2014 Mazda 3S Grand Touring First Drive
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2014 Mazda 3S Grand Touring First Drive
Edmunds drives the all-new, Skyactiv-infused 2014 Mazda 3 S Grand Touring. Find out if it's as efficient and fun to drive as Mazda claims.
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The car itself seems very promising, so long as they keep the price of the 2.5 models down.
My current focus points are on the new M3 (coming out next year). However, Mazda and Subaru could totally pull me "down market" with exceptional fun to drive cars if they do it right.
Quadricycle - My Brother in law requires a spacious wagon/hatch with +30mpg and a manual transmission, yet a reasonable starting point price wise. Bonus points for fewer electronics.
I pointed him to the Mazda CX-5, which still offers a FWD 6-speed manual option. He's extremely excited.
Great city car but I did a lot of highway travel.
By the time the Mazdaspeeds came out I had already moved on.
I think Mazda is calling my name; I am afraid to test drive the CX-5 because I'll probably buy it and downsize from our Grand Cherokee. I think I can wait for some lightly used 2014s to hit the market in a year or two.
2) I don't mind the old look (I drive a speed 3). In some ways I think the new look is going to age faster. Like the fusion when it first came out with the DB9ish look. At first it looked great but now, i don't know just doesn't really mean anything to me anymore. Maybe I just don't care much about looks as long as it's not a PT cruiser or Aztek like.
3) The tach is in the center for the model with the HUD. Make sense. While the lower end model has the speedo in the center, again make sense.
4) The interior weren't bad before but the appears to have gone up market.
5) Where's the new speed 3? I have been debating what I would replace my current speed 3 with and there's just nothing else in the price range (in Canada), new, that checks the same requirements. Sure the WRX is faster in a straight line but you have to live with the butt ugly toyota cast off interiors and softer suspension and poorer brakes. And if you get an STI you still only have HID low beams (WTF is the practical point of HID in a low beam? It's just for looks isn't it?)I am not into modding cars so for me the Mazdaspeed 3 has everything I want out of the box. I sure hope that in the future it has even more (please add AWD..).
Wonder what "eventually" means ? The company that extols zoom zoom should always keep that an option. Hopefully it still comes out in 2014 in the 2.5 liter.
The interior styling... well again, it's decent, but not great. The functionality seems to be there, it's just that the execution is somewhat of an afterthought. Mainly I'm referring to the center stack. I would have liked a bit more attention to symmetry and flow, ie.. the rectangular metal framed air vents seem to be calling to be the center of attention, yet they don't seem to match the other styling of the rest of the center stack. Then you look right above the vents, at the navigation pod, and again, its shape and that of the nav unit itself just seems at odds with everything else below. Are these things deal breakers? No, but it does detract from the day to day appeal that one has to take in to consideration when there is so much good competition out there.
Personally, I would only consider the hatch version, since I am young, very active, in college, and often find myself needing to haul things around. Sedans just aren't practical for me.
So in that regard, one thing I will be checking on once this version is available at dealers is whether the back seats fold FLAT. That actually makes a big difference when loading/unloading big or long heavy items.
I'm gonna have to wait a bit longer though, because I wouldn't even consider buying an automatic and I will definitely opt for the 2.5 liter S trim. 37 MPG is good enough for me, considering the extra HP you get over the base model.