I know there's been tons of reviews. If you don't want to read this one, then just push the BACK button.
Finally got around to test driving the 2004 Mazda3. The package of a
160 hp variable valve timing compact car that gets 32 mpg on the
highway in a four door sport back (wagon) configuration with sporty
suspension Japanese car for under $20k is really appealing.
I went to Mazda in South San Jose. As I drove up in my 97 Civic, I
parked and a sales guy immediately walked out to great me. I knew I
wasn't buying but I hadn't really thought up my "story"; as this visit
was a spontaneous midweek lunch break decision. But I used that to my
advantage. I told him I was interested in the Mazda3 5-door. I wanted a
5 speed manual in the S trim (160hp). He pointed to the orange one on
the pedestal for all of Capital Expressway to see, but when he found
out I didn't like that color, he took me to the back lot.
We browsed through several cars looking for a 5 speed with moonroof,
and no nav system in a silver or grey or blue color. (I had to quickly
think up 2 colors that I "knew I wanted".) Couldn't find one in that
configuration, although there were several 5 door Mazda3's out there. A
screw up with their key inventory meant that I could only get inside a
black 5 door manual with nav.
EXTERIOR
I like the looks of the compact wagon "sport cross". I'm totally off
the coupe/sedan look now that I realize just how much more practical
the compact wagon is. For the same body size, you get more cabin space
and easier cargo access, yet at the same performance and gas mileage of
the sedan/coupe. You can't beat it.
I noticed that the 5 door has a different upper grille than the
coupes/sedans. The 5 door has a body color grille of horizontal bars
with the M emblem on it, similar to the PT cruiser look. The lower
grill has the black ABS plastic honeycomb mesh how the current trend
defines "sporty". Contrast with the sedan/coupe, they also have the
same lower grill, but the upper grill is also the black mesh (although
with a finer comb). I like the sedan/coupe's upper grille better, but I
don't hate the 5 door's.
Sporting 17" alloy rims and 205/45 tires, the look is clean and sporty
and not flashy. I likey. All the models I saw had the rear trunk
spoiler, again in the color of the body paint. The car has a little
bull dog stance, but not the bloated look of the Toyota Matrix or
especially the Suzuki Aerio.
This is no Brady Bunch Faux Wood Panelled Station Wagon. The "wagon" as
we must call it, is more adequately called by what the car industry is
trying to embrace: the "sport cross". The looks of this car is more apt
to make me think rally car than brady car. The tail is rounder than the
Protege5, its predecessor and I think more elegant.
INTERIOR
Everything LOOKS great in the Mazda3. The car I got to get into had
leather interior, but I didn't car for it because the leather didn't
seem that high of quality. It felt more like a leather luggage case
than a leather jacket. Plus, its single tone color just didn't look as
nice to me as the two tone sporty fabric interiors.
The new console is on the cutting edge trends with three telescope
cylinder like consoles with easy to read tach and speedo. It was day
time, yet the gauges looked like it was night time because the console
cluster is so deep that not much light gets down there. Not a bad
thing.
The rest of the accessories felt very euro (Audi, BMW) in set up; ie
functional, but confusing, and forcing you to read more carefully just
to turn on the heater. The radio is integrated into the console, so I
don't see how anyone will ever get an aftermarket stereo in there
without resorting to just unhooking the stock on and putting the radio
somewhere else.
I got to try out the nav a little bit and it's not bad. Now, I coming
from my wife's nav system in her Lexus so I'm a little spoiled. The
screen is not touch screen, which requires to use a little joystick and
buttons down to the right of the shifter. While the nav systems works,
it's slightly less intuitive since you have to run through menus a
little more and you have no "keyboard" to enter street, city, and
business names. But it's not bad for a less expensive system.
Headroom was never a problem anywhere I sat. The driver gets a tilt and
telescoping wheel to tailor the cockpit to their liking. Blind spots
weren't bad at all. The seats were comfortable although I felt like the
seats were designed for comfort and therefore not as body gripping as a
Sparco race seat.
I got out to move to the back and was disappointed in the weak plastic
feel of the door release handle and the hollow shell feeling of the
door. It looks great, it touches great, but the door just didn't feel
solid.
Leaving the driver seat in my comfortable position for my 6' frame, I
went to the back to see just how much room was left for the passenger.
Leg room was a tight but comfortable. My knees had to touch the back of
the seat and the foot room felt like an economy flight. Head room was
once again no problem and it felt roomy. Although three could sit in
the back, it clearly wasn't going to be comfortable. The back seat
seemed to have even less room than my 97 Civic I'm currently driving.
The trunk opened with a lifting door and it revealed a teeny tiny
trunk, clearly smaller than my Civic. This was a little disappointing
to me and I feel Mazda may have overcompensated the sporty look with
the small trunk, although it's slightly roomier than the Impreza WRX
type models. The 60/40 back seats folded down to about 10 degrees from
flat allowing much more cargo space when needed.
THE ENGINE
I popped the hood and saw the stupid plastic engine covers car
manufacturers are putting on all the cars now. to make it "look nice"
and remind you not to service it yourself.
The little 2.3 liter engine looked pretty compact considering its
displacement and a very non-menacing valve cover even though it's a
DOHC. Maybe I'm too used to seeing B series Honda motors but the
Mazda3's engine looked pretty tame in comparison. No matter, it's the
performance that counts.
The intake, located at the front side of the car, is a plastic
manifold. I'm sure it reduces cost and weight, but it just doesn't feel
as good as seeing a nice sturdy aluminum manifold. The exhaust header
was covered in heat shields so I couldn't see if it was a 4-2-1
configuration or not; and I wasn't about to crawl under the car.
THE DRIVE
When the sales guy asked where I was in my search, I told him I had
narrowed it down to the Mazda3 and Impreza. Having gotten a nice look
over, I wanted a test drive, but knowing that I was "on a lunch break",
he wasn't really interested in giving me one. I put on my disappointed
face and said I'd come back later. Sensing that I might really be
interested, he got permission from his manager to let me test the car,
by myself. I was surprised they would let me do this, but they didn't
have a problem. "You might have to check the gas," he said.
I started the car and it awoke quietly with nice euro beeping sounds as
it went through the startup check. I revved the engine a few times and
was reminded of the whiny hum of Mazda engines. (I owned an 86 Mazda
MX-6 before.) The engine spun up to 5k rpm before I knew it. Plus, it
was very quiet for that speed that I didn't know it until I looked at
the gauges.
The shifter was really stiff, maybe more stiff than it should be. The
throw was in between the typical throw (like my Civic) and the short
throw or a sports car. But it was just too stiff. Especially in
contrast to the feather light clutch. I felt like all the work I saved
in my left foot went to my right hand to shift.
I drove out of the dealer parking lot and saw the gas light was on, so
to my annoyance, I had to stop by the nearby Shell station and dump $3
in. Waste of time. Plus, all the stupid stop lights were giving me
yellows too.
The Mazda3 is a spunky car and the car accelerated nicely as I left
many cars far behind me. The engine revs so easily that you can quickly
reach 5k rpms before you know it. I felt like there is a feather light
flywheel on the thing or something. Nice and torquey, 160 hp Mazda only
felt slightly faster than my 130 hp civic with AEM cold air as the only
tuning mod. It had a more noticeably better pull on the freeway at
higher speeds, but it still isn't a Cobra. The gear ratio helps to get
it quickly going, but like my Civic, freeway speeds at 75+ means you
are reaching 4k rpm and above as the engine drones a whiny howl.
The steering is much tighter than my Civic with was feels like a much
better response. I was too conservative to really push it on the curves
so I only pulled 45 mph on the clover leaf. This didn't even make the
Mazda3 flinch, but then again my Civic with sticky 195/50/15 and 13mm
rear sway bar could handle my wimpy turn too. Body roll was clearly
sporty, but I didn't push it to really find out. My bad. I wish I had
done some more turns.
Road noise is just a problem in compact cars. But since I've been
driving my Civic for 7 years now, I'm used to it. The Mazda3 didn't
have any worse noise than my Civic. But neither are quiet cars. Mazda
seems to really have engineered the engine noise down as you barely
know it's running save for the secondary buzzing that comes from it.
You don't hear any of the combustion roar. It's more about tire road
noise and engine buzz.
The suspension seems to be tuned for "comfortable sport". This allows
comfortable commuting with occasional sport fun. But I'd rather jump in
the Lexus for long road trips. The 205 tires transmitted vibrations to
the driver and I felt like if I concentrated, I could brail read the
tread pattern with my rear end.
END
I came back and returned the car. He immediately introduced me to his
general manager and the tried starting the sales show. But I played the
"lunch break is over" card and completed the full house hand with a
"need to check with the wife who's with our new baby" card. The
dealership was really nice, though, as I've tended to experience with
Mazda dealers (in stark contrast to Toyota). But it was fun.
I'm glad I got to finally test drive. On paper, this can has everything
I want. It seems to be the perfect next step from my aging Civic. After
trying it out, I'm a little disappointed in some of the material cost
cuttings they had to do. The car looks great, but lack of solid doors
and plastic use in engine components made me frown. The trunk is
smaller than I had hoped and the back seat width is small, but I really
appreciate the headroom. Performance wise, it clearly has more go than
my Civic and the sporty suspension makes it fun. I didn't like the
stiff shifter and over light clutch, but the tight steering is fun. The
Mazda3 is a great package and I'm still interested in it.
If I'm not tempted to take the plunge into turbo AWD with the Subey, or
Honda doesn't come out with a 4-door Civic Si hatch, then Mazda3 is
still one of the highest on the list.
Finally got around to test driving the 2004 Mazda3. The package of a
160 hp variable valve timing compact car that gets 32 mpg on the
highway in a four door sport back (wagon) configuration with sporty
suspension Japanese car for under $20k is really appealing.
I went to Mazda in South San Jose. As I drove up in my 97 Civic, I
parked and a sales guy immediately walked out to great me. I knew I
wasn't buying but I hadn't really thought up my "story"; as this visit
was a spontaneous midweek lunch break decision. But I used that to my
advantage. I told him I was interested in the Mazda3 5-door. I wanted a
5 speed manual in the S trim (160hp). He pointed to the orange one on
the pedestal for all of Capital Expressway to see, but when he found
out I didn't like that color, he took me to the back lot.
We browsed through several cars looking for a 5 speed with moonroof,
and no nav system in a silver or grey or blue color. (I had to quickly
think up 2 colors that I "knew I wanted".) Couldn't find one in that
configuration, although there were several 5 door Mazda3's out there. A
screw up with their key inventory meant that I could only get inside a
black 5 door manual with nav.
EXTERIOR
I like the looks of the compact wagon "sport cross". I'm totally off
the coupe/sedan look now that I realize just how much more practical
the compact wagon is. For the same body size, you get more cabin space
and easier cargo access, yet at the same performance and gas mileage of
the sedan/coupe. You can't beat it.
I noticed that the 5 door has a different upper grille than the
coupes/sedans. The 5 door has a body color grille of horizontal bars
with the M emblem on it, similar to the PT cruiser look. The lower
grill has the black ABS plastic honeycomb mesh how the current trend
defines "sporty". Contrast with the sedan/coupe, they also have the
same lower grill, but the upper grill is also the black mesh (although
with a finer comb). I like the sedan/coupe's upper grille better, but I
don't hate the 5 door's.
Sporting 17" alloy rims and 205/45 tires, the look is clean and sporty
and not flashy. I likey. All the models I saw had the rear trunk
spoiler, again in the color of the body paint. The car has a little
bull dog stance, but not the bloated look of the Toyota Matrix or
especially the Suzuki Aerio.
This is no Brady Bunch Faux Wood Panelled Station Wagon. The "wagon" as
we must call it, is more adequately called by what the car industry is
trying to embrace: the "sport cross". The looks of this car is more apt
to make me think rally car than brady car. The tail is rounder than the
Protege5, its predecessor and I think more elegant.
INTERIOR
Everything LOOKS great in the Mazda3. The car I got to get into had
leather interior, but I didn't car for it because the leather didn't
seem that high of quality. It felt more like a leather luggage case
than a leather jacket. Plus, its single tone color just didn't look as
nice to me as the two tone sporty fabric interiors.
The new console is on the cutting edge trends with three telescope
cylinder like consoles with easy to read tach and speedo. It was day
time, yet the gauges looked like it was night time because the console
cluster is so deep that not much light gets down there. Not a bad
thing.
The rest of the accessories felt very euro (Audi, BMW) in set up; ie
functional, but confusing, and forcing you to read more carefully just
to turn on the heater. The radio is integrated into the console, so I
don't see how anyone will ever get an aftermarket stereo in there
without resorting to just unhooking the stock on and putting the radio
somewhere else.
I got to try out the nav a little bit and it's not bad. Now, I coming
from my wife's nav system in her Lexus so I'm a little spoiled. The
screen is not touch screen, which requires to use a little joystick and
buttons down to the right of the shifter. While the nav systems works,
it's slightly less intuitive since you have to run through menus a
little more and you have no "keyboard" to enter street, city, and
business names. But it's not bad for a less expensive system.
Headroom was never a problem anywhere I sat. The driver gets a tilt and
telescoping wheel to tailor the cockpit to their liking. Blind spots
weren't bad at all. The seats were comfortable although I felt like the
seats were designed for comfort and therefore not as body gripping as a
Sparco race seat.
I got out to move to the back and was disappointed in the weak plastic
feel of the door release handle and the hollow shell feeling of the
door. It looks great, it touches great, but the door just didn't feel
solid.
Leaving the driver seat in my comfortable position for my 6' frame, I
went to the back to see just how much room was left for the passenger.
Leg room was a tight but comfortable. My knees had to touch the back of
the seat and the foot room felt like an economy flight. Head room was
once again no problem and it felt roomy. Although three could sit in
the back, it clearly wasn't going to be comfortable. The back seat
seemed to have even less room than my 97 Civic I'm currently driving.
The trunk opened with a lifting door and it revealed a teeny tiny
trunk, clearly smaller than my Civic. This was a little disappointing
to me and I feel Mazda may have overcompensated the sporty look with
the small trunk, although it's slightly roomier than the Impreza WRX
type models. The 60/40 back seats folded down to about 10 degrees from
flat allowing much more cargo space when needed.
THE ENGINE
I popped the hood and saw the stupid plastic engine covers car
manufacturers are putting on all the cars now. to make it "look nice"
and remind you not to service it yourself.
The little 2.3 liter engine looked pretty compact considering its
displacement and a very non-menacing valve cover even though it's a
DOHC. Maybe I'm too used to seeing B series Honda motors but the
Mazda3's engine looked pretty tame in comparison. No matter, it's the
performance that counts.
The intake, located at the front side of the car, is a plastic
manifold. I'm sure it reduces cost and weight, but it just doesn't feel
as good as seeing a nice sturdy aluminum manifold. The exhaust header
was covered in heat shields so I couldn't see if it was a 4-2-1
configuration or not; and I wasn't about to crawl under the car.
THE DRIVE
When the sales guy asked where I was in my search, I told him I had
narrowed it down to the Mazda3 and Impreza. Having gotten a nice look
over, I wanted a test drive, but knowing that I was "on a lunch break",
he wasn't really interested in giving me one. I put on my disappointed
face and said I'd come back later. Sensing that I might really be
interested, he got permission from his manager to let me test the car,
by myself. I was surprised they would let me do this, but they didn't
have a problem. "You might have to check the gas," he said.
I started the car and it awoke quietly with nice euro beeping sounds as
it went through the startup check. I revved the engine a few times and
was reminded of the whiny hum of Mazda engines. (I owned an 86 Mazda
MX-6 before.) The engine spun up to 5k rpm before I knew it. Plus, it
was very quiet for that speed that I didn't know it until I looked at
the gauges.
The shifter was really stiff, maybe more stiff than it should be. The
throw was in between the typical throw (like my Civic) and the short
throw or a sports car. But it was just too stiff. Especially in
contrast to the feather light clutch. I felt like all the work I saved
in my left foot went to my right hand to shift.
I drove out of the dealer parking lot and saw the gas light was on, so
to my annoyance, I had to stop by the nearby Shell station and dump $3
in. Waste of time. Plus, all the stupid stop lights were giving me
yellows too.
The Mazda3 is a spunky car and the car accelerated nicely as I left
many cars far behind me. The engine revs so easily that you can quickly
reach 5k rpms before you know it. I felt like there is a feather light
flywheel on the thing or something. Nice and torquey, 160 hp Mazda only
felt slightly faster than my 130 hp civic with AEM cold air as the only
tuning mod. It had a more noticeably better pull on the freeway at
higher speeds, but it still isn't a Cobra. The gear ratio helps to get
it quickly going, but like my Civic, freeway speeds at 75+ means you
are reaching 4k rpm and above as the engine drones a whiny howl.
The steering is much tighter than my Civic with was feels like a much
better response. I was too conservative to really push it on the curves
so I only pulled 45 mph on the clover leaf. This didn't even make the
Mazda3 flinch, but then again my Civic with sticky 195/50/15 and 13mm
rear sway bar could handle my wimpy turn too. Body roll was clearly
sporty, but I didn't push it to really find out. My bad. I wish I had
done some more turns.
Road noise is just a problem in compact cars. But since I've been
driving my Civic for 7 years now, I'm used to it. The Mazda3 didn't
have any worse noise than my Civic. But neither are quiet cars. Mazda
seems to really have engineered the engine noise down as you barely
know it's running save for the secondary buzzing that comes from it.
You don't hear any of the combustion roar. It's more about tire road
noise and engine buzz.
The suspension seems to be tuned for "comfortable sport". This allows
comfortable commuting with occasional sport fun. But I'd rather jump in
the Lexus for long road trips. The 205 tires transmitted vibrations to
the driver and I felt like if I concentrated, I could brail read the
tread pattern with my rear end.
END
I came back and returned the car. He immediately introduced me to his
general manager and the tried starting the sales show. But I played the
"lunch break is over" card and completed the full house hand with a
"need to check with the wife who's with our new baby" card. The
dealership was really nice, though, as I've tended to experience with
Mazda dealers (in stark contrast to Toyota). But it was fun.
I'm glad I got to finally test drive. On paper, this can has everything
I want. It seems to be the perfect next step from my aging Civic. After
trying it out, I'm a little disappointed in some of the material cost
cuttings they had to do. The car looks great, but lack of solid doors
and plastic use in engine components made me frown. The trunk is
smaller than I had hoped and the back seat width is small, but I really
appreciate the headroom. Performance wise, it clearly has more go than
my Civic and the sporty suspension makes it fun. I didn't like the
stiff shifter and over light clutch, but the tight steering is fun. The
Mazda3 is a great package and I'm still interested in it.
If I'm not tempted to take the plunge into turbo AWD with the Subey, or
Honda doesn't come out with a 4-door Civic Si hatch, then Mazda3 is
still one of the highest on the list.