AT Sport Shift...[Q+A]

guys, just read thru what was posted here and all seems to be correct. to try and clear up what was said about the car being in M mode in 4th they dropping to 3rd if you hit the gas hard enough to say, pass someone. Ive had quite a bit of experience with the MAN mode and find if you floor the car going to pass in 4M, it will override you and go to 3M. But at WOT while in 3M you can upshift to 4M and so long as its kept at WOT it will stay in 4M. Once you back off at all, then get on it again it will subsequently override you and put it back in 3M.

To avoid this usually annoying (4 to 3)down shifting, I found that if you are in 4M and want to avoid the override 4 to 3 shift when you hit the gas hard enough: On your way to WOT (in 4M) upshift at the exact time. you'll see the screen flash from 4 to 3, but by up shifting you tell it to go into, (stay), in 4 before it even has a chance to drop it down.

one thing I did like about the MAN mode was that in parking lots or very slow moving traffic you could keep the car from constantly running thru 1 to 4 then back to 1 all in about 100 yards.
drove my buddies honda fit and they seem to have this figured out. in full auto mode it'll still keep the car in a lower gear and run the rev's more, eliminating countless shifts.

hope this helps, -Dan

2nd that ^
yes, it's definitely possible. I found it best to downshift while braking at the same time, or when the revs would be high enough after getting into the lower gear.

guys, I wouldn't fear using manual mode. I had the 4 spd with 100k on it and used the manual mode almost exclusively since day one. Still get nice shifts and not a problem ever with it. I did the filter and the fluid at ~50k(only what would drain out of the pan, but did it 2x) it was more of a dilution of the old fluid than total change. I used the Mobil1 full synthetic atf to replace what came out. The factory fluid by 50k was almost black and was torched. I definitely noticed the vehicle went into gear quicker when the temp was ~0`F after the filter and fluid change. Now, at 100k the fluid is still a nice cherry red and smells good.

hey all...i guess ill tell my side of the story of the ATX....

when i first got my hatch, i didnt know it had the manual mode, and i never used it in my life. i was always used to those boring straight down patterns. after i drove it for awhile, i just started gettin used to it, when to shift, and downshift. normally on cold starts(i dont know if anyone ever experienced this or its just me), but everytime i take off on cold starts, the first and second gear are always rough...i just got the thing tuned up, tranny flushed, fluids topped and nothing was wrong with it. all im saying is thats the only problem i had with my manual mode, even regular auto mode. besides all that, its really fun to drive in it. ever since i got this car, i drive in manual mode probably 95% of the time now lol sorry auto, too boring for me. but its all in the shifting really. soon you'll learn when to shift at the right time, when to downshift at the right time, without hurting your rpms or your tranny.

whenever you downshift, you could downshift at high rpms, only if your gonna speed up faster that is lol but its gonna hurt your tranny alittle bit if you just do it for the hell of it. and one thing i wanna point out to the atx ppl: dont do what i did, i tried doin a replica of a manual and let off the gas and shifted into 2nd, and realized the tranny sound lke a gun shot lol dont ever do that ppl! shift up while your foots still on the gas and eventually you'll get the timing right where you can do it perfectly all the time.

the point im trying to say is manual mode is hella fun! and i dont think any mazda owner with a auto/manual mode drives in auto mode all the time. at least i dont,

auto/manual mode rules!! :smokinamd:

I think I always got a hard 1 and 2 shift on a cold start, but thats not a bad thing. Could just be an increased pressure thing from the cold fluid. You want it going into the next gear hard rather than mushy anyway to prolong the life of the trans. About 90% of my miles were highway; My biggest reason for using the M mode so much was that, on the highway in overdrive, you could give the car probably ~10% more throttle in M than D without it down shifting.

Overall I do like the Mazda's setup a lot better than the competition and the back for + and forward for -. Also, I like how going from D to M it stays in the same gear.

While this is not competition, my mothers Lexus will always go into 4th when you make the switch. Which means it'll drop it down if you're in 5th or 6th and move the shifter over. It doesn't give you full gear control either. All putting the car in M mode does is limit the car from up shifting past the gear you choose. It'll up shift and down shift all day just not past what you pick. Really quite annoying but the car has some balls.

yes i brake. if you're downshifting, i assume you're slowing down (to enter a turn for example). if the revs shoot up too much, you're not braking enough, or you're downshifting too soon.

as a simplistic example, you're driving 60mph in 4th and want to slow to 30mph for the turn. (i'm not trying to be accurate with the gears/speed in this example)
if you just downshift to 3rd, the car is going to rev high and you'll have some lash...but if you get on the brakes and then downshift, the car will be going the proper speed for 3rd gear when it engages, and you'll be in the correct gear to exit the turn. i don't use manual mode to slow the car down, i use it so i am in the correct gear to accelerate again when i'm done braking. it's very different than driving a manual where you can engage the clutch in a controlled fashion to approach a turn.

Ok, I read all 9 pages and learned some awesome stuff. I even had answers to questions i never thought about. Now I have a question and a scenario.
I love the way the M3 drives and LOVE the M mode. Never driven a real manual so this is as close as i've ever gotten. Now, after i broke the engine in (after about 700 miles, bought it with 107) i started mesing around and just speeding quickly in 1st and 2nd gear. Only using the last 2 gears when i am reaching a constant speed. For example, I would quickly accelerate to, lets say, 60mph. Once I get to 60mph, I would either slide it over to D or i would just shift into the last gear through M mode.
Q1: Is it bad to do that (slide it over into D when you are in 1M or 2M)?
Here's another scenario.
I will drive in 1M for a few seconds and reach x-MPH, then shift into 2 and/or 3M. Why cant I shift back down to first when I am driving at the x-mph. (the reason im using x is because I dont know the max speed limit you can reach in 1M but I do know that there are speed limits that you can reach in 1M but once you've up-shifted, you cant downshift back to 1M even if you are still driving at that speed)
I hope i made that 2nd questions understandable. Sometimes its hard to explain something over the internet haha

Q3: I will be in M mode and junk and I usually never downshift. I just brake and stop or slowdown. Is that bad? I read these pages and i didnt really get an answer, just opinions.
LAST QUESTION HAHA

When i first started using M mode, i forgot i was in M mode and i redlined. The needle went all the way to the 8 and the car jumped. Immediately i let off the gas and put into D. Now, stupid me, that was not the first time. I did it prob 2 more times. and this was when the car was still a baby. What did i do to the engine/tranny then?

Thanks in advance to all who take the time to answer this for me. I have another question but I think I will wait on it. thanks again

also I would like to add that a lot of times, when im driving "reckless" i accelerate hard, regardless of whether or not im in D or M. What i mean is that i will watch teh RPM needle and it goes to pretty high. Ever since i did the adv.ign.timing mod, i noticed that i goes just before the beginning of the redline. I think its neat that the car lets itself do that, even in D, mode then shifts when its time. It scared me at first because i thought it was going to keep roaring haha