Soccermom was a hottie, at least from the window perch of her Suburban. She had this cute snarly thing going from the corner of her mouth, which I think was a result of the contempt she held for the drivers who had been blazing through her streets.

JohnnyCanuck: Elvis was Denise McCluggage’s driving partner that day.

This is how a manual is on a motorcycle. BMW has it on one of their high end cars.

But to shift via an electric paddle? Or let the car do it? BORING.

I’m usually one to endorse the risk of a new model as the return is the additional year(s) of “newness” vs the successor.

In this case, wait.

SomeGreek- Ferrari’s will all have DSG as the option in a couple years. Their F1-transmission is old-tech and is on it’s way out eventually.

this car is #1 on my shopping list, so i’ve been very eagerly awaiting reviews…i thought about picking up an ‘09 at a discount, but i wanted to see if the 2010 brought enough upgrades to warrant waiting (and paying more)…i think that was a good decision, because from everything i’ve read they’ve made some great improvements as far as making the car a better all-around drivers car…

the looks, of course, are polarizing…either you like it, or really don’t, apparently, but i’ve gotten past the looks factor…what’s much more important to me are the handling characteristics and overall feel of the car…there are very few cars in this price range that have this performance and 5-door hatch utility, so if you have to drive something with a big weird grill, so be it…i can live with that…and anyway, that grill will just motivate people to get out of my way so they don’t have to see it anymore…i actually like how it looks from the side, 3/4 view and rear, though, so it’s not all bad imo…i like the dash compared to the old version as well, the piano black accents on the old one looked like trash, imo, and i’m glad mazda has gotten away from shiny black plastic…

as far as price goes, jake, these are cheaper than you think…you can find 3 in the ‘lou for 23.9k without the tech package, and cars with the tech package are going for 25.8k if you broaden the search to national…

like i said, i know too much about this car, so one reason why the car is that cheap is because the MS3 version doesn’t have every option you can get on the base grand touring 3…for example, the US MS3 doesn’t come with the adaptive HID headlamps and LED taillights that a grand touring-level mazda 3 will have…the interesting (and somewhat disappointing for me) thing is that the canadian mazdaspeed comes with the HIDs/LEDs, but they allow the canadian car to sell at a higher price point…they seem to have cut HIDs/LEDs off the US version to keep costs closer to the outgoing model…

thus ends my phd thesis on the 2010 mazdaspeed 3 ;P

People buy manuals because they are fun. At the very least I would want a clutchless manual. But an automatic that shifts via a dual clutch? BORING.

If I got an auto anything, it might as well buy a Corolla.

Automatics are fine, FOR YOUR SUBURBAN SOCCER MOM.

BY FAR the best transmission to ever be put into an automobile. I am thoroughly impressed every time I drive a DSG equipped car.

@JakeK66 – A DSG is MUCH smoother than a traditional auto. If your GTI has DSG and it isn’t smooth, then something may be wrong. I have had my MKV GTI w/ DSG for more than 3 years and 63,000 miles and it is very smooth. Many people can’t feel the shifts and some educated people have asked if it was CVT.

@l.sanchez – DSG offers the best of everything. It is faster than a manual, smoother than a manual, everyone can drive it, and achevies better gas mileage.
This is why Bugatti and Lambo use it in their cars, or Ferrari has a similar technology for ALL THEIR CARS. Don’t forget Audis with the same thing (albeit called S/R Tronic) in the R8 / B8 S4 / TTS. Also, the M3 has a dual clutch automated manual in the M3.
Those are some serious cars and because of it, they warrant a serious transmission.

They aren’t really any more expensive than regular automatics anymore. VW is now putting them on the 2010 Passats and CC’s base models. As for heft, I doubt they weigh anymore than a 6-speed auto unit and any weight gain is made up in the shift speeds over a traditional, even the best automatics as well as increased fuel economy. Now they are not as smooth shifting as an auto- that’s their only downfall at all anymore – but this is not a car that needs that, it is like the GTI built for sportieness and livabilty which is why the DSG unit should be available.

@l.sanchez – That’s your opinion, but some of the best, most die-hard manual loving auto journalist disagree with you.

Mark, you should have told your ‘foe’ that Elvis was spotted trolling for the self righteous and everyone was on their way to her house.

So tell us, Mark, was the little tattletale at least hot?

As awesome as dual-clutch transmissions are, they are very expensive, complex, and heavy to put in a car like the Mazdaspeed 3. It just sounds kind of pointless to do so.

It’s one of those fine examples of “They can do it, but should they?”

I like that Mazda does its own thing and I do NOT want a DSG on this car. DSG means you can’t drive in my opinion.

On the Mazda brand – I like what they are and who they cater to. They aren’t in it to become #1 but to become successful with their kinda niche market. Everything they make is either the top of it’s class or near it (save the Tribute) and they don’t get the negative flak associated with Toyota and Honda’s blandness. They aren’t cheap cars but nor they overpriced like VW is on many of their models. They are the right mix of everything – sport/price/features/image. I hope Mazda keeps up with who they are and keeps on being just a little out of the norm for a car company.