I was in a 4-door i sport with a manual transmission. Here are my thoughts, as coming from somebody who has owned a 2007 Mazda3 2.0 MTX and 2011 Mazda2 MTX:
1. The ride quality is drastically improved with regards to how the card handles rough roads. You can still feel the road (as you should) but the bumps aren't as jarring.
2. It still isn't the quietest car on the highway, but it has been improved... a lot. The wind noise is down (probably because of the ridiculously low drag coefficient) and the RPM, if memory serves correctly, sat around 2300-2400 while in 6th at 65MPH. That's much lower than my 2007 3 or my 2011 2, so highway cruising is greatly improved
3. The car is BEAUTIFUL. In person, it's both sleek, aggressive, and understated all at the same time. I can't get over how much better it looks than the outgoing 3s. The sedan and the hatch are both stunning.
4. The gas mileage on the 2.0 MTX during my 45 or so minute test drive averaged out to 38.2 MPG. That was with maybe 12 or so highway miles and 12 or so heavily trafficked, hilly suburban miles. So, I'm guessing with a light foot you'd be looking at in the 40s if you have a highway heavy commute and then probably upper 20s to low 30s if you're a more "spirited" driver that has to sit in traffic.
5. The car feels very refined, even in the lowly "i sport" trim. Soft touch interior details are nice. Push-button start is there. The instruments have been reworked to look more modern. The seat was very comfortable. It feels "grown up"
6. The manual transmission is a thing of beauty for a car that starts around $16.5K. It's not perfect, but it's very crisp and satisfying. The clutch is a bit numb feeling to me, but still feels solid.
7. The electric steering is very good. It hardly feels like electric steering, aside from the fact that feedback from the road is muted. The weight feels "natural" and more akin to hydraulic steering, but the lack of feedback from the road is a negative.
So... just some initial thoughts I had after my first test drive. I think it's a beautiful, classy, refined, economical, and fun car. The small negatives (still kind of noisy and clutch is a bit numb) are heavily outweighed by all the massive improvements made to the new 3. I'm impressed.
1. The ride quality is drastically improved with regards to how the card handles rough roads. You can still feel the road (as you should) but the bumps aren't as jarring.
2. It still isn't the quietest car on the highway, but it has been improved... a lot. The wind noise is down (probably because of the ridiculously low drag coefficient) and the RPM, if memory serves correctly, sat around 2300-2400 while in 6th at 65MPH. That's much lower than my 2007 3 or my 2011 2, so highway cruising is greatly improved
3. The car is BEAUTIFUL. In person, it's both sleek, aggressive, and understated all at the same time. I can't get over how much better it looks than the outgoing 3s. The sedan and the hatch are both stunning.
4. The gas mileage on the 2.0 MTX during my 45 or so minute test drive averaged out to 38.2 MPG. That was with maybe 12 or so highway miles and 12 or so heavily trafficked, hilly suburban miles. So, I'm guessing with a light foot you'd be looking at in the 40s if you have a highway heavy commute and then probably upper 20s to low 30s if you're a more "spirited" driver that has to sit in traffic.
5. The car feels very refined, even in the lowly "i sport" trim. Soft touch interior details are nice. Push-button start is there. The instruments have been reworked to look more modern. The seat was very comfortable. It feels "grown up"
6. The manual transmission is a thing of beauty for a car that starts around $16.5K. It's not perfect, but it's very crisp and satisfying. The clutch is a bit numb feeling to me, but still feels solid.
7. The electric steering is very good. It hardly feels like electric steering, aside from the fact that feedback from the road is muted. The weight feels "natural" and more akin to hydraulic steering, but the lack of feedback from the road is a negative.
So... just some initial thoughts I had after my first test drive. I think it's a beautiful, classy, refined, economical, and fun car. The small negatives (still kind of noisy and clutch is a bit numb) are heavily outweighed by all the massive improvements made to the new 3. I'm impressed.
