It is not so much that folks are afraid of these new fangled automatic transmissions, they are clearly the best automatics ever designed and built for normal every day cars. The reason why I am not inclined to own one are fairly numerous. After driving an A3 DSG and GTI DSG, the principle reasons I do not like them are (in no particular order):
[ul][*]The driver cannot adjust the speed or intensity of the shift and clutch engagement mid-shift as traffic and road conditions dictate.[*]If the driver selects a particular gear change and then traffic and road conditions suddenly dictate a different gear, the transmissioncan bevery lethargic, especially if it was "expecting" you to shift one way and you request the other.[*]Down shifts are often much slower than even a slushbox, much less a true manual transmission (probably due at least in part because it was expecting an upshift and the driver requested a down shift).[*]The programmed in shift map is rather conservative and even at WOT, will trigger an upshift well before red-line, even in semi-automatic "Sport" mode.[/ul]

Please understand that I think DSGs are marvelous improvements over traditional automatic transmissions, however, I absolutely do not feel that they are even remotely a good substitute for a slick shifting manual transmission.

 

LLALALALALALALLALALALLALALA IF VINCE SAYS TAHT AGAIN IM GONNA COME TO NEW YORK AND BEAT THE **** OUT OF HIM CUZ PADDLESHIFTING IS FOR GUYS WHO ARE TOO LAZY TO PUSH A SHIFTER KNOW AND CLUTCH IN LALALALALALALALA IM GONNA SACK YOU VINCE LALALALALALAA

 

shipo pretty much nailed it with his statement "nvr gonna replace to true manual trans" but is step up from the "standard" autotragics, all i can say atleast nobody can back up the CVT trans, ya kno the trans that is basically 1 freakin gear if you want to call it that.

 

its one gear and it controls your car. awesome huh. i think its a wierd idea. and i dont understand it

 

Not one gear, not one speed.
They were actually two varying sizedcogs that drive a chain or steel "belt" between them.As the drive cog got smaller (higher speed,) the driven cog got larger, and visa-versa. The engine speed remains at a more or less constant speed as the transmission does the work.
Interesting concept.Too bad they couldn"t make one more usable in a practical application.
The Subie Justy had one of these trans back in the "80"s,but it was slow as honey in January.

 

well obviously its not smart to build up cars for street use thats a granted, however with saying that think about the lamborghini or a ferarri or any sports car for that matter. they have upwords of like 600 HP and they are street cars. Not all of them are used for the tracks. yes i have taken my car to the tracks, no my car isnt modded but i felt like it and enjoyed every single minute of it. granted its a pain driving a stick in traffic for 3 hours but i hate automatic, i cant drive an automatic anymore, last time i did i put both feet on the brakes. simple as this i like my standard, would never own an automatic anymore, and if you wanna make your car fast and drive on the streets well thats your own stupid fault. but nobody here with a straight face cant tell me that you never in your life raced from light to light on a dead road with some guy that wanted to go then and there.

 

Well then, what part of the world are you from? The only thing I can think of is that you live in Israel, or some other part of the world where Mazdadoes not have a very good foothold, because (I"ll say thisone more time) here in North America, the 3 has always come (in "08 too) w/a 5-sp manual as std, and a 4or 5-sp automatic as the option.

Also, to Shipo: The first gen VW/Audi DSG left a lot to be desired by all accounts.It acted as you describe, so I"ve read, and the magazines weren"t toocrazy about it for those veryreasons.They have come a long way in the now 3 model years since it"s "06 release.
Mitsu is said to have a wonderful 7-sp semi-auto, as does BMW and Porsche. As an engineer you know that they will get the software right sooner or later.
And my reference before to the software was said rathertongue-in-cheek, asthe limits of most are there to protect the car from bad driving... i.e. goingabove red-line for extended periods of time. Those kinds of limits are OK by me.
I don"t think I will miss the clutch pedal all that much. Especially if the trannyoffers a good drive. And I will say this again, I have driven sticks (3-spds, 4-spds, 4-spds w/electric OD, and 5-spds) in all kinds of vehicles since I was 14 and that was over 35 yrs ago.

 

oookay. your fighting with richard who basically knows more about cars then i know about ummmm.... audio equipment (which i do know quite a bit about), stop dude, there is no way there is a mazda3 that DIDNT come with a 5 spd manual. an automatic was always an option to keep things cheaper. show us your research or else we dont believe it. i wanna see the link that states that an 08 or 08.5 mazda3 S touring DOES NOT come in standard.

 

I"ll second that!!

 

Now Maze3, did you ask for the remote start on your car, because the only way to get that is with an Automatic, other than that the no Manual in an 08 MZ3 GT is Bull, and your dealer is feeding you a line of Excrement, I know for a fact it does because I test drove an 08 Mazda3 GT when I bought my 2008.5 that I have now.
BTW Check out the Trans on this link http://www.thecarconnection.com/spec...s-gt-ltd-avail
Transmission says 5 Speed Manual with O/D.
Now nobody was trying to start a fight with you, you keep coming back and saying the stuff you did and saying that a Car does not come with something when more than 1 person, and a whole bunch of people that have forgotten more about Mazda"s than you will ever know say it does.

BTW My 2007 Didn"t say anything about a Manual Trans on the sticker either, but since there was aMazda 3sitting right next to it with a Manual Trans I knew itcould comewith 1.
Now I have a Joke For you, How can you tell is a car sales person is lying? Their lips are moving.