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- Protege5 2003
Test drove a 2015 Mazda 3 hatch this weekend. Mostly I liked it but I couldn't see out the back adequately. On my quickly fading away 2003 Civic Hybrid with the rear view mirror adjusted so that the left edge shows straight back and the right edge looks out the back side window I can see both behind me and into the "blind spot". That does not work on the 3, where the front passenger headrest almost completely blocked the view out the right side, and the rear passenger headrest blocked some of the view out of the back. Or at least that rear headrest would have blocked the view except I couldn't see out of that window even when I turned around and looked directly. The car had a tinted rear window which combined with my sunglasses resulted in a nearly black hole where the view outside the car should have been. I could see the outlines of the cars through it, but that was about it. At least I could see out the back right window by turning my head, but with the mirrors, forget it.
Is the Sedan any better? It looks to me like the passenger side headrest is still going to block the side view, but the back window is larger and a bit taller. (And hopefully not tinted.)
As I understand it the 2015 3 Touring models all have blind spot warning. I didn't learn that until after the test drive though, so couldn't test it. Works well? Because if I buy a 3, I'm really going to need it.
Is there a way to turn on the rear camera without putting the car in reverse? I could care less about the radio information that screen was showing. I literally would never look at that screen when the car was in motion, and the camera's view out the back was far better than the rear view mirror's.
Our recent cars have been older Honda sedans, a Protege5, and a Subaru Legacy Wagon, and coming from that the rear visibility on modern hatchback cars is really a shock. I have tested the 3, a Prius, and a Volt and they were all pretty terrible in this regard. The Volt was just awful, with the 3 not far behind, while the Prius was merely very bad. Forward visibility is not as good as on the older cars either, but the loss is not nearly as extreme. In my opinion the 3 had the best forward visibility, with the Prius close behind but losing points for the high dashboard. (Hood, what hood?) The Volt A pillars are like tree trunks, the sales guy stepped out to make a phone call when I first sat in the car and he completely disappeared behind the driver's side A pillar, even though he was no more than 15 ft. away.
With the back seat down, what is the largest rectangle that can be placed into the 3 to lie flat? The interior bulges for the wheel wells seemed much closer together on the 3 than on the Prius, which is odd give that their external dimensions are so similar. Is that the same on the Sedan, or does the trunk opening limit the width further?
Thanks.
Is the Sedan any better? It looks to me like the passenger side headrest is still going to block the side view, but the back window is larger and a bit taller. (And hopefully not tinted.)
As I understand it the 2015 3 Touring models all have blind spot warning. I didn't learn that until after the test drive though, so couldn't test it. Works well? Because if I buy a 3, I'm really going to need it.
Is there a way to turn on the rear camera without putting the car in reverse? I could care less about the radio information that screen was showing. I literally would never look at that screen when the car was in motion, and the camera's view out the back was far better than the rear view mirror's.
Our recent cars have been older Honda sedans, a Protege5, and a Subaru Legacy Wagon, and coming from that the rear visibility on modern hatchback cars is really a shock. I have tested the 3, a Prius, and a Volt and they were all pretty terrible in this regard. The Volt was just awful, with the 3 not far behind, while the Prius was merely very bad. Forward visibility is not as good as on the older cars either, but the loss is not nearly as extreme. In my opinion the 3 had the best forward visibility, with the Prius close behind but losing points for the high dashboard. (Hood, what hood?) The Volt A pillars are like tree trunks, the sales guy stepped out to make a phone call when I first sat in the car and he completely disappeared behind the driver's side A pillar, even though he was no more than 15 ft. away.
With the back seat down, what is the largest rectangle that can be placed into the 3 to lie flat? The interior bulges for the wheel wells seemed much closer together on the 3 than on the Prius, which is odd give that their external dimensions are so similar. Is that the same on the Sedan, or does the trunk opening limit the width further?
Thanks.
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