its not a bad car. At least i have the rental until Friday :)


Next April i finally pay off my Honda Passport 2000.

i cant decide if i should trade it in for the Mazda 6 or the Mitsubishi Eclipse?

[flere-imsaho]

Heh. My car is a 1993 Mazda 626 with manual transmission. It's like this car's great-grandpa or something. :)

[FrogMan]

Real men drive stick shift. :)
word.

FM