Auto or Manual?

M

mazda45

Member
Hello All, I've been screening the Forum for a while now and I've come to the decision to purchase a used Mazda5...I was debating on to get a Manual or the Autotragic..I'd rather get a Manual, but finding one local is the Key...I just wanted to get everyones or anyones opinion on which would be a better choice or about the same for the Manual or Automatic.
Thank you ahead of time for any info provided to me...
Cheers
 
Personal opinion, Manual All The Way!!! I love having as much control of my car as possible. IDK, just a personal preference.
 
No question about it, get the manual tranny if you can find one! It's half the reason I bought my 5!! really it's all personal preference, but the MTX does make the car even more fun to drive! I'm sure if I'd bought the auto, i'd have saved some gas, but had none of the fun I've had so far! 5 years and 130,000km so far (I'm planning on getting to 300,000 before I give up my 5!)
 
depends on where you live and what kind of traffic you drive in; if you live in a major metropolitan area and spend a lot of time inching forward in bumper to bumper traffic, get the automatic -- if not, find the manual.
 
I frequently trek into a busy metropolitan area and the manual is not an issue for me nor my wife. Where's the nearest manual available from you? Too bad all dealers can't be like Autobarn in Countryside IL which stocks at least 3 or 4 manuals.
 
I love manual gearboxes and I bought the automatic.

The manual 5 speed is too low geared for the freeway. Its one thing to be cruising in a seldomly used sports car at 3k plus, but its a total waste of fuel in van that I drive 25k plus miles every year. When I drove the manual vans(I drove a few) I kept wanting to shift into a non-existent 6th gear. I would even be fine if they lowered 4th and raised 5th, it just needs lower RPM's on the highway. I don't mind shifting down to 4th to go up a hill.

I also wanted a van that all of my family members would feel comfortable driving, as not all of them are as enthusiastic about driving manual as I am.
 
mazda45 said:
Hello All, I've been screening the Forum for a while now and I've come to the decision to purchase a used Mazda5...I was debating on to get a Manual or the Autotragic..I'd rather get a Manual, but finding one local is the Key...I just wanted to get everyones or anyones opinion on which would be a better choice or about the same for the Manual or Automatic.
Thank you ahead of time for any info provided to me...
Cheers
Click to expand...

Just order it as a manual and the dealer will bring it in! that's what I did, I had to wait 6 weeks to get it, but it was worth it! (I bought my 5 in april of 2006 when NO ONE had them let alone one with an MTX!!)
 
5zoom said:
I love manual gearboxes and I bought the automatic.

The manual 5 speed is too low geared for the freeway. Its one thing to be cruising in a seldomly used sports car at 3k plus, but its a total waste of fuel in van that I drive 25k plus miles every year. When I drove the manual vans(I drove a few) I kept wanting to shift into a non-existent 6th gear. I would even be fine if they lowered 4th and raised 5th, it just needs lower RPM's on the highway. I don't mind shifting down to 4th to go up a hill.

I also wanted a van that all of my family members would feel comfortable driving, as not all of them are as enthusiastic about driving manual as I am.
Click to expand...

Yet the manual is more fuel efficient than your low RPM cruising auto, proving that there is more to fuel efficiency than gearing.

And my entire family can drive manual, except my mom, but she can't drive at all.
 
I vote manual, but it may be hard to find a used one nearby. I had to travel a ways to find mine. The gearbox and clutch is very nice in the mazda 5 and makes the car seem less like a van when you are driving it. I have heard the new 5 speed autos are much better than the 4 speeds. In the end get what you really want and don't compromise and you won't be disappointed.
 
Probably depends on whether you get the 5AT or 4AT. I've driven the 4AT and thought it was significantly slower than the MT. I have heard the 5AT is better.

As for cruising, the MT does rev at about 3400 RPM at 70+mph. But I've always thought it was a relatively quiet and smooth ride at 75 mph, and it cruises happily all day, so it's never bothered me. (Then again, my other car is a Honda Fit, which really does not like 75 mph cruising!)
 
DKaz said:
Yet the manual is more fuel efficient than your low RPM cruising auto, proving that there is more to fuel efficiency than gearing.

And my entire family can drive manual, except my mom, but she can't drive at all.[/QUOTE

The 5AT that I have is more efficient than the 5MT on the highway, regardless of what the EPA says. I have achieved a few tanks in the 33-34mpg range and usually get 28-32mpg on the highway at 70-72mph.
Click to expand...
 
The 08+ 5MT is rated 34MPG in Canada (US Gallons, not Imperial) vs. 33MPG for the 5AT. My 07 is rated 29MPG on the highway and I can get 32MPG on it driving 60-65mph or 29MPG driving 70-72mph. *shrugs*
 
All fuel economy arguments aside, the short answer is: get what you want. Unfortunately, if you are from the states, you cannot get what you want. Manual trans is only available in the base model 5 (Sport). If you want any other model and also want new, auto is the only choice.

The good news is that the mid model (Touring) was available with a manual through 2007, so you got that going for you.

As far as reliability is concerned, few complaints on this forum about either transmission type.
Our 5 is a used 2007 GT with a 5 speed manual and we love it.
 
DKaz said:
...The 5AT that I have is more efficient than the 5MT on the highway, regardless of what the EPA says...
Click to expand...
I agree. I bought the 5-speed manual partly for the gas savings but it is geared way too low for gas savings, but just fine for zipping around at low speeds. The EPA test for highway mileage has an average speed of 48 mph, not the 70 mph or 75 mph which is typical of highway cruising. This vehicle really needs a sixth speed, for highway cruising, which I think they have in Europe.

From another thread which was talking about the gearing:
coolmazda5 said:
Here you go, this may explain why :)
Transmission Gear Ratios:
HTML: 
                     5MT   	 5AT
1st 	        3.307 	3.620 	
2nd 	        1.842 	1.925 	
3rd 	        1.310 	1.285 	
4th 	        0.970 	0.933 	
5th 	        0.755 	0.692 	
Reverse 	3.166 	3.405 	
Final drive 	4.388 	3.863
Source:
http://www.autocitymazda.com/index.php?option=com_nvdetail&task=show_car&carid=50&img=image4
Click to expand...

You aren’t going to find worse mileage with a manual transmission, but you won’t get better mileage unless you only are driving at lower speeds. So why buy a manual? (1) You save about $1,000 off of the price of the vehicle; (2) you don’t have to worry about automatic transmission issues (not that there have been any with Mazda, but other manufacturers like Honda have had significant issues in the past); (3) It is more fun to drive at lower speeds.
 
Are auto manufacturers intentionally inflating manual transmission fuel usage to give automatics a fighting chance then? Unfortunately it is working.
 
OP, think long-term. Will you be keeping this car or trading/selling it in less than 6 years? If selling, go auto, since manual trannys have fewer fans than the auto, so you will need a bigger net if selling privately or the dealer will know he will get less at resale and will bend you over on trade-in. If you plan to keep it forever, go manual all the way. Think about the cars you have seen that have clocked over 200,000 mi: are any of them auto trannys? Doubt it. Autos take more maintenance than manuals and tend to fail sooner since they are being neglected over engine care.

And, as stated many times above - the auto gets better mpgs at highway speeds, but the 5MT has awesome gearing for in-town cruising, but 85 mph is an eye-popping 4000 rpms!
 
85mph also results in an eye popping excessive speeding ticket on every single road in Canada since nothing is more than 68 here. :)

Also I'm not convinced that the AT gets better highway mileage. I am convinced that the MT is not as good as it should be on the highway but I still think it gets better if not equal highway mileage. Maybe I should get two 08+ 5s, stock fluids and filters, same gas (filled 60L), drive the same route at the same speed, take turns driving in front of one another, and see which one wins.
 
Depends what your driving it for... it's a mini-van so I'm thinking you and the wife will be using it as a kid taxi like me and my wife. For that reason we bought a used auto, for any kind of trip with the kids it makes things that much easier, plus I feel it's a bit safer for the wife to use, she can tend to all the little kiddie emergency's without having to worry about shifting.

The other car... now that needs to be a manual, because it's fun. Though the Mazda5 is a good handler for a mini-van, it's still a mini-van and though some people on this site will talk about how much faster a manual 5 "feels"... "feels" is right! C'mon it's a 150 HP mini-van, it doesn't feel fast no matter which transmission you choose!

As for re-sale... most people shopping for used mini-vans are also looking for kid haulers and so are looking for autos, so keep that in mind as well.

Buy the auto and make sure your second car is smaller, lighter, more powerful and is a manual.
 
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