Transmission: Manual vs. Auto with Manual Mode

I mean... nothing will replace the freedom of a stick, but this thing is smooth. think of it this way... if you ever are drunk and someone needs to drive you home... no worries! In all seriousness, my decision was easy. The wife needs to be able to drive this once the snow starts and the manual was not an option for me.

Side note, I did notice while driving in manual mode (about 80% of my driving) the only rough or lackluster shift is from 2nd to 3rd, it takes a split second longer than all of the other shifts... not sure if this is common or not. thoughts?
 
And I ended up with the manual! A liquid silver one showed up in my area about mid-week & I drove it home today. Once I saw that color in the sunlight I knew I didn't even need to drive the manual. That same dealership also got in a Metro Gray manual at the same time & it was sold while I was at the dealership. (wow)
 
I drove both just to see how they felt. The automatic was one of the best automatics I have driven. That said, the manual was infinitely better. The shifter is short, tight, and precise. The clutch has great feel. It feels much quicker than the auto in all driving situations, plus it gets better mileage. Oh, and to those that say the automatic will hold value better and be easier to sell....totally incorrect. People said the same thing when we bought a manual Mazda5. When I went to sell the car recently, people were literally competing to buy the car because finding a manual one had been so hard for them. And I sold it for the very top of the KBB/Edmunds price. ;)
 
cucamelsmd15 said:
As previously mentioned, the CX-5 manual shift function is the proper layout. Having had the privilege of driving a sequential equipped race car, I can tell you that its 100% natural.
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lucky you!

PurplMyst said:
And I ended up with the manual! A liquid silver one showed up in my area about mid-week & I drove it home today.
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Congrats!
 
PurplMyst said:
And I ended up with the manual! A liquid silver .......... Once I saw that color in the sunlight I knew I didn't even need to drive the manual. That
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Congrats. Same thing happened with me. Computer screen shots do not come close to the actual color. Once I saw it in the sunlight, I was blown away. You will love the manual, especially on twisty mountain roads.
 
I drove on the 405 through Los Angeles during rush hour once in a 2000 Chevy S-10 and my left butt check was sore for 3 days. Now I have a 34 mile daily commute in bumper to bumper traffic 5 days a week and it doesn't bother me. Definitely the best manual transmission I've ever owned.
 
I'd say get the manual if you could.

If not, the auto works very well in the manual mode. I'd say if you live driving, keep in the manual and only use auto for highway commute.
 
I tried to convince myself I wanted a MT, but in a test drive I found that for me, there is so much shifting required with the cx5 that it's not fun. If I was buying the diesel it would be a different deal, or if I was buying a fun weekend car, etc and not a daily driver/work vehicle.

The AT manual mode is very good, and gives a lot of the same fun of a MT without a clutch pedal.... and if you have a coffee or phone in one hand, you can simply click it back to auto. :)
 
^ Good way to look at it, which is why I like Porsches (as weekend cars) with manuals.
 
I'm driving manual for the last 13 years and i was thinking to get the CX5 with the auto tranny. I try it 2 times the auto because the manual was not available to test drive. The day i close the deal, i tried the manual tranny. W O W. So i bought the CX5 GX ( sport in USA ) 6MT. Suppose to get it in a month if everything goes well
 
sorry from bringing this thread back ... just noticed the last post date lol...

This cx5 is my first automatic car ever.
I was afraid that coming from a mazdaspeed 3 to an automatic CX5 I would find the drive dull,
but since most of my driving is highway, I realised that in my daily commute,
I didnt shift very often, and once on the highway, I just left it in 6th (with the speed3)
its pretty much the same as driving an automatic.

I have to say this transmission is silky smooth, and I have only had the car for 3 weeks now, but I dont find myself missing the speed or shifting. I havent played much with the manual shift int the CX5 yet, but the times I did, I found it to be natural feeling (pulling back to upshift and pushing forward to downshift).
In fact the first time I tried it (on my test drive at the dealership) I didnt even check the + / - and got it right the first time.

I do wish they would have gone with the paddle shift option rather than the stick (would have made the car feel even more premium).
 
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Almost every car I've owned has been a manual transmission, including my current Audi. As much as I'd like to get a stick in the CX5, I just don't like the way it feels. The shifter seems vague and a bit, well....rubbery. Since I really want AWD, I just decided to go with the automatic instead. But if AWD was available with the stick and the stick felt better, I'd get it for sure.
 
Even Steven said:
BTW, has Mazda ironed out the valve body issues with the automatic? I haven't seen much chatter on the forum lately....
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The valve body was not a very common issue. It was just a small number of defects, not a bad design nor an endemic problem. No mass production manufacturing/inspection process is perfect in every single instance.

This is one of the nicest automatics I've had the pleasure of driving. I really hated the old school automatics and generally owned manual shifts but modern automatics are really good and the new Skyactivs are some of the best.
 
100% agree ^, valve body problem is rare and Skyactiv auto very capable. I have owned more manuals than autos and rarely miss the manuals.
 
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IMO a six speed auto is dated.

If it was 7,8, or 9 then I would have been tempted, even LR have got the message the Evogue is getting a 9 speed auto.
 
IMO, a modern six-speed auto is expected in this class of vehicle/price range and is perfectly adequate. CvT not acceptable.

Today, a modern auto tranny w/7/8/9 speeds is expected in premium brands with much higher selling prices including LR, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Audi.
 
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