I've noticed that after I drive backwards (out of a parking spot, of course!), when I shift from reverse back into first gear, there seems to be a hard shift. What I mean is, I can actually feel/hear a soft thunk, and then it's fine. Is this normal for Mazda3? I've been driving standards all my driving life and never experienced this before. Is this something I should have the shop look into? And yes, it does happen everytime.

TIA!

 

Ive noticed that too, what i do is when shifting from reverse to drive is let the car roll back a little, and its a smooth shift (thats actually how i do burnouts when i stomp it), but in this case just ease into the gas.

 

well...youre going from a backwards moving gear to a forwards one...what you should do is come to a complete stop, then shift into first gear, or make sure you put it into neutral before shifting into first gear...that should stop the clunk...

 

i second that ^

 

I tried it, and by golly, you're right!!! THANKS!!!