OK, so i bought the 3i auto w/sport shift(switch to manual tranny crap), no power anything, and i believe with ABS( i've tested so far no skidding)
My delimna-should i trade in for the 2.3 litre manual tranny with power everything and stock 17" wheels? I've done my calculating, and my car loan will be below what my car is worth. AUTO SUCKS AND ITS BORING IMO no offense to those who got auto, they got it for a reason, but i got it, because i needed a car there and now

 

I voted yes... but I'd say do it if you can't sell your car, as IMO you get ripped on trade-ins alotta times. Sell the car and use that $$ instead of trade-in.

 

I say ,..trade in for the new 2.3L..but get the auto with the sport shift still...i have it and i'm able to shift that thing into red-line... i've never seen or drove a car that had sport shift, that would let you even get near red-line.....even in sport shift mode... and wehn i get caught in any heavy traffic,...i just put it back into mnual..and forget about it. Let me know how it turns out for ya dude.

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Ya, Mazda and GM are the only companies who allow that actually... and I'm not sure if Mazda will do up and down shifts on its own like most brands, but I know GM, in "sport mode" on manumatics (clutchless shifting like this) it is completely upto the driver, it wont do anything what so ever - at least on the Caddy's, Pontiacs, and Vettes that is.

 

i say, see what kind of money you can get with a trade in... alot of times you are better off selling your vehicle on the side of the road instead of going through a dealership that is going to take a certain percentage of your sale money. you could even put it in an auto selling book for pretty cheap.

also, i would def. go with power options. thats something i have always had and without these options, you dont know how dependent/convenient they are to have.

the sportronic shifting is a nice gizmo to have. i have a mazda 6 so i dont know if that will be different operation on a 3, but you get to choose when you want to shift gears (even go to the redline as mentioned in a previous post) and it doesnt shift up until you tell it to. as for downshifting, if you apply the brakes... sometimes it will downshift automatically or when you come do a dead stop, it will start out in first gear. just a nice little convenience to have.

 

In both the Audi A6 sedan and wagen you are able to drive to red line in tiptronic mode.

 

Really? I've heard different... maybe it's just the A4 that doesn't... none the less, I know the majority will shift on its own.

 

doing a motor swap would be stupid...plus cost you alot of money, time, aggravation, etc....id say trade it in...IMO u need a manual to squeeze the power out of these 4 cylinders (including the 2.3)...autos shift too soon plus i like the feeling of control over the car when its equipped with a manual. Tiptronic transmissions never did it for me either....ive driven my dads 2004 Acura TL in tiptronic mode but never really enjoyed it.

If you can handle the manual, get it. (this means complaints about traffic driving must be kept to a minimum, haha)

 

well i dont really run into any traffic and since i 1st learned how to drive manual, it comes natural to me, i miss shifting and hearing my tires squeel(dunno how to spell that word) and making the car bounce between shifts as well. before i trade in imma see what tha dealership will give me for it, if not what i wanted, then imma have to sell privately, or have someone take over tha payments, either way i lose money