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Want 3 pedals? Get your '18 NOW!!

5K views 40 replies 22 participants last post by  pinoyxr 
#1 ·
#2 ·
..which leaves the Accord the only mid-sized sedan in non-luxury segment with a manual option, such a shame. With the sedanocalypse, i am highly doubtful at this point if Mazda will even bother with a brand new 6 when the time comes to retire the current platform.
 
#3 ·
This is very sad news indeed - Also would add the new Jetta GLI, has mid-sized cabin room and manual option along with the Accord. I just came over to Mazda after years of wanting a mid-sized car with the handling, build quality and good looks with the Mazda6 WITH a manual and it's a shame if this is a one and done for me with Mazda. Can't even get the new Mazda3 sedan in manual in any trim. I'm just shaking my head here.
 
#4 ·
I bought my '17 GX (~ a Sport trim) Mazda6 here in Canada 2 years ago 'cuz I had a sense of foreboding re availability of manuals for '18. Right I was: no manual Mazda6's in any trim for Canada for '18 and beyond. My car had sat on the lot. Produced Oct '16... I bought it late Feb '17 with 11 km on the odometer. Only me having test driven it. How do I know? 'Cuz I had put on the 6 km (from 5 km to 11 km) some 2 mos. earlier, on a late Dec. test drive. I worked a great deal needless to say.
 
#6 ·
"Purist" are becoming extinct and I have to admit that I am part of the statistics. I couldn't imagine myself driving with 3 pedals again considering the horrendous traffic jam that I face from time to time.

If perhaps if I wasn't able to try an automatic car, I wouldn't know the comfort it can offer to me.

Or perhaps I just couldn't admit that I am no longer young.
[emoji3]
 
#7 ·
It's all about money.
They know they can charge more for the Automatic models plus they're more money to maintain & replacing them would cost $5K range (Dealer Cost).
Manual transmissions cost less in maintaining & even if you had to replace all the main components (Slave cylinder line, Clutch master cylinder, TOB, & complete clutch kit) it still be cheaper than the Automatic replacement.
I walked into my local Mazda dealer to grab some oil filters & they had a New 2017 Mazda 3 with the 2.5L (Manual) still on the show room floor discounted collecting dust.
They sadly just don't sell which sucks because automatics are so expensive in General. I can't imagine how much a 10-speed version from other automakers cost for replacement.
 
#9 ·
Modern automatic powertrains are very reliable. The vast majority of the population doesn't want manuals, it really is that simple.

..which leaves the Accord the only mid-sized sedan in non-luxury segment with a manual option, such a shame. With the sedanocalypse, i am highly doubtful at this point if Mazda will even bother with a brand new 6 when the time comes to retire the current platform.
Honda sells 10 times as many Accords as Mazda does with the 6, so yeah.

Also, the death of the 6 manual is what I've argued about the reason why the new Supra doesn't have a manual. Lets be frank, the people complaining aren't spending the money. All the people I've known who drive manuals(except one) all drive 10+ year old beaters. They aren't buying new cars, let alone a midsize sedan or a $50,000 Supra. Luxury high-performance cars are low volume to begin with, so of course they can offer manuals.

Mazda 6 will get a full redesign at some point. It sells as much as CX-9 and way more than the CX-3. Obviously with the limited money Mazda has for R&D, they are going to prioritize their heavy hitters like CX-5, Mazda3 and any new crossovers like the CX-30.
 
#10 ·
If true, not surprising. I think they're in danger of pricing themselves right out of the game with the 6, though. When my wagon passes on, I'm looking very hard at the Genesis G70!
 
#12 ·
Historically, manual transmissions had significant technical advantages over automatics: more gears, better fuel economy, lower cost, higher performance, better reliability, less maintenance.

Within the last 15-20 years, automatics have closed those gaps. Today, automatics are generally equal or superior in almost every way except cost and maybe reliability. Even then, modern automatics can frequently go 150k-200k on 1 or 2 transmission fluid changes.

Now the only major reason to get a manual is driver preference and cost. In other words, a very small niche of the market. I'm glad I got my manual 6 in 2017.

With more and more EVs coming each year and the amount of investment in EV development, I don't see the manual living much longer outside of fewer and fewer niche models.
 
#17 ·
The article also practically confirms what I said in the CX-30 thread about the Mazda 3's base price increase:

....the spokesperson told Jalopnik via email. “As we have moved the Mazda6 upscale with the launch of the Grand Touring Reserve and Signature models, we have seen less demand for a manual transmission option."
Yep, higher trim Mazdas are selling, which is why Mazda is caring less and less about having a low base price. Combine that with waning demand for manuals, and here we are.
 
#16 · (Edited)
I have to agree with your post. I have a 6MT but some of the time I wish it was an A/T. I figured this 6MT Mazda6 would be my last kick at the can for a manual. If I had a Mazda6 A/T (actually, if I had any A/T car that was close to new or that I really wanted to get some miles out of) I would i) install a very tight filter media bypass filter (like a ZTF AF09??) between the line out to the rad tank cooler and the line back from the rad tank cooler, ii) plumb in an ATF cooler AFTER the rad tank cooler, and iii) add a bung onto the trans pan (for a high quality temperature switch) and coordinate the cooling fan with said temp switch (to come on after say 185F). I would also make provision to bypass the aux. ATF cooler easily (with valves) for the cold months. This plus 50,000 mile fluid drops + (both) ATF filter changes should minimize wear of the valve body, the steels, and the rolling element bearings inside the trans. Best chance of getting 200,000 mikes out of it without needing a full-disassembly rebuild (which would likely economically-"total" the car).

Oh, all of this stuff cannot account for the bands and the clutchpack friction elements from wearing out... or the lockup clutch friction elements either... For the care and preservation of those elements... go easy on the throttle? I don't know... A/T's in some sense are more fragile and shorter-lived than manual transmissions (provided the latter are driven properly).
 
#18 ·
No More Manual Option For The 6

Some people (myself included) were disappointed when Mazda decided that only the Sport trim would receive a manual transmission option for 2018. Now, Mazda has gone a step further and removed the manual option altogether. Starting in 2019, those wishing to row their own gears will only have the Mazda 3 Grand Touring or the Miata MX5 as their choices.


Read more about it here
 
#22 ·
Some people (myself included) were disappointed when Mazda decided that only the Sport trim would receive a manual transmission option for 2018. Now, Mazda has gone a step further and removed the manual option altogether. Starting in 2019, those wishing to row their own gears will only have the Mazda 3 Grand Touring or the Miata MX5 as their choices.


Read more about it here
Merging threads...

Carry on. :)
 
#21 ·
Given my commute in DC metro area, having a manual isn't high up on my priorities. Stinger GT is auto as is the G70 with a V6, i think only the 4 cyl 2.0 comes with a manual option. Both cars tick all the boxes that i am looking for in a sporty sedan that'll make my commute bearable, and are hence in my short list as potential replacement when i retire my Mazda.
 
#23 ·
2019 Mazda 6 ditches the 6MT in the US

https://www.carscoops.com/2019/03/2019-mazda6-ditches-the-six-speed-manual/


Idiots. Mazda is claiming the decision is based on "declining market demand" without recognizing how much they contributed to accelerating killing that demand by removing the 6MT from the Touring spec last year. I opted for a left-over 2017.5 6MT because getting the 2018 Sport would have meant losing a ton of features that were available in the previous year's Touring model and putting up with the ugly weird new cloth upholstery.
 
#27 ·
I'm not going down without a fight however. Definitely glad I bought when I did. Honda Accord (Sport), Civic Si, Jetta GLI, Golf GTI (which VW says ~50% opt for manual) and the Mazda3 would be all on my current short list. More listed in the article below...you guys might get a kick out of the top picture lol.:wink2:

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/04/24/list-new-cars-with-manual-transmissions/
 
#26 ·
They can do whatever the hell they want.

My MTX "6" has 170,000 miles on it right now. The clutch is fine.

If it fails I'll buy one. Which it EVENTUALLY will -- like at 300-400k miles, maybe. MAYBE. My 03 Jetta which my KID learned to drive on, and now has as hers, has 270,000 miles on the OEM clutch and THAT is with bigger nozzles in it! It will eventually fail too, but the clutch is $200. Really -- $200. The bolts that have to be replaced (TTY, so one-time-use) are another $35 or so. Really. If the rear main is leaking when I take it out (probably, at that point) it's another $30 or so. Wowie, what a major expense. NOT! An ATX would be $5 large PLUS and economically destroy the car, and there's no way it would go 300,000+ miles with nothing other than fluid changes. Cut the crap.

If the carmakers want to make 100,000 mile vehicles that fall apart I remember that -- it was in the 1970s. I won't buy that garbage. You do what you want. I'll buy older cars and keep them on the road - they'll never sell me a new one again.
 
#28 ·
and there's no way it would go 300,000+ miles with nothing other than fluid changes. Cut the crap.
You mean like our recent poster who posted their ATX went 290K before she replaced it. You know the ATX that had NEVER been serviced...

Cutting the crap, there a more than just a few going 300K miles with or without being serviced. Welcome to the modern world. Def not the 70's anymore.
 
#29 ·
I bought my 6 knowing pragmatically that it would likely be the last new MTX vehicle I'd be able to buy. I love the car, and hope I can get 250,000+ miles out of it. By the time I'm ready to replace it, I'll be fine driving an automatic.



The Mazda automatics are already phenomenal today. They'll only get better with another 10 or 15 years of engineering improvements.
 
#31 ·
Yeah like the Youslob dude who does an ATX fluid/filter change (has to scrape off the silicone never-intended-to-be-removed "gasket" -- which is really RTV -- too) and after doing it has to completely re-learn the ATX's control system because of a MAJOR behavior change in the clutches? And he has the stones to say "oh the fluid is all ok after these miles."

Uh huh. If it was and so was the ATX then why did changing about HALF of it (the rest is in the torque converter and doesn't drain out!) result in a major change in gearbox behavior? Hmmm... so much for "it was all fine and would be ok for another 50,000 miles."

It might well have run another 50k -- but that would have been the LAST 50k, and then $5,000 for a new ATX - which is likely between 150-200k anyway. Never mind getting stranded on a trip somewhere.

The odds of the actual MTX being junk at that mileage? Zero, unless you drive it like Speed Racer and bend shift forks or trash the synchros. Clutches are, by comparison, cheap.
 
#33 ·
Love my 2014 manual Mazda 6 Sport.I guess I don't mind the wind noise, because my other car is a 2009 Miata(with a manual). Only thing I wish it had was a back up camera. I don't want all the other "safety features" they are now installing. IMO, too distracting. I would love to have a manual 6 wagon like I saw in Switzerland. You can still get the wagons and manuals 6s in Europe, but now we can't get either in a 6 here in the USA. When my 6 comes to the end of it's life, I guess I will have to look at a different brand. Sorry Mazda.
 
#35 ·
Manual transmissions are incompatible with the function of Mazda’s radar cruise control. These two features are mutually exclusive. The radar cruise control system requires the car to be able to slow down all the way to a stop and start moving again all on its own without the driver having to interact with the brake or accelerator pedals at all, let alone dealing with a clutch and rowing gears. With the radar cruise control and a manual transmission, the car could slow down on its own, but resuming speed without changing gears could be hard on the drivetrain and perform poorly if it slows down too much for the gear you’re in. And it wouldn’t be able to completely stop either or it would stall the engine.

As tech moves on, some sacrifices will be made. This time the MTX gets the axe. ATX could be next in favor of a CVT. Or they could skip the CVT and just replace the petrol engine and ATX gearbox with batteries and electric motors.
 
#37 ·
The Radar Cruise Control has been available with the MTX on the M3 for a few years.
 
#38 ·
That’s a slightly different, older Cruise Control system. I was talking specifically about the newer version of the system. The older version, when paired with a MTX, doesn’t and cannot include the Stop & Go function the updated system uses. I suppose it’s possible it’s just a software change along with some added ties into the transmission control logic between the two versions of MRCC and along with the presence of the ATX that allows for the newer enhancements in functionality. In practice, the two systems behave very differently. While Mazda could certainly continue to use the older system on cars with manuals, or even the non-MRCC “regular” cruise control system, I’m sure they prefer to just have one common system for everything. This, to me, is just evidence of a march toward self-driving electric cars as the inevitable future state of the industry, even for Mazda.

Note that the 2019 Mazda3 is also not available with MTX at all in any trim or drivetrain. I think this might leave the Miata as the only Mazda you can row your own.
 
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