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MAZDA 3 ^ ^ ^ 2006 Wish List
This is the place to discuss wishes for future years.
IF you can get this forum sent to the Mazda designers & engineers, please do !
Keep in mind the pricing must stay below $20,000 US.
This is a list of several combined issues brought up in various forums.
1) Return to the Protege steering mechanism.
Will make it more fun to drive.
(This is a heavily discussed item) Users want a return of the awesome steering feel from the conventional belt-driven hydraulic assist. Users don't like the failed electrohydraulic steering "experiment".
2) *** Use the suspension from the Ford Focus SVT. Will add to it a Porsche level of handling.
3) The Protege had no body roll. It was flat in tight curves. Add some lowering springs.
This should help eliminate the body roll
that appeared as the Protoge evolved into the Mazda3. Ford SVT suspension would solve this.
4) Return to Protege seat adjuster cushion tilt knob
5) Redesign to eliminate the paint chipping
due to dirt "sandblasting" the side sill / skirt flares and rear bumber behind the tires.
6) Add alarm/remote starter
7) Better quality break rotors
8) Redesign the entire dash.
Current dash is too busy and harsh. Monitors are nnot pleasant to look at. The red lighting does not have mass appeal.
Radio/CD should allow owners to install their
own. Current dash design does not allow any other type. Very wierd.
7) Cold Weather Option: seats and mirrors
8) Safety Traction Control option
9) Bigger hatch handle and located above lisence plate. (People with snow gloves find small latch difficult)
10) Leather Seats are cheap plastic looking. Have the after market $900 seats become the standard leather.
11) Dampening noise in rear seat.
Find someway to do it!
12) Improve the visibility from drivers seat
out the back window.
13) 16" Wheels option
Less costly up keep than 17".
14) Add a less expensive 5 door entry model
Read this forum about steering and suspension.
mazdamp3 "Mazda3 vs. Protegé" Mar 13, 2004 2:44pm
PLEASE ADD TO THE LIST.
IF you can get this forum sent to the Mazda designers & engineers, please do !
Keep in mind the pricing must stay below $20,000 US.
This is a list of several combined issues brought up in various forums.
1) Return to the Protege steering mechanism.
Will make it more fun to drive.
(This is a heavily discussed item) Users want a return of the awesome steering feel from the conventional belt-driven hydraulic assist. Users don't like the failed electrohydraulic steering "experiment".
2) *** Use the suspension from the Ford Focus SVT. Will add to it a Porsche level of handling.
3) The Protege had no body roll. It was flat in tight curves. Add some lowering springs.
This should help eliminate the body roll
that appeared as the Protoge evolved into the Mazda3. Ford SVT suspension would solve this.
4) Return to Protege seat adjuster cushion tilt knob
5) Redesign to eliminate the paint chipping
due to dirt "sandblasting" the side sill / skirt flares and rear bumber behind the tires.
6) Add alarm/remote starter
7) Better quality break rotors
8) Redesign the entire dash.
Current dash is too busy and harsh. Monitors are nnot pleasant to look at. The red lighting does not have mass appeal.
Radio/CD should allow owners to install their
own. Current dash design does not allow any other type. Very wierd.
7) Cold Weather Option: seats and mirrors
8) Safety Traction Control option
9) Bigger hatch handle and located above lisence plate. (People with snow gloves find small latch difficult)
10) Leather Seats are cheap plastic looking. Have the after market $900 seats become the standard leather.
11) Dampening noise in rear seat.
Find someway to do it!
12) Improve the visibility from drivers seat
out the back window.
13) 16" Wheels option
Less costly up keep than 17".
14) Add a less expensive 5 door entry model
Read this forum about steering and suspension.
mazdamp3 "Mazda3 vs. Protegé" Mar 13, 2004 2:44pm
PLEASE ADD TO THE LIST.
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
The above list is the next level to aspire towards. I compiled the list after reading all
the discussions here.
If you had your choice, a 2004 M3 vs
an M3 wth the above incorpoated, no doubt which
one you would buy!
Oh ya? Let's be picky about it. The std RWD RX-8 w/ light-weight-mid-mount-engine handles even better yet ride less harshly. The ultra quiet Turanza LS-H tires still feels fine in my '90 Protege LX & manual-steering '84 Jetta, but I highly doubt Mazda3's electro-hydraulic-steering's somewhat too light & lack of meaty feel can tolerate this tire's numb feeling any further.
No wonder this tire is the OEM 16" set up for the Euro-market Mazda3 1.6 w/ pure hydraulic steering but not here. Believe me, try this tire on your Mazda3 & watch the tire roar goes away!
out the back window."
Are you kidding me? How can you add the RX-8's rear glass by '06. LOL.
Hope Santa is listening, but then there are always other "Focus" alternatives. The Mazda3 is really a Japanese Focus II. & there are other Focus copies w/ the Control Blade rear suspension such as the upcoming A3, Golf/Jetta V, Passat, etc:
creakid1 "Mazda3 (Hatchback)" Jun 16, 2004 5:17am
creakid1 "Mazda3 Sedan" Jun 10, 2004 1:27pm
& they really offer a wider rear outward vision. Sorry, not for America. Sour grape -- they don't got Japanese quality anyway.
I liked the 3 hatch a lot when I drove it, and almost bought one. The dash LED lighting was a little weird, and I don't like having the radio display in a different place from its buttons. Besides that, a TON of tire roar, and my past experience with the Mazda dealer network, I loved the car and would have bought one.
I don't agree with the above, though, that there should be a 3i hatch, which I assume to mean would use the smaller engine. I think that engine would be overtaxed by the weight and high profile of the hatch. If you simply mean there should be a version of the hatch without the sport package of exterior frills and larger rims, that might not be a bad idea.
I wonder if anyone is buying this car with the optional NAV. A loaded 3 gets up a bit high in price, IMO.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
How about a 3-door?
jschaffer180 "Mazda3 vs Acura TSX" Jun 21, 2004 4:16am
You may call the '91-&-newer American Escort a Mazda 323/Protege. I actually saw cars w/ identical body style in Taiwan badged as either Mazda 323 or Ford Laser.
But the Mazda3's platform is really an European-designed Focus platform w/ Control Blade rear suspension plus Volvo's input to improve crashworthiness, & together w/ the new front & rear subframes makes it the "Focus II" C-1 platform. Mazda retuned its steering-rack ratio & the sway-bar mounting points to be used on the Mazda3.
The Focus II platform & the Mazda6 platform, eventhough somewhat similar w/ 4 links in the rear, are not the same. The Mazda6's platform will replace every non-RWD mid-size Ford of the future except the next European Mondeo sedan & Galaxy minivan, both of which are Focus II w/ extended wheelbase.
Mazda's responsible for the development of some newer Ford's engines & maybe the transmission, but a Saturn Vue w/ Honda V6 is still a Saturn. & the current Passat is really an Audi even w/ VW's own 15-degree W8 engine.
The seats are good for the money and seem to look less vinyley as they wear in.
I don't mind the steering feel - it has getting more responsive as the tires wear down.
I would love if they made a short throw available (5 speed Hatch).
Love the dash wouldn't touch a thing. There is room for an aftermarket stereo at the bottom compartment above the ashtray.
Maybe a Mazdaspeed version, but otherwise..??
If there is a great chance that they are going to up the hp on the 3-hatch for 05, I would love to know. I would wait. I would just wonder how much the price would go up and what kind of gas mileage the larger hp engine would get?
Does anyone know with any certainty that hp will go up in the 05?
And if it is true that the hatch is top heavy will mazda so something to avoid rollovers?
I thought this car hugged the road well with very very little body roll, but other posts seem to imply it is like drive a van at high speeds around sharp corners.
New to the site here. I am suprised no one has mentioned the article on Mazda's own web site on the press and praise section for the Mazda three. The article is putting the MMM back into Mazda. It indicates that by early 2005 that the 3 should receive a bump in horsepower to 200/240 with a possible awd version.
I am waiting for the 05's
Back on topic, the only change I want to see is variable intermittent wipers. The handling, steering, leather, and every other "problem" listed here is not a problem in a $16-20K vehicle. If you don't already own a 3, go buy one today! I love mine more every time I drive it
Will the Mazdaspeed mods, excluding AWD, be available to existing 3 owners?
A real latch for the hatch.
Some way to directly hook my iPod to the stereo.
But the AWD hardware isn't hard to install, though. You can even convert the existing Focus platform w/ the Control Blade 4-link rear suspension into an RWD V8 muscle car by aftermarket conversions, as shown in a SEMA show.
No wonder BMW almost adopted the Focus I platform in the late '90's for it's future entry-level car!
The other Mazda3 -- the Volvo S40/V50 -- already offers AWD turbo cars now.