2025 Mazda 3 Sport GT 6MT
Price: $34,950 CAD
Colour: Soul Red Crystal Metallic
I speak often about the inevitable death of the manual transmission. As a man firmly ensconced in my mid-40’s I’m at the peak of my nostalgia surrounding this type of car. Manuals used to be everywhere and were driven by all sorts. You didn’t have to be a “car person” to drive one and it wasn’t the “millennial anti-theft device”, it was just how cars were made. Year after year however they’ve been removed from manufacturer’s lineups more and more and now we’re left almost exclusively with the “enthusiast” offering. If you want a manual, for the most part, you won’t get it in a base model, you’ll need to get the sporty variant. Honda set the bar high with Civic Si and others have followed suit. This includes Mazda with the 3. You can still get this great little car in a manual, but you need to buy the Sport GT trim and that’s it. There’s only one offering. If it must be this way, so be it. At least we still have the option to thrash a fun car through 6 shifts on your way to Top Gear.
The Sport GT trim is a step down from the top trim of the 3 lineup. It’s got all the equipment you might want and while the design has been with us for quite some time, it’s still a great car to sit in and drive and its beauty is becoming timeless. While the 3 Sport GT is by no means a sports car that doesn’t mean it doesn’t provide a “sporty” driving experience. The 191hp and 186 lb/ft of torque provide all one needs to drop it a cog and put your foot down with thrilling results. Mazda has also blessed the 3 with a firm and responsive suspension and steering setup without giving away all the comfort required to drive this thing everyday. The result of this is if it’s a Monday morning and you just need to get to work before the boss, the 3 Sport GT 6MT will see you through. If it’s Friday and you’re heading out of town through the mountains to a weekend away, it will thrill you and put that peculiar smile on your face as you weave your way through the peaks to your destination.
Driving is often regarded as a chore by the majority of the population. When you factor in traffic, work, family, pets, pedestrians and the misery of everyday life, I can see why people view driving from this perspective. If you’re like me however, all this is just the price to be paid for those all too rare moments when you find a quiet stretch of beautiful tarmac that’s all yours. It’s in these moments we put all other considerations aside, slot our manual into just the right gear, put our foot down and sail away into a world of wonder and joy. Some of us actually connect with our cars. We communicate with them as we travel through the days of our lives. So many things in a car can mute this connection like plush seats, insulation, noise cancelling speakers and whatever else is jammed between us and our cars. The manual transmission however is a direct connection between driver and vehicle. We call with a gear change and the vehicle answers. It’s a beautiful thing that won’t be with us forever. It’s a blessing not to be ignored then that we still have cars like the Mazda 3 Sport GT 6MT to keep this connection alive.
When I first got my learners license I was 16. I had been looking forward to learning to drive for years. My father was a stern and reserved man (like father like son I suppose). So, when he stated he’d take me out driving for the first time I was deeply nervous. We were a poor family so driving lessons were out of the question. If I was going to get time behind the wheel, this was the only way it was going to happen. We headed out in my dad’s 1981 Mercury Zephyr and pootled around the neighbourhood for a few minutes until we, inevitably, got into an argument about my inability to pull the car over to the side of the road and get closer than 18 inches from the curb. Dad expressed his disappointment and despite my pointing out I’d never driven before, he was convinced I should have done better. I immediately got out of the car and walked home. As was our way, never talked about this little spat, it didn’t matter. What dad talked to me about later that day were requirements for my first car. He said it had to be cheap (because we had no money) and it had to be a manual. I asked him why as most of his cars had been automatics (aside from his beloved Toyota Tercel). He pointed out that he mostly drove autos so my mother could drive the car as well (she was terrified of a stick shift you see). He made it clear though that if it was his choice, he’d drive a manual everyday. It made the experience of driving so much more fun and enjoyable. He was the first person to talk to me about connecting with a car. I didn’t really understand it at the time, but I smiled and nodded and at the very least remembered his words. As is the way of things, I didn’t drive again and get my full driver’s license until 2 months after my dad suddenly passed. I’d just graduated high school and gotten my first job. As much as I had enjoyed the 35km round trip on my bicycle to get to work I knew I had to get a car. Who wants to be lean and fit all the time? So, when it came time to find a car, I had two requirements. It had to be less than $500 and it had to be a manual. I was listening dad.
