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Back in '90, I told the salesman that the pwr steering in the Corolla sedan lacks road feel. He said you can by pass the pwr assist hose to the steering & make it a manual steering. I know better, 'cause w/ engine off while coasting, the pwr steering becomes much heavier than the manual steering. So I inquired about the warranty. He said as long as the repair isn't steering related... So I pretended to be stupid enough to play smart & asked if I can have a switch on the dashboard so I can switch on the pwr steering whenever I want. He was speechless.
Thanks
If you compare the performance between the Golf and the Mazda3, I think you would find that the Mazda3 is "sharper" than the Golf. The 2.3 engine has decent torque and is quite smooth. The shifter/clutch combo is satisfying. The handling is excellent for a nose-heavy FWD and relatively neutral. The cargo management system is also very neat.
If you have not test driven one, I'd encourage you do take one out for a spin. We enjoy our hatch very much, but your mileage may vary. Post back and let us know how you like it.
http://www.autosite.com/Reviews/2004-mazda-3.asp
Personally, I'd prefer to see the power balance closer to 210/200 and get a bit more torque. Oh, and make the 5 speed Activematic a possibility for us guys who can't risk only owning clutch-pedal cars.
Bummer but I think is how it will go. I'd be happy as a clam if a MazdaSpeed 3 is out in 2006 when I dump my bimmer. 270 hp, AWD in that sweet little hatch...yummy.
Xenons are always a problem for me going over hills. As I come up, the if the opposing traffic reaches the crest they blind me. Not a fan.
But then again when people high beam me over my xenons, I chuckle and hit them with my high beams. Oh, thought my xenons were bright, how about bi-xenon brights?!
I am a 36 year old male and am somewhat concerned with getting a vehicle that looks like a chick car or like a teeny boppers car.
Can anyone give me there opinion as to wich style, hatchback, or sedan is more masculine and in which color for that particular style?
I am not a machismo freak, but just want opinions. I was leaning toward a silver sedan with a spoiler, but sometimes think it looks like a chick car, but I sometimes look at the hatchback and think it looks too much like a cross between a focus and a vibe, neither of which I like.
When I say chick car I hope to offend no one.
Oh, and can anyone tell me if the hatch is slower than the sedan because it weigh's more?
With all the complaints I have seen about the AC and the brakes on the 3, would anyone change there mind about owning one?
Some say that this is a first year vehicle and that bugs always need to be worked out, but a Mazda salesman told me this car was out in Japan for sometime before coming here and there are no bugs to work out??
If this car seems too girly, just go buy a WRX and then nobody will mistake that for a "chick car."
Well, materialistic chicks dig silver, 'cause it matches what they wear.
I personally dig the light green on the 2.0 sedan. Besides, I hate the 2.3's macho-dark interior, which is probably the main culprit why the AC ain't pumping enough for us high-metabolic calorie-burning "macho" body heat.
The sedan's dog-leg rear-door styling similar to the Maxima already proves your macho-ness.
The N.A.-spec 2.0's maximized-size black grill is pretty macho, but I'd get rid of these lip-stick-shape red sissy taillights. ;-)
The perfomance difference between the Mazda3 s sedan and Mazda3 s hatch will be insignificant.
That depends on whether your performance includes hauling armoirs.
During the RevItUp drive event. I drove the 3 countless no. of time, & I was sensitive enough to feel the extra weight of the the hatch -- not necessarily the acceleration, but the rear weight balance. It seems that the sedan is just a bit more agile. & there's sufficient oversteer dialed in the tuning already, so the extra rear weight on the top only makes the fishtail less reversible when you try to adjust it. Or maybe not, just feel more top heavy as it rolls.
My '84 Jetta Wolfsburg coupe w/ GTI sway bars is so tossable even w/ the trailing-arm rear suspension 'cause the spare tire can be located so far forward, so there's practically no rear overhang weight. Every time I provoked the tail to swing, despite the lack of sophisticated toe-in/camber control, the rear-end can come back right away rather than going to the point of no return.
The new handling-oriented BMW 1-series didn't even bother to allow a spare tire to sit back there. & even then, the first thing the Aug '04 CAR's "1-series vs Golf V" article
mentioned was --
"The Golf we should have brought along for this comparison is the MkI GTI. The first high-performance front-wheel-drive Volkswagen was light and chuckable, all verve and poise, with intuitive controls that needed no electronic assistance.
But we can't turn the clock back to this gorified, rose-tinted past."
Well, I can. Or at least I tried, by starting to restored the MkI Jetta a couple years ago, but it's in the shop so often, grrr...
The weight difference with AT is only 50lbs, and with MT only 64lbs. You ain't gonna feel that.
Even during normal driving, I can feel some difference when carrying just one 100lb-passenger.
Someone tried to argue that the front/rear weight distribution b/t the 6 & 4 cyl Mazda6 isn't that great, so shouldn't affect the handling much due to nose heaviness. But it's the front-overhang weight that makes it so different when you try to change directions.
Boy, these RevItUp events are so educational they actually discouraged me from choosing the V6 on the Mazda6. & makes you wonder why the RX-8 rides so supple over bumps despite high handling limit.
Even CR noticed the harsher-riding 17" V6 Mazda6 failed to handle as agile as the 16" 4-cyl Mazda6 w/ the lighter nose.
Exactly.
I recall before buying a Jetta that my drives in a VR6 left me feeling like I had someone sitting on the front of the car. The weight savings alone on the 1.8T made it a more worthwhile car for handling. And boy did sways change the character of the car.
Not sure a Mazda3 would need sways as my Pro ES can get oversteer quite nicely. sometimes it's more fun to me than my BMW - less mass, less grip, lighter feel all over.
Now if only Mazda can show me a Mazdspeed3 Hatch by 2006...I can replace both cars with something stylish, roomy, great handling, ludicrously fast and able to fit items from home depot. It'd be the ultimate swiss army knife of cars.
D'you hear that? Less grip is more fun! That's why I learned to like playing w/ the Miata w/ LSD in the '03 RevItUp event.
Also, the X5 tips over more easily than some other SUVs due to grippy tires!
2. variable int viper
3. ac issue solve
4. better gas mileage (Honda Accord with 500 more pounds and similar power/torque get better mileage than 3)
5. avaliable traction control/ESP
You want a snake in the car?
4. better gas mileage (Honda Accord with 500 more pounds and similar power/torque get better mileage than 3)
The accord is also slow, corpulent, clumsy handling, cramped and carries an image that the driver is one of the sequacious undead masses.
5. avaliable traction control/ESP
Totally useless. It's a FWD car...it needs an instrusive TCS as much as a Miata needs four seats.
2. I can understand the city mpg is lower in 3 but I
do hope they can do better on hwy mpg (add 6th gear?)
3. don't agree...
This would be nice, hell my beater Chevy S-10 has better wiper control.
2. I can understand the city mpg is lower in 3 but I
do hope they can do better on hwy mpg (add 6th gear?)
Automatic Mazda3 needs a fifth gear for better MPG. Manual tranny already gets great Hwy. mileage unless you want to sacrifice performance and change the gearing.
3. don't agree...
Traction control systems are really not necessary for this car. Really.
As for not having variable intermittent wipers...hey, it means I'm not dinking around varying the variable setting all the time anymore. Variable intermittent is overrated anyway.
Especially since the 5 speed pulls a 7.5 0-60 and has been lauded for it's se... Ahh whatever. Everyone has the right to an opinion. Carry on.
I just bought my 3rd current-generation Accord yesterday. I love them.
Like my SI, No engine mods, just a set of 17's, eibach springs, and a progress rear bar. No lean in the corners and a much more aggressive look. That's about it.
Actually, the Mazda3 5 door comes with the sport package standard, though there are some DIOs such as front spoilers, rear spoilers (for the sedan, anyway) fender trim, etc. Haven't seen a lot of that put into use though, although I DO know of some fool on some other message board (guess which one? heh) who cut his springs instead of waiting for the now-available kit. We had to get on him about that.
Lauded for being a creamy, buick-like car with no agility or panache.
The '90 Protege got AWD option, but it's not the fun type. & neither will the upcoming S40/V50? I guess the next RL's got a "Prelude SH differential" that can power drift a little? Perhaps only something like the experimental system tested on an WRX in Europe w/ understeer/oversteer dial incorporate into the ESP system can convince me it's worth the trouble adding all that mechanical drag.
THANKS!
Rick
I'd have to search around for my reviews of the Accord with the manual and the auto. Nice engine. Decent interior. With the 17s it was a fine car for a Honda. I'm sure it will be bullet-proot reliable.
Of course, it still vanilla bland and has the soul of an M & M.
Now do you want a "professional" review from some magazine hack paid to lie about cars? I wouldn't know what they say about it, it's irrelevant how others feel when it's my money. Everybody praises the IS300 and that thing is about as awe inspiring as a pinto to me.
The Mazda3 and 99.9% of all front wheel drive cars exhibit understeer.
http://www.dur.ac.uk/r.g.bower/PoM/pom/node31.html
Wanna bet? About the Mazda3, I mean. I know the rest of them do, but drive a 3 and you'd SWEAR it's going to oversteer on you.
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I still don't know if that is enough weight to make any differance in a cars speed or sportiness?