Downtown Mazda on Lakeshore in Toronto has a couple of 3's. i didn't drive it, but the interior is really nice. The dash is much nicer than in my Matrix
checked it out at morries today. just a looksy at the interior and stuff, they had a copper hatch in the showroom.
styling...the pictures pretty much convey the look pretty well. it looks good. nothing really to elaborate on other than it looks taller and more substantial than the Protege. Assembly and paint quality looked pretty good. No complaints. Certainly is no Ion in the looks department.
price-the unit was config'ed at 20,500 I believe. It had cloth seats, but no lthr. Didn't really check out the rest. It did have the moonroof.
interior- this is where I have most of my initial impression. It was the black cloth with the colored stripes. I can't remember whether it was the red or blue stripes.
I'll first throw in a barb about the overall design. Good design, but what is immediately apparent, and off-putting. On two counts. First, the interior feels confining. Some may say intimate. It feels tighter than the Protege is what I say. Personal taste aside, the cowl is MUCH higher and so are the side windows. The appeal of the Protege to me was the airy cabin. The 3 cockpit is not airy. Yes, its more intimate. But is it confining now? To me, in width and intrusions it did seem confining. Perhaps I could adjust to it, but I really love the Protege's interior and this feels different. Those accustomed to low cowl heights and large glass area will find this very different. In addition, it feels narrow (maybe partially because of good head room). There actually seems to be less seating space than the Protege. Shoulder room feels like less. Maybe the seat centers are closer together, who knows. Leg room in back was ok. Getting in the back was tight, but I'm 6'1. The rear seats were very supportive and high. Front seats were good also, comfy.
The second count was how I found the 'design' to be good, with appealing lines and such, but I found the interior materials disappointing. The dash plastic is REAL similar to the natty stuff in the CTS. It conveys the same less than nice impression. The electro gauges too didn't seem particularly expensive looking. The console area was pretty nice, though and the door panels aside from the natty stuff were ok. Seat cloth is a little better than the 6 cloth. Things didn't seem to be put together as well as the Protege. Overall impression was that among compacts its good, not great however. Maybe the expectation was too much. Or maybe the black is too drab. Still below Jetta in overall execution. Very close to Corolla. Pretty good, some impressions of cheapness.
Trunk didn't seem terribly big. Certainly not appreciably bigger than a Protege5. in addition its a bit irregular of shape.
then I went and checked out Proteges again. I would say this. Unless the 3 is a significantly better driver than the Pro, I would advise one to put the money on the Pro and take advantage of the super deals right now. There is no space advantage to the 3, and in fact it feels more confining. The material quality is better in the Pro interior.
Compared to the Focus (which I looked at the SVT version right after) the 3 has nicer plastic and a nicer interior design but the Focus definitely has a different, open feel which I like. Assuming the driving experience is close, I would look hard at the benefit to saving money with the Focus SVT or PZEV.
Compared to the 6, the 6 has a way nicer and larger interior. The prices are pretty close in real world. If you need the larger car, than go with the 6. You might think they are close in space but the sitting impression tells me the 6 is considerably more spacious and again is more open feeling.
To sum, I would not buy the 3 on overall package, or looks , or interior alone. I would need the test drive to tell me if the driving experience is that much enhanced to consider it to its most logical alternatives, the Protege, Focus, and Mazda6.
But by all means I don't think negatively about the 3, in comparison to 90% of the other small cars its a very nice package. It just doesn't seem on the surface to be a quantum leap forward. Makes the Protege seem even better to me, aside from the powertrain upgrades.
alone it is a quantum leap forward. One thing I learned from my visit to the auto show is that all cars in this class now have what I would consider to be a moderately lousy interior. I thought it was confined to the 50 cent plastic that covers the dash of my Matrix, but no - 50 cent plastic is in many cars, including some more expensive models. It is true that VW stands out in this respect, but I also noticed that the Jetta/Golf prices are rising rapidly - they are easily the most expensive in this class.
Having said that, the cheapest hardest plastic in the Mazda is, maybe, 1-dollar plastic, and it is less splashed around than some other cars. The interior of Civic is rather harsh, given it is also at the upper end of the price spectrum for compacts. If you sit in all the models in the space of a couple of hours, you will come away moderately impressed with the interior of a Rio, just because the same quality interior can be had for thousands less $$.
The looks of this car - especially the hatch - are beautiful. This may now be the best-looking Mazda, even beating out the RX8. Everything flows perfectly, no weird lines or breaks, no slab sides and bad corners. The wheels are standard 16s with a 17" option on the hatch, so they fill the wheel wells really nicely.
Pro5 was not a bad looking car, but I really feel the 3 hatch blows it away. And the content for $18K or so sticker is excellent.
For anyone who thinks the 3 and 6 are similar in size - think again. The 6 is a lot bigger inside, and has an interior that is a quantum leap nicer.
If you are looking at compacts in general, the nicest interiors in the whole show were in the TSX and G35, IMO. BMW and Lexus were close behind them. Note to Cadillac and Mercedes: still way too many small buttons, and in odd places.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
yeahhhh...but some of us don't want to wait any longer for the 6 hatch and wagon which could have been imported here in the mean time. Maybe one reason they didn't import them is that they have more features (folding mirrors, better rear headrests, repeat signals) and they would make US buyers wonder why they are getting shortchanged with the sedan.
...but the feedback to the driver is less direct than with the Protege/P5. They acknowledge it's part of the overall improved structure and the general smoothness of the engine (no "peakiness", as they refer to it). They actually think the Mazda3 is quiet, which differs from the opinions of several other reviewers. However, that also indicates where the C&D reviewers' preferences lie, which aren't far from mine (except I put more value on good fuel economy).
C&D didn't find it noisy maybe because they don't got coarse road surface or hollow-concrete roads. The difference is like b/t night & day as the surface changes.
When R&T reviewed the '90 Protege LX, they claimed how quiet it is at fwy speeds that you better watch out for speeding tickets.
the author mentions several things he feel should be standard, optional, or a stand-alone option. Of all those, the only one I agree with is skid control. I think in a year or two this is going to find its way into most cars in this class, and for mazda not to offer it at all might be an important omission.
While many would say ABS should be standard, I have never been that big a fan, and apparently a lot of the market would just as soon take it or leave it, judging by recent trends in its availability.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I sat in the 3 during the SF Auto Show and I totally agree. It felt very small on the inside, especially compared to Proteges I've sat in. Visibility over the left shoulder was really bad. I just didn't like the feeling in there... right now I'd prefer a 5.
Boy, the Edmunton Journal sure has a thing for Mazda vehicles. Mazda3, Mazda6, Mazda3 Hatch, and Mazda RX8 all taking honors in the respective groups! Wow.
Can somebody please give me advice on when to use the + /- manual mode of automatic transmission (autosport)- in M3 Hatchback. And when not to use it. Thanks.
Thanks. I know the mirrors are a small thing, but I've never owned a vehicle that didn't at one point or another "need" that feature, mostly other people hitting it while parking, stuff like that.
Room for toes under the front seats is limited. If you wear running shoes it should be acceptable (with a little wiggle room), but if you wear boots, I really don't see how it will fit...
OK, that's about the same as the Mazda 6. Even though it's a roomy rear seat in those, I was not able to really stretch my legs. Too bad. Minor nit pick, I know. The mirrors are more important.
My wife knocked the driver-side mirror on her Saturn off on the side of her garage once. We taped that sucker on until she got it replaced for roughly $500.
I like the folding mirrors, though their principle reason to exist is to stuff more of these cars onto the freighter. But you can squeeze through tigher spots with them.
are one of my biggest pet peeves with new cars. As far as I know...they are standard issue in Europe and Japan because they have more/different safety regulations there. Our safety agency the NHTSA has STILL not made rear seat head restraints and foldaway mirrors a required feature on cars in this country and they never will as long as the auto industry continues to have the power they do here. Isn't it funny that the ONLY Mazda car that does not have foldaway mirrors or decent rear head support is the Mazda 6? That's because it's produced in the USA! When are Americans going to realize they are being shortchanged? Same thing with the Ford Focus... the American version is a decontented cheap-out while the European version is much... much nicer. I just know someone is going to bring up the word "nannyism!"
part of the reason Americans are often "short-changed" is that the market is so flooded here that competition is fierce enough to allow small niggling cost-cutting things to make it to production?
The American market is almost the equal of Europe and Japan combined in annual sales, isn't it?
It is funny that a manufacturer would not be uniform about something like mirror design - you would think they would make them all the same way to SAVE money.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
This may be more appropriate for a general "hatch/wagon" discussion, but I'm just starting to look and would like some advice. I've researched these boards (as I did ealier this year & it was SO much help, thanks) & the usual mags.
I like what I've seen so far on the 3, the bhp, quality, styling, & size. We bought an MPV this year & love it, so I'm a believer in Mazda, although first years of models make me uneasy.
Other models I'm considering driving at least are the Elantra GT 5-dr(size,price & warr are attractive), Subie TS wagon (bhp aka fun-factor, AWD, reliability, & all-around safety), and '04 Prius (mpg, reliability & cost-to-own).
I may include the Matrix & Focus too. I need 5 drs cuz the baby is due any day, & AT to keep momma happy. This will be my commuter so all 5 of us don't have to fit with the MPV around. I guess it'll come down to which "feels" best.
Any insight from anyone who's driven a few of these would be greatly appreciated.
This may be more appropriate for a general "hatch/wagon" discussion, but I'm just starting to look and would like some advice. I've researched these boards (as I did ealier this year & it was SO much help, thanks) & the usual mags.
I like what I've seen so far on the 3, the bhp, quality, styling, & size. We bought an MPV this year & love it, so I'm a believer in Mazda, although first years of models make me uneasy.
Other models I'm considering driving at least are the Elantra GT 5-dr(size,price & warr are attractive), Subie TS wagon (bhp aka fun-factor, AWD, reliability, & all-around safety), and '04 Prius (mpg, reliability & cost-to-own).
I may include the Matrix & Focus too. I need 5 drs cuz the baby is due any day, & AT to keep momma happy. This will be my commuter so all 5 of us don't have to fit with the MPV around. I guess it'll come down to which "feels" best.
Any insight from anyone who's driven a few of these would be greatly appreciated.
5 speed. I spent another $200 to add a Tiburon rear sway bar. The leather seats are a little slippery and the 5 spd is not as smooth as Japenese compacts. Otherwise it is a very nice car -- nothing else comes close for features, comfort, interior space, economy (actually mpg = 29 city, 35+ hiway), sporty appearance and handling (w larger sway bar & the warranty). Unfortunately, my wife has a very particular back and it does not agree with the Elantra's passenger seat -- thus we are looking at the 3.
I have driven the 3 hatch, but I do not have ownership experience with it. The 3 is very nice car with superior power & handling, & more youthful design, but less interior space.
It will cost about $4500 more to get a 3 than a similarly equipped Elantra GT. Both are worthy cars with a significant cost difference.
It really depends on your priorities. If you want great handling and good acceleration, the 3 or Focus SXT ZX5 would be your best bets. If value and comfort are high on the list, the Elantra GT might be the best fit. And if you want the most technologically advanced hatchback on the planet and like the idea of squeezing as much as possible out of a gallon of gas, but can live with the handling and performance of a 4-cylinder Camry, then the Prius might be just the thing for you. Then for all-weather goodness, there's the Subie. It's your priorities, your decision.
With a baby coming, try a test-fit of your car seats in the rear seat and of the stroller in the cargo area.
If you like the Impreza TS, look at the Outback Sport. For less than a grand more, you get loads of extra features. If you find that small with the kid, look at a Forester X, those start at $19k or so and even with auto are less than $20k.
You have the MPV, so maybe this 2nd vehicle can be small, but honestly I think you'll find a Mazda6 or Subaru Legacy will be a better fit if/when kid #2 arrives.
Thanks to all for the advice. I prefer performance & handling, so the 3 has a leg up. Momma prefers economy & comfort. The weather here isn't bad, so AWD is just peace-of-mind. I will drive others to be sure. BTW, this is baby #3, so this is a 2nd car for my commute & errands. I start a new job next week, 28 mi. 1-way (40 min. on a good day).
I sat in a 3 today. Didn't have time to take it for a drive. It was a 4-dr MT, so the drive may not have been so relavent. Exterior was nice, reminded me of the Jetta/Passat w/ some added flair. Interior was stylish, the cloth seats weren't as wild as I thought, though this was blue ext. w/ blue stripe inside, & the material seemed sturdy. The center stack plastic was OK & the layout/styling impressive. Took a while to find a comfortable driver position & the seat felt great, but when done I found plenty of room in back (I'm 6').
Bottom line....I can't wait to drive an AT hatch, and I'll definitely try the infant seat in the back.
Comments
styling...the pictures pretty much convey the look pretty well. it looks good. nothing really to elaborate on other than it looks taller and more substantial than the Protege. Assembly and paint quality looked pretty good. No complaints. Certainly is no Ion in the looks department.
price-the unit was config'ed at 20,500 I believe. It had cloth seats, but no lthr. Didn't really check out the rest. It did have the moonroof.
interior- this is where I have most of my initial impression. It was the black cloth with the colored stripes. I can't remember whether it was the red or blue stripes.
I'll first throw in a barb about the overall design. Good design, but what is immediately apparent, and off-putting. On two counts. First, the interior feels confining. Some may say intimate. It feels tighter than the Protege is what I say. Personal taste aside, the cowl is MUCH higher and so are the side windows. The appeal of the Protege to me was the airy cabin. The 3 cockpit is not airy. Yes, its more intimate. But is it confining now? To me, in width and intrusions it did seem confining. Perhaps I could adjust to it, but I really love the Protege's interior and this feels different. Those accustomed to low cowl heights and large glass area will find this very different. In addition, it feels narrow (maybe partially because of good head room). There actually seems to be less seating space than the Protege. Shoulder room feels like less. Maybe the seat centers are closer together, who knows. Leg room in back was ok. Getting in the back was tight, but I'm 6'1. The rear seats were very supportive and high. Front seats were good also, comfy.
The second count was how I found the 'design' to be good, with appealing lines and such, but I found the interior materials disappointing. The dash plastic is REAL similar to the natty stuff in the CTS. It conveys the same less than nice impression. The electro gauges too didn't seem particularly expensive looking. The console area was pretty nice, though and the door panels aside from the natty stuff were ok. Seat cloth is a little better than the 6 cloth. Things didn't seem to be put together as well as the Protege. Overall impression was that among compacts its good, not great however. Maybe the expectation was too much. Or maybe the black is too drab. Still below Jetta in overall execution. Very close to Corolla. Pretty good, some impressions of cheapness.
Trunk didn't seem terribly big. Certainly not appreciably bigger than a Protege5. in addition its a bit irregular of shape.
then I went and checked out Proteges again. I would say this. Unless the 3 is a significantly better driver than the Pro, I would advise one to put the money on the Pro and take advantage of the super deals right now. There is no space advantage to the 3, and in fact it feels more confining. The material quality is better in the Pro interior.
Compared to the Focus (which I looked at the SVT version right after) the 3 has nicer plastic and a nicer interior design but the Focus definitely has a different, open feel which I like. Assuming the driving experience is close, I would look hard at the benefit to saving money with the Focus SVT or PZEV.
Compared to the 6, the 6 has a way nicer and larger interior. The prices are pretty close in real world. If you need the larger car, than go with the 6. You might think they are close in space but the sitting impression tells me the 6 is considerably more spacious and again is more open feeling.
To sum, I would not buy the 3 on overall package, or looks , or interior alone. I would need the test drive to tell me if the driving experience is that much enhanced to consider it to its most logical alternatives, the Protege, Focus, and Mazda6.
But by all means I don't think negatively about the 3, in comparison to 90% of the other small cars its a very nice package. It just doesn't seem on the surface to be a quantum leap forward. Makes the Protege seem even better to me, aside from the powertrain upgrades.
Having said that, the cheapest hardest plastic in the Mazda is, maybe, 1-dollar plastic, and it is less splashed around than some other cars. The interior of Civic is rather harsh, given it is also at the upper end of the price spectrum for compacts. If you sit in all the models in the space of a couple of hours, you will come away moderately impressed with the interior of a Rio, just because the same quality interior can be had for thousands less $$.
The looks of this car - especially the hatch - are beautiful. This may now be the best-looking Mazda, even beating out the RX8. Everything flows perfectly, no weird lines or breaks, no slab sides and bad corners. The wheels are standard 16s with a 17" option on the hatch, so they fill the wheel wells really nicely.
Pro5 was not a bad looking car, but I really feel the 3 hatch blows it away. And the content for $18K or so sticker is excellent.
For anyone who thinks the 3 and 6 are similar in size - think again. The 6 is a lot bigger inside, and has an interior that is a quantum leap nicer.
If you are looking at compacts in general, the nicest interiors in the whole show were in the TSX and G35, IMO. BMW and Lexus were close behind them. Note to Cadillac and Mercedes: still way too many small buttons, and in odd places.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
concur fully.
Maybe one reason they didn't import them is that they have more features (folding mirrors, better rear headrests, repeat signals) and they would make US buyers wonder why they are getting shortchanged with the sedan.
They liked it but some feel it lost its handling edge a bit.
-juice
-juice
When R&T reviewed the '90 Protege LX, they claimed how quiet it is at fwy speeds that you better watch out for speeding tickets.
While many would say ABS should be standard, I have never been that big a fan, and apparently a lot of the market would just as soon take it or leave it, judging by recent trends in its availability.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
-juice
The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada awarded these awards to Mazda.
Dinu
1davao
Dinu
1. The pronounced center-shift of the steering wheel. It seemed to be about 2 to 3 inches to the right of center.
2. The entire cowl is plastic. The crossmember that the hood closes on and radiator bolts to (the cowl) is black ABS plastic. That's worrisome.
3. The headliner felt "thin. Easily deformable. Not very substancial at all.
From a looks standpoint, the "3" is awesome. But as most newer cars these days, it felt kinda thin.
1) Do the side mirrors break-away?
2) Is there toe space under the front seat?
I ask because these were two pet-peeves I had with the Mazda6 (admittedly very minor).
-juice
-juice
Dinu
-juice
I like the folding mirrors, though their principle reason to exist is to stuff more of these cars onto the freighter. But you can squeeze through tigher spots with them.
She said some times she'd be coming up on a UPS truck, and there was literally not enough room for both vehicles in some narrow streets.
She's now driving a smaller vehicle with break-away mirrors. Thankfully.
-juice
As far as I know...they are standard issue in Europe and Japan because they have more/different safety regulations there.
Our safety agency the NHTSA has STILL not made rear seat head restraints and foldaway mirrors a required feature on cars in this country and they never will as long as the auto industry continues to have the power they do here.
Isn't it funny that the ONLY Mazda car that does not have foldaway mirrors or decent rear head support is the Mazda 6? That's because it's produced in the USA!
When are Americans going to realize they are being shortchanged? Same thing with the Ford Focus... the American version is a decontented cheap-out while the European version is much... much nicer.
I just know someone is going to bring up the word "nannyism!"
The American market is almost the equal of Europe and Japan combined in annual sales, isn't it?
It is funny that a manufacturer would not be uniform about something like mirror design - you would think they would make them all the same way to SAVE money.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Amazing what the bean counters can do to a good product.
-juice
They are finally here at dealerships on Long Island!!! I'm going to test drive one this week!
I like what I've seen so far on the 3, the bhp, quality, styling, & size. We bought an MPV this year & love it, so I'm a believer in Mazda, although first years of models make me uneasy.
Other models I'm considering driving at least are the Elantra GT 5-dr(size,price & warr are attractive), Subie TS wagon (bhp aka fun-factor, AWD, reliability, & all-around safety), and '04 Prius (mpg, reliability & cost-to-own).
I may include the Matrix & Focus too. I need 5 drs cuz the baby is due any day, & AT to keep momma happy. This will be my commuter so all 5 of us don't have to fit with the MPV around. I guess it'll come down to which "feels" best.
Any insight from anyone who's driven a few of these would be greatly appreciated.
I like what I've seen so far on the 3, the bhp, quality, styling, & size. We bought an MPV this year & love it, so I'm a believer in Mazda, although first years of models make me uneasy.
Other models I'm considering driving at least are the Elantra GT 5-dr(size,price & warr are attractive), Subie TS wagon (bhp aka fun-factor, AWD, reliability, & all-around safety), and '04 Prius (mpg, reliability & cost-to-own).
I may include the Matrix & Focus too. I need 5 drs cuz the baby is due any day, & AT to keep momma happy. This will be my commuter so all 5 of us don't have to fit with the MPV around. I guess it'll come down to which "feels" best.
Any insight from anyone who's driven a few of these would be greatly appreciated.
I have driven the 3 hatch, but I do not have ownership experience with it. The 3 is very nice car with superior power & handling, & more youthful design, but less interior space.
It will cost about $4500 more to get a 3 than a similarly equipped Elantra GT. Both are worthy cars with a significant cost difference.
If you like the Impreza TS, look at the Outback Sport. For less than a grand more, you get loads of extra features. If you find that small with the kid, look at a Forester X, those start at $19k or so and even with auto are less than $20k.
You have the MPV, so maybe this 2nd vehicle can be small, but honestly I think you'll find a Mazda6 or Subaru Legacy will be a better fit if/when kid #2 arrives.
-juice
I sat in a 3 today. Didn't have time to take it for a drive. It was a 4-dr MT, so the drive may not have been so relavent. Exterior was nice, reminded me of the Jetta/Passat w/ some added flair. Interior was stylish, the cloth seats weren't as wild as I thought, though this was blue ext. w/ blue stripe inside, & the material seemed sturdy. The center stack plastic was OK & the layout/styling impressive. Took a while to find a comfortable driver position & the seat felt great, but when done I found plenty of room in back (I'm 6').
Bottom line....I can't wait to drive an AT hatch, and I'll definitely try the infant seat in the back.
Some have said the styling on the Ma3 is strange. I like it and prefer it to the sedan. Looked on Sunday and will have to go for a test drive soon.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
The 6 sedan does look sharper, maybe the proportions just look better.
-juice
To my beleaguered eye, the 3 hatch looks a great deal like the RX8 from the front, and the Lexus IS sportcross from the rear...
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
-juice