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2014 Mazda MAZDA3 S Long-Term Road Test
Edmunds.com
Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
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With a 60 series aspect ratio and 205 mm width, the sidewall actually increased over the previous gen with 16".
The ride is quite compliant for a chassis that is so composed. It lacks the occasional crashing of the last generation Mazda3 with 16".
We've driven this setup on a road course, and it understeers at 7/10ths. While it's a slide that is easy to correct, because the chassis is so stable, you can it is begging for more grip.
The extra grip that the W- speed rated 215/45 Dunlops SP5000 Sym on 18" wheels will buy the Mazda3 s Grand Touring seem to come at the typical cost of ride compliance and noise.
Since Mazda is going to sell that many more i GTs than s GTs, our hunch is that the Yokohamas are probably cheaper than those Dunlops.
That being said at higher highway speeds the 2.0L Skyactiv isn't the quietest powertrain out there.
When the Mazda's Dunlop SP5000 tires wear out I will be putting something different on. They are noisy over granular pavement and do not offer the levels of grip we enjoy in our other cars.
We drove quite a few other vehicles before purchasing the 3. Our other main competitor was the Merc CLA 250. The deal breaker on that car was lack of rear seat headroom. The interior of the 3 is just as nice in our eyes.
We really enjoy the 3s's infotainment system as well as the driving dynamics of the car. We normally buy manual transmission cars, but as the 3s was only available in automatic and the fact that my wife spends lots of time in stop and go traffic we went auto. In sport/manual mode the transmission actually offers decent shift speeds and will hold gears to redline as commanded. We wont be doing any track days in it, but we have other cars better suited for that task.
We are really impressed with this little car. It offers a great mix of practicality and sportiness that makes everyday driving fun. The fact that it can deliver that with such great economy and interior comfort is icing on the cake.