I bought a mazda 3 manual 6 speed. Why is the mpg lower than the automatic, is it because it has more gears? I also noticed that there isn't a temperature gauge. When I turn on the car I see a blue symbol as the temperature gauge. Is it like this for all the newer models? Also, does the car need to be broken in before I play around with it?

 

Congrats and welcome to the Mazda family. When you say the mpg is lower than the ATX are you referring to advertised mpg or actual personal experience? Normally MTX cars get better mileage than ATX cars (unless of course you have a lead foot). It's possible that the gear ratios on the MTX keep the rpms up for more of the time vs. the ATX so that could cause lower mpg.

Not a clue, however as of '06 all Mz3's came equipped with an ambient temp. display so I would assume that continued through to the second gen 3.

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes. Your owners manual should have details on this but basically for the first 500-600 miles you'll want to baby the car. The biggest things are to avoid high revving (especially red lining) and staying at consistent speeds/rpms for long periods of time. Also idling for long periods. So you can drive fast, and you can drive a little spiritedly, but don't do either for extended periods. If you spend a lot of time driving on the highway then you'll want to avoid using cruise for a bit and vary your speed/gear occasionally. Also you may want to consider changing the oil more frequently for the first couple of changes as it will fill up with little metal bits as the engine breaks in.

 

well said, but as far as the temp goes im not 100% but i think i remember reading somewhere that they had just a blue light when it was cold and then when it is at operating temp the light goes off.

i have an 06 and it has a gauge so thats why im not 100% sure

 

Yup, that's exactly how it's supposed to work.

 

icspots - Yes, I was looking at the MPG advertised on the window invoice and compared it to the automatic. MTX has 20 - 28 mpg and I believe it's 22 - 29 ATX... I drive both city and highway to and from work. My overall mpg is 17.2 with a little over 200 miles. I have been trying to shift every 2.5k rpms while softly pushing down the gas.

I have redlined less than 5 times, I hope that is not too bad...I do not red line on occasion because I thought it wears the engine faster. Should I change the oil every 2k instead of the standard 3k?

cornwellbs and shipo - In the manual it stated "After starting the engine, let it idle about 10 seconds." Can I drive it then or to be on the safe side, wait until it clears? The typical weather where I live in LA is between 67-78 C.

Thanks for all your help!

 

You don't have to wait for it to heat up all the way. What i do is just wait for the rpms to settle. When toy star it there are probably close to 2000 wait full it settles down to about 1000 then you can drive it with shifts around 2500 to 3000 and then once the light goes off you are safe to floor it lol

 

Why even take it to the redline, worst thing you can do to a stock engine. Unless you have upgraded valvetrain and are breaking it in then its fine but on a cheap stock head no. You havent messed anything up, yet. Change the oil either 2k or 3k, again not a high performance engine. Fyi mazda is notorious for fudging numbers

 

Following a ten-second idle, you are free to drive the car at low to moderate power levels until the the engine is fully warmed up; never-ever redline a cold engine even if the OAT is over one-hundred degrees.

FWIW, I routinely start the engine and as I'm clicking on my seat-belt I ease the clutch out without giving the engine any "gas" and let the idling engine push the car along (either out of the garage or out of my parking space) for a number of meters before I get to the throttle pedal.

 

That's weird. I hadn't known about them cheaping out on the gauges either. The ole' corporate 'ways to save costs,' I guess.

Glad I have a 1st gen.

 

Thanks for the tips! I will not redline it. I took the advice of waiting until the hand reaches 1k then I take out for a spin.

FYI - MPG is now 18.6. Slowly getting up there, doing my best. BTW, I am driving a bit over an hour in LA traffic (round trip).