After driving an AC-less '00 sunfire through a couple midwestern summers, I am finally in a position to be able to purchase a genuinely 'new' vehicle. So a few weeks ago I went to the local Mazda dealer and picked out new 3 
I would have prefered a small truck or a blazer-sized SUV, but a)they can be considerably more expensive and b) with the way gas is going, they'd be more expensive to run, too. The gas mileage is much beter on the vehicle like this. So far I love it, and I'm leaving tommorow evening to take it on the longest drive yet - 300+ miles up to St. Louis to visit friends and family for the weekend. Do have a couple questions, though:
first: under the hood, there is a big plastic plate or cover, for lack of a better way to describe it. Anybody that's looked under the hood of a 3 or 6 knows what I'm talking about. Does this serve any functional purpose? just curious. If not, I may yank it out; I'm sure Ford/Mazda engineers know what they're doing, but it seems to me that such a cover would trap heat around the engine.
second: I got an automatic. I know some people will ridicule puting an auto on a small engine, but I don't have much choice - I've tried driving a stick before, and it ain't pretty That said, the transmission is a 'semi-auto'. It can be driven in full auto, or switched and driven as a clutchless stick. It doesn't go completely manual though; try to do something stupid and the computer will take over and kick it up a gear before the engine redlines and blows up. Have you driven one of these before? how did you like it?
pics are on the way. Have to upload them first.
Nathan
I would have prefered a small truck or a blazer-sized SUV, but a)they can be considerably more expensive and b) with the way gas is going, they'd be more expensive to run, too. The gas mileage is much beter on the vehicle like this. So far I love it, and I'm leaving tommorow evening to take it on the longest drive yet - 300+ miles up to St. Louis to visit friends and family for the weekend. Do have a couple questions, though:first: under the hood, there is a big plastic plate or cover, for lack of a better way to describe it. Anybody that's looked under the hood of a 3 or 6 knows what I'm talking about. Does this serve any functional purpose? just curious. If not, I may yank it out; I'm sure Ford/Mazda engineers know what they're doing, but it seems to me that such a cover would trap heat around the engine.
second: I got an automatic. I know some people will ridicule puting an auto on a small engine, but I don't have much choice - I've tried driving a stick before, and it ain't pretty
That said, the transmission is a 'semi-auto'. It can be driven in full auto, or switched and driven as a clutchless stick. It doesn't go completely manual though; try to do something stupid and the computer will take over and kick it up a gear before the engine redlines and blows up. Have you driven one of these before? how did you like it?pics are on the way. Have to upload them first.
Nathan
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