I'm with Darian...my first experience was with a non-supervised test drive of a MZ6 and i did not get the full fun factor out of it cuz i didn't know how to deal with the sportshift.....like, what do i do when i'm slowing down...i wanted to change gears but i saw that the car already did it for me (like way too fast for me to notice)

 

The only advantage to SportShift is that you can "throttle it harder" when you are accelerating.

You cannot upshift when the RPM's/speed is too low.

You can downshift when slowing down, but what's the point? The computer does it for you anyways. You can do engine braking with it....but that's like having a D3 or D2 to limit how high the gears can change to.

Here's the "upshift points" that is listed in the manual, as well as tested out by me:

1st/2nd: 0km/h (you can start from the line in 2nd gear)
2nd to 3rd: 20km/h
3rd to 4th: 40km/h

Anything below those numbers, you can't shift up to that particular gear that you want.

So like I said, the only "fun" you get from a SportShift is pushing it harder off the line....the speed of changing gears is slowwww. Or, if you want some more punch to pass someone on the highway, then downshift to 3rd or something.

 

Sportshift doesn't sound too good. It is certainly better than full blown automatic transmission.

 

Sportshift doesn't sound too good. It is certainly better than full blown automatic transmission.

Well....it's not as bad as it sounds. It's still fun to drive!

 

EDIT

 

maybe??!? No, I'm Dugrant hahaha...

 

EDIT

 

I drove a sportshift Mazda6 4cylinder and it was quite rough between the gearshifts. Way rougher than when I shift in a MT. But when I got into a Mazda3 auto (same engine as Mazda6 test drive) it switched much much smoother. It was smoother than when I drive MT (unless I pay attention to smooth shifting). But what the heck... I'm getting a M3 Manual transmission so what do I care?

 

Do NOT downshift to 1 while the car is at 20km/h or above - the tranny and engine will tell you they don't like this. Try to match the revs with the proper gear to avoid unnecessary strain (ie: don't shift into the wrong gear and don't leave your car in 4th when you should be in 2nd - pointless)

You have to upshift for yourself as the Mazda SportAT won't do it otherwise - it'll just bounce you off the rev limiter.

The SportAT will always put you in 1st once you come to a complete stop. The car is VERY quiet. Don't forget to upshift

I found it smooth...

 

What's with the Edits?

 

I know how to drive standard and I found without a clutch, matching revs is hard. The Mazda 6 didn't downshift well but the 3 was wonderful.

 

If you're on too low of a gear does the car automatically upshift? Can you initialize sportshift at any given notice? So many questions...

The trans will not shift and the rev limiter will take over when you hit the redline on the tach.

Do NOT downshift to 1 while the car is at 20km/h or above - the tranny and engine will tell you they don't like this.

The gear indicator should flash and dis allow the shift if you are out of the range for any given gear.

 

Ok, here it is guys:

The sport shift will let you downshift, and it will NEVER upshift for you - you can bring it all the way to the rev limiter.

However, it will not let you upshift if that would bring you too low (as was already said) and it will not let you downshift into redline.

It will also downshift for you if you le tthe revs/speed drop.

Frankly, i never use it in my MZ6... pedal manipulation can get you the same effect, or close to it.

 

I'm not sure what the other members were talking about "matching revs" when shifting. Generally "rev matched shifts" refers to manual transmissions and the use of "heel and toe" or "double clutching" to match the transmission speeds with the engine speed. The purpose of this is to save the life of your syncro's and or make really smooth shifts. This is generally irrelavant with an automatic where the gear shifts are handled by a clutch pack and torque converter.

I can't atest to the sport shift transmission on the 3 but all the other reviews on manumatics that I've read the transmission will not let you do anything really stupid. In other words it will not let you downshift into a gear above redline and they generally automatically shift near or at the redline whether you want them to or not.

The purpose of the sportshift is to allow the driver to have more control of the shift points for the transmission. Generally for better performance by shifting higher in the revband to keep the engine near peak horsepower. You could also potentially try your own shift points to maximize fuel economy.

I found very little info at the mazdausa site about the 3's sportshift. The only tidbits I found were that the 1st to 2nd shifts were optimized for quickness and if the user isn't interested in selecting gears they could just leave it in D and let the car handle everything as in a normal automatic.

hope this helps.

 

I can't atest to the sport shift transmission on the 3 but all the other reviews on manumatics that I've read the transmission will not let you do anything really stupid. In other words it will not let you downshift into a gear above redline and they generally automatically shift near or at the redline whether you want them to or not.

See my post above


The sport shift really just gives you a little more control than many auto's... personally I see it as more of a marketing thing than anything else. It's a cool little feature, but I don't think all that useful.

 

It's design for a husband who wants to drive with shifter, but has a wife who wants to drive AT
Or vice versa...

 

(you can start from the line in 2nd gear)

There's the first evidence I've seen that Sportshift is in any way an actual improvement over a regular automatic transmission. In slippery winter driving conditions, sometimes starting off in 2nd makes the difference between going on your way and getting stuck.

Getting back to the original question, Sportshift is a conventional automatic transmission with electronic controls where the shifter has an extra "gate" with a toggle-style switch. The driver requests an upshift or downshift by pushing the lever momentarily one way or the other in the gate, which sends a signal to the tranny control module saying "up(down)shift requested." The controller then decides if an up- or downshift is permissible, then executes the shift.

The Sportshift tranny controller might be calibrated to execute faster, more abrupt shifts (i.e., trade "comfort" for a "performance" feel). However, that's just a different calibration of the same automatic transmission. You still don't have full command authority over the transmission (except for having the opportunity to bounce off of the rev limiter).

No flames intended to the Sportshift devotees. I just don't want one. I like my third pedal. 8)

 

Just wondering if anyone has information whether frequent use of sportshift would affect the life of the ATX? DW prefers the auto (although she can drive a stick) but I'm swaying towards the manual because it's a grand cheaper & the tranny will likely last longer (depending on who's driving, of course :twisted: !)

 

All the sport shift allows you to do is tailor your shifts to suit your driving. It will not let you shift into any range that the PCM knows is damaging the transmission.

Basically the computer in the car is programmed for the best performance and fuel economy. The shifter just lets you override this and drive more more agressively.

IE if you slow for a turn in a "normal" car the torgue converter and lock up clutch disengage and allow the car to "coast". With this trans you can down shift and us the tranny to help you be in the power band after the turn.

 

Just wondering if anyone has information whether frequent use of sportshift would affect the life of the ATX? DW prefers the auto (although she can drive a stick) but I'm swaying towards the manual because it's a grand cheaper & the tranny will likely last longer (depending on who's driving, of course :twisted: !)

Shouldn't matter. Sport shift REALLY IS just an ATX. It's REALLY a marketing thing. It's not much different than previous ATX's which had 1/2/3/4 on the gate.

 

Yeah, I agree with our resident head honcho here.

It's nothing more than a glorified ATX...the only major two advantages is being able to redline the car at start, and starting at 2nd gear.

For the former, you get that in a regular auto anyways, if it senses you accelerate hard enuf.

 

It's design for a husband who wants to drive with shifter, but has a wife who wants to drive AT
Or vice versa...

thats why i have it!

i had an MT P5 and was just tired of all the shifting required on my daily commute... the other half much prefered driving an auto so all things added up to getting the Sportshift... plus i have a modified 88 Jetta for when i want do it yourself shifting fun, the daily commute was killing my enthusiasm for manual shifting.
Being able to hold gears with the Sportshift is the best function of it by far, it makes for hustling the car around in a sporty manner much more interesting than in a regular auto which would be trying to shift up to the highest gear any chance it got. Being able to bounce it off the rev limiter is cool too, especially on a Mazda6 test drive without the salesman :twisted:
I would like to take a MT 3 for a test drive just to see what im missing, because i keep reading about how wonderful its shifter now is compared to the P5 (which was crap)... but i don't miss the MT one bit on my daily drive to work!

 

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated.

 

(you can start from the line in 2nd gear)

There's the first evidence I've seen that Sportshift is in any way an actual improvement over a regular automatic transmission. In slippery winter driving conditions, sometimes starting off in 2nd makes the difference between going on your way and getting stuck.

)

Hasnt anyone read an owners manual EVER!
No offense man, maybe I just knew this because its been a feature of the Ranger/b-series forever (90 or earlier I think) but this is not an uncommon feature. pretty sure the t-birds did it too... umm most of the cars that are 4 speeds but still only offer like D, 2,1 will let you do it, thats wy the 2 is there. on Fords anyway...just curious if this is unique to my upbriinging or something

 

My car has the D-2-1, and I sometimes start with it in 1 then move it up to 2 and D. Is this damaging to the transmission? On a side not, this mode will allow you to redline.