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Comments
3238: "True, they have downsized those boats a little, but a Roadmaster still looks close to the old ones. The styling is still very Buick. Some traditions should be done away with and move on to new adventures in styling. Lincolns are still boats and the Crown Vics still float down the Interstates. ..."
OK, first, the Roadmaster was dropped in 1996, 7 years ago!!! The traditions were done away with then!
Second, big Fords are miles away from the 30 years ago. Driven any lately? No, Im sure since they are not approved by the "automotive correct media", it's dismissed. BTW: they are a lot smaller then the huge SUV's all over.
3rd, these so called big cars are only 5% of the line up, how does this count as "the entire Detroit line up"?
Sorry to hijack the Mazda 3 forum, carry on!
When I buy a less than 10 mile car I wouldn't want someone to beat on it in a test drive so I try to show the same courtesy to other buyers. When the initial demand has gone down and there's more 2.0 autos available I'll probably go for it. It'll probably be a couple of years before I buy so I can wait.
Don't worry, if you couldn't, I'm sure many others will do.
On the MazdaUSA page when you click "safety" the window that pops up on the screen while the section is loading has a few things listed as a preview for the section. The last one on the list says "auto light system". This is mentioned nowhere else on the site or specs so it may be a mistake. Maybe someone on the west coast can confirm if the US Mazda3 has this or not. Not that it's a big deal but would be nice to have.
I was just trying to figure out from you or someone else if the 2.0 auto Mazda3 would end up significantly slower than the 2.0 auto Protege. It seems to me with the 2.0 Protege engine having more low-end torque and the new 2.0 having most of the power gain at high rpm's, that the extra weight and gear ratios may really hurt it. 0-60 isn't the best method to figure this out but having a 0-60 time of 11 seconds would tell me it isn't a very fast car, and may be too slow even by my standards.
Toyota claims it's new Toyota Prius with CVT will get 0-60 in 10.5 seconds I think. The Mazda3 may be even slower than a hybrid!
- In any case you shouldn't relly on our 0-60 discussion here to chose or reject the car. We just do it for fun. To be honnest, there is still many incertitude about the performance of the Mazda3 in a real life on the real road condition.
Take an example: I have no idea how the activematic is programmed, what is the parameters that take as input in order to shift up/down. With the Mazda2 2.0L-AT, the electronic could decide to stay longer on the lower gear than with the Protegé's. In that case, you might get similar or better performance, even the finale drive of the Mazda3 is longer. I even heard that the auto tranny have a learning possibility, i.e., it means it will adapt with each person driving style after few days of learning (though I haven't yet found a reliable proof of this feature). I guess you get the picture...
In addition - I know it's kind of stupid - but I still have a doubt about the spec given by Mazda, that's why I ask our friends to check the RPM.
B.
“however, there is quite a bit of tire/suspension noise, so much so that I'm seriously questioning how bad the 17's must be. It was so bad that I'm now debating whether or not I'm going to get the GFX (which is the package that includes the 17's.”
It should improve w/ the quiet Turanza LS-H tires, but, still, some of ya are gonna need the 15”s. ;-) Unless you drive at least as aggressive as I. Even then, you probably will only want to step up to the 16"s.
I can't wait!
That thing was positively gushing! not that it's a bad thing necessarily, but makes it harder to take very seriously. (although, I'm secretly hoping that this reviewers reaction will reflect my first hand impressions too!)
Bruno
"- interior was of BP5/BP6-type. The blue part of the cloth was quite nice, soft yet durable. The black cloth felt similar to the Mazda6, rougher but durable"
A slight advantage over the BP7/8 fabric texture to cuddle you?
It's the notchback sedan's permanent rear shelf that was helping. In case you wonder why the 5-dr 323 hatch used to be cool sleek fastback shape & switched to wagon-shape after '98, it's to cut down the overall flexing. Just look at today's Nissan Z car. That fastback shape w/o the G35 coupe's notchback rigid rear shelf means the need to add a horribly bulky brace bar between the upper rear wheel wells.
I've always thought that a fastback hatch should keep a rigid metal rear shelf covering a fraction of the trunk & can be removed temporarily when carrying large cargo. I wonder if the Saab 9000 hatch also had a rigid bar on the removable rear shelf.
In case you don't read French, I translate the essential here:
http://groups.msn.com/BrunoLuong/adealerlook.msnw
Sure it is. It's taken straight from Mazda Mazda3 complete press kit, which has been posted here one time or another, including the graph of flexing and torsional rigidity.
http://home.comcast.net/~dustybrice/wsb/html/view.cgi-photos.html- -.html
However, the GX w/15" alloys looks tall, hence the NEED (not want, but NEED) for at least 16" alloys.
Dinu
Meade
I agree, there is too much space between the fenders and the 15" tires. 16" would look better. The car seats hight, but also Mazda keeps the same wheel offset across the range of rim diameters/tire widths, that's why the smaller wheels doesn't fill well the space. On the Protegé, the offset inceases with respect to the tire size.
Dinu
http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/brunoluong/vwp?.dir=/Powertrain&- amp;- amp;.dnm=Engine+bay+of+the+MZR+2.0L.jpg&.view=t
Dinu
Also, I don't like the fact that the rear bumper was not modified to hold a north american license plate better. It's going to hang incorrectly just like the current Volvo S40 (looks like crap with an american plate).
Just got the call, Ontario Mazda just got their first shipment (yesterday was just the single car for each dealership). If I have time during lunch, I may drive by (but I'm quite busy today).
fdanna:
Good question about the bumpers, but this is why they didn't modify it to better hold N. American (and also JDM's) license plates:
- sport bumpers are common world-wide, so the same bumper is used for Europe (long license) and N. America/JDM (short license)
- regular bumpers are different for various regions so you would think they could shorten the license for N. America/JDM. However, all bumpers are two-pieces, the body coloured part, and a seperate black piece at the bottom, and the N. American-spec regular bumper has a common bottom black piece as the sport bumper (which has to be molded for the long license).
It's really hard to describe without showing pictures (or beter yet seeing the real thing), but basically Mazda would have had to make a new mold (for the lower black piece) to make it work. And obviously they made a business decision that the benefit wasn't worth the cost.
http://www.kabel1.at/php-bin/scripts/cvideo/cvideo.php?Golf,+Civi- c,+M%E9gane+und+Mazda+3,,1,,331,,redirect.streaming.szm.de/redire- ct/redirect.php?type=vod&codec=real&stream=K1/auto/aa1511- 03/golf_civic_megane_3_160.rm,,redirect.streaming.szm.de/redirect- /redirect.php?type=vod&codec=real&stream=K1/auto/aa151103- /golf_civic_megane_3_320.rm,,1,,1
I recognized most of the info came from Mazda itself, but the first few paragraphs contained an actual review of the car. This is the part I was mostly referring to. It's as if the guy read all the glowing Mazda source info first, thus coloring his objectivity, and from that, tailored his review.
You would be surprised how many reviewers do that.
fowler3
is that opinion based on the sports package or non sports pkg.. or both?
and is it solely the long bumper that causes this balance shortcoming of which you speak??
Dinu
My thoughts:
- just to totally confirm for the Canadian-folks, the GT sedan with GFX has black taillights (so all Canadian-spec Mazda3 sedans have red taillights except for GT with GFX package)
- the car drives like a Mazda6 but more nimble. However, in comparison to the Mazda6, the car has more suspension noise. I've only driven the Mazda6 2.3l with auto, and the Mazda3 2.3l with auto felt more powerful & torquey (so the reduced weight overcame the Mazda3 2.3l tuning disadvantage)
- the 17's only have a little bit more suspension noise than the 16's, and the ride is also just a little bit harsher. Overall, there is a good amount of suspension & tire noise. But, just like my ride with the 16's, the car I drove today wasn't PDI'd, so the tire pressures may have been higher from the shipping. Bottom line, this is no Camcord, ride is firm and noiser than the Mazda6
- you can't hear the engine at idle but when you rev the engine sounds are very sporty
- my testdrive was after work so it was dark. The electroluminescent gauges are AWESOME, especially at night with a soft blue backlight.
- the current gear number is displayed in both D and M modes of the automatic. Mazda6 auto owners can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the gear number is only displayed in M mode on the Mazda6. I don't know which one I would prefer.
- today was the first time I saw the Mazda3 hatch in real life. I'll reserve my comments on the looks until I see one in daylight, but I got an idea of its proportions. One of the hatch's was the orange colour. Again, I can't really comment on that colour until I see in daylight
That's about all for now, I'm going to put down my own order next week or the week after. My car & packaging will be:
1. Mazda3 GT sedan with GFX and auto in Titanium Gray (exactly what I drove today except for colour)
or
2. Mazda3 GT hatch with auto in Winning Blue. I'm moving to a new house next year and the garage for the second car is quite short. I actually have a rope measurement of the Mazda3 GFX sedan and will compare it to the house this weekend. While the sedan should just fit, if I find the tolerance to be too tight then I'll get the shorter hatch (yes the garage is so marginal that those 2 inches matter)
Personally, I don't care if the MZ3 is a little noisier than the MZ6. Everything will be REAL quiet when I'm dead.
1. Mazda3 GT sedan with GFX and auto in Titanium Gray (exactly what I drove today except for colour)"
That will be the same configuration I am looking at (except GFX=Sport package in US):) The titanium gray is both sporty and elegant at the same time, without the high maintenance of black.
You said the ride is firm and there is suspension noise; is it a controlled firm ride, or a bouncy firm ride. What kind of suspension noise are you talking about?
I am jealous!!:)
The 17's come with Goodyear Eagle RS-A.
I agree with you on the Michelin Pilot A/S. Once the OEM tires wear out, I will probably go to that tire as well.
lmp180psu:
I still have not seen a real-life Mazda3 in titanium gray. However, I've seen seen the RX-8 titanium gray in real-life so I have a good idea how it'll look. This weekend I will be visiting a few dealer lots to see if I can find my colour & option combo for confirmation.
It's most definitely a controlled firmness. The suspension on this car is very, very impressive. Knowing of my impending purchase, I've been test driving a bunch of cars lately, all of which are of a higher class than the Mazda3, and I can't begin to tell you how impressed I am with the Mazda3's mechanicals overall (plus add in the price factor and I confirmed today that the Mazda3 is my car).
But this is a noisy car - I should correct myself and say that it's road noise as opposed to suspension noise. As such, I think it's the tires.
Don't Canadian Titaniums get blue cloth instead? I would choose the titanium if it's like this. I swear, I'll rather have the PZEV 2.0's Starlight Green w/ light-beige cloth. That combo will look way cool if I add the black taillights, as if to out-handsome a new light-green 325i.
Darn balance-shaft less! California should make the balance-shafted 2.3 PZEV engine not just mandatory for the base Focus, but the base Mazda3 as well!
But this is a noisy car"
It has to be worse than the BMW in some way significantly, not just slightly. Otherwise, BMW will go out of business.
Funny you compared to BMW, cause one of the cars I testdrove was a 325. The Mazda3 is just a little bit more firm than the 325. However, where the 325 shines through is that it's much quieter and more refined while having performance. The Mazda3 also has performance (for a FWD anyways) and is very smooth, but not the refinement of the 325.
Which brings to why I'm getting the Mazda3. The Mazda3 feels about $5,000 cheaper than the BMW whereas it's almost 50% off pricetag wise!
Yeah, if they didn't touch the ground it would be absolutely silent.
I wondered what the "noise" part meant, too.
How does it compare to the outgoing Protegé in noise..more...or less?
Is there a discernable hop or porpoising?
fowler3
At first I wished that the Titanium came with the black/blue interior, but after thinking about it, the black/red matches better with the red instrument panel lights. Now if the panel lights were blue, of course I would want black/blue cloth. But, the interior is so nice either way that it really doesn't matter
compared to the bmw i have , this one has more room inside, it isnt as wide so i guess the bmw feels bigger when driving but the 3 is so much cheaper for what you get. 2 for 1 i guess.
its truly amazing. not as well done inside as the rx8 but still great . with nav and stuff, amazing.