My first car: Mazda 3!

[imaltesers]

Hi everyone! I'm new to a couple of things: new to this forum, new to owning my first car, new to driving manual. I have begun this journey with a 2008 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback. I've been driving for a week now and can basically handle manual driving, so I can properly enjoy my very first car Hope to learn a lot from this forum!

I do have a couple of questions. How do I make sure I'm not causing unnecessary wear on the clutch? Also my mileage doesn't seem as good as I thought; I estimate my mpg is in the low 20's for highway driving. Does fuel efficiency decrease over the life of the car? (this one has 75k miles) Thanks and happy new year!

 

[daedalus_zero]

Welcome!

Your car is rated for only 29 highway mpg, so you aren't far off what it should be. Are the tires properly inflated an aligned? I would check that first. If so, maybe something else needs replacement. As far as excessive wear on the clutch, just try not to ride it too much. The car can move under it's own power without giving it any throttle if you release the clutch carefully enough, (not advised for actual driving, just an example) so you don't need to give it a lot of throttle to get it going from a stop. Just mind your left foot action and you should be good.

 

[2.0_Mazda]

I'm at 80k miles and during the summer, I was averaging close to 31mpg (2.3 5-speed). Now that its winter, and have a ski rack on top of my car, I can't be doing more than 26mpg. You can check your real time mpg by pressing and holding the "info" button (the one beside the clock button). Often, its your driving style that makes the difference.

As for the clutch, go with a friend that's good with manual and ask him for his opinion.

 

[nychotxxx]

I wish we could stay with just the NEW 2014-15 mazda 3s and NOT used OLD mazda 3S like mister first timer has.

 

[concept]

NEVER rest your foot on the clutch pedal when stopped at a light. Always skip gears when driving downhill and feel free to do so on level ground. Don't downshift multiple gears as you approach a stop light.

Those are tips I taught my son and after 7+ years, his clutch is still doing great.

 

[2.0_Mazda]

I wish we could stay with just the NEW 2014-15 mazda 3s and NOT used OLD mazda 3S like mister first timer has.

Wait what? This is a Mazda forum, all content relating to Mazda should be more than welcome.

 

[nychotxxx]

Wait, what. Used mazda talk should be somewhere else.

 

[concept]

Perhaps there are not enough moderators, so the Mazda 3 generations were combined. This is unusual in most forums.

 

[GrasshopperCO]

First off to the OP, welcome to the forums and enjoy your new-to-you Mazda 3! The 3 is a very fun car, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it as your first car, especially with a manual .

In the interest of settling nychotxxx's "concern":

Wait, what. Used mazda talk should be somewhere else.

When the 3rd gen Mazda 3 was introduced, it had its own forum. However, 1st and 2nd were combined at the time, and now that the 3rd gen has been out awhile it has been folded into the same forum as well. The way this forum is structured, all the models that are no longer in production share the same forum, while all current models have their own forum (previous generations of cars still being made notwithstanding). Consider that it fosters a greater sense of community, rather than it simply being an inconvenience for you. Be happy for the person who just got their first car and welcome them to the community. Their car isn't irrelevant just because it isn't a NEW Mazda 3.

This is just a personal gripe, but nothing pisses me off more on a forum than someone typing in ALL CAPS, as if that makes it REALLY EMPHATIC, and your statement is instantly MORE PROFOUND. There's a FEEDBACK forum - perhaps you should post your concerns THERE instead of HIJACKING another member's thread to voice your complaints. Food for thought.

 

[nychotxxx]

First off to the OP, welcome to the forums and enjoy your new-to-you Mazda 3! The 3 is a very fun car, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it as your first car, especially with a manual .

In the interest of settling nychotxxx's "concern":


When the 3rd gen Mazda 3 was introduced, it had its own forum. However, 1st and 2nd were combined at the time, and now that the 3rd gen has been out awhile it has been folded into the same forum as well. The way this forum is structured, all the models that are no longer in production share the same forum, while all current models have their own forum (previous generations of cars still being made notwithstanding). Consider that it fosters a greater sense of community, rather than it simply being an inconvenience for you. Be happy for the person who just got their first car and welcome them to the community. Their car isn't irrelevant just because it isn't a NEW Mazda 3.

This is just a personal gripe, but nothing pisses me off more on a forum than someone typing in ALL CAPS, as if that makes it REALLY EMPHATIC, and your statement is instantly MORE PROFOUND. There's a FEEDBACK forum - perhaps you should post your concerns THERE instead of HIJACKING another member's thread to voice your complaints. Food for thought.

Perhaps you should get alife perhaps.

 

[imaltesers]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I've been careful not to rest my foot on the clutch when I don't need to, and usually just cruise when approaching a red light and shift to neutral once I reach it. Didn't know about skipping gears though, I'll keep that in mind. Just reinflated my tires so I'll see if that helps with the mileage.

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, there weren't any subsections for different generations so I thought this was for all Mazda 3's.

Anyway I'm enjoying the car a lot, I feel so much more in control with a manual. Maybe I'll start looking into mods sometime in the future Actually I just thought of something else. Is there any way to get the steering wheel media controls to work with my iPhone? Specifically the previous/next track buttons. Right now I have a bluetooth audio adapter connected in the aux jack, but I realize there's no way to control it like that. Would I need to get an aftermarket stereo with bluetooth function?

 

[GrasshopperCO]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I've been careful not to rest my foot on the clutch when I don't need to, and usually just cruise when approaching a red light and shift to neutral once I reach it. Didn't know about skipping gears though, I'll keep that in mind. Just reinflated my tires so I'll see if that helps with the mileage.

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, there weren't any subsections for different generations so I thought this was for all Mazda 3's.

Anyway I'm enjoying the car a lot, I feel so much more in control with a manual. Maybe I'll start looking into mods sometime in the future Actually I just thought of something else. Is there any way to get the steering wheel media controls to work with my iPhone? Specifically the previous/next track buttons. Right now I have a bluetooth audio adapter connected in the aux jack, but I realize there's no way to control it like that. Would I need to get an aftermarket stereo with bluetooth function?

I think you'll be fine in terms of clutch wear. I mean, that's what I do when I'm driving, and I haven't had issues in the past, either with my 3 or my previous cars.

There are plenty of mods out there! eBay is usually a good place to look if you're budget conscious, or the marketplace on these forums. CorkSport is an awesome vendor for modding parts too.

I'm not sure about the stereo controls in previous gen 3s...the new one allows you to control songs on your iPhone, but it also comes with Bluetooth as standard (at least the 2015 iSports and up do).

 

[supradupe]

Always skip gears when driving downhill and feel free to do so on level ground.

Those are tips I taught my son and after 7+ years, his clutch is still doing great.

Worst advise you can ever give to your son to go downhill in neutral! Please try not to get him killed.

 

[GrasshopperCO]

Worst advise you can ever give to your son to go downhill in neutral! Please try not to get him killed.

Where did you get "drive in neutral" from "skip gears when going downhill"? What concept is suggesting is skipping gears (going from 2nd to 4th, say) so you're not putting as great a load on the engine or transmission. You don't need to, since gravity and momentum can help the car pick up speed. You do that sort of thing for greater fuel economy and less wear and tear. At no point when I read that did I interpret it as "completely take the car out of gear when going downhill."

Edit: As a personal note, however, I would advise holding the car in lower gears when going downhill for longer periods. As I live in a particularly mountainous state, I would rather sacrifice a bit of fuel economy and utilize engine braking to keep the car from gaining too much speed than cook my brakes trying to slow down when descending a mountain slope.

 

[Traum]

You are not sacrificing any fuel economy when you cruise downhill while engaged in gear. As long as the revs aren't too low, the momentum from the wheels alone should be enough to keep the pistons going, and the ECU should be smart enough to not inject any fuel into the combustion chamber.

If you have a ScanGauge or something, this is really easy to see. My reading turns into 0L/100km when I cruise downhill while keeping the car in gear.

 

[concept]

Where did you get "drive in neutral" from "skip gears when going downhill"? What concept is suggesting is skipping gears (going from 2nd to 4th, say) so you're not putting as great a load on the engine or transmission. You don't need to, since gravity and momentum can help the car pick up speed. You do that sort of thing for greater fuel economy and less wear and tear. At no point when I read that did I interpret it as "completely take the car out of gear when going downhill."

Edit: As a personal note, however, I would advise holding the car in lower gears when going downhill for longer periods. As I live in a particularly mountainous state, I would rather sacrifice a bit of fuel economy and utilize engine braking to keep the car from gaining too much speed than cook my brakes trying to slow down when descending a mountain slope.

I was going to ask the same thing. My previous car, a C5 Corvette forced you to skip gears if the oil was warm enough and engine RPM was within a certain range. GM did this so that there would be no gas guzzler tax. But yes, it does save gas in any vehicle if it replaces leaving the trans in a lower gear and stepping on the gas to maintain speed.