I went and test drove a Mazda3 5-door today.

[notfred]

The car I drove was a basic 5-door, with no extra options. That means it was a 5 speed. It's a very nice little car. It's pretty amazing what features come as standard on an "economy car" now. The car is not fast by any means. It's a 160HP 2.3 liter four cylinder, and it has more pick-up than a focus or a civic, but I definitely wouldn't describe it as "fast". It is however, a more fun car than the two previously mentioned competitors. It just has a sportier feel to it. One thing I noticed about the car is how smooth and quiet it was. When you're not moving, you can't tell whether the car is running or not aside from the position of the tach needle. I was driving around city streets almost entirely in first and second gear, because even up around 4500 rpm, the car is totally smooth and silent, there just aren't the typical cues that you should be shifting soon. It makes for very nice freeway driving though, without any significant road or wind noise.

The interior of the car is comfortable and stylish. The way the stereo is integrated into the dash is really pretty cool, and everything is easy to reach and easy to use. The seats are comfortable and easy to adjust. The only problem I noticed was that when shifting, my left foot had a tendency to slide up higher on the clutch pedal. I don't know if that's the fault of the car or the way I was positioning my foot or what.

Overall it seems to be a very solid little car.

 

[Lager]

What does the car look like?

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: coldcut
What does the car look like?

Like this, but the one I drove was red.

 

[KingNothing]

I wonder what replacing the head unit would be like.

 

[conjur]

Ayup...it's a very sweet ride and it has one of the best feeling clutches/shifters ever in such a class of car.

 

[Mani]

If I were i the market for a small car, it'd be a toss-up between the Mazda 3 and Scion tC. I drove the Mazda 6 as a rental a short time ago and was very impressed with the feel of the car. Very solid, and love the styling of both the 3 and 6.

 

[DXM]

Sounds like a nice car. If you're planning on buying, don't forget the incentives Mazda always seem to offer. In my area, Toyota and Mazda are both offering $500 cash back for all of their models.

 

[StageLeft]

Notice that it's essentially impossible to change out the deck if you ever need to?

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Notice that it's essentially impossible to change out the deck if you ever need to?

Have you ever tried removing an aftermarket deck from a 2002 Protege?

Its not fun believe me. I dunno how hard it is to remove the stock deck, but that aftermarket JVC deck required a lot of loving and blood to remove.

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Notice that it's essentially impossible to change out the deck if you ever need to?

Yeah, but I'd never need to.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Notice that it's essentially impossible to change out the deck if you ever need to?

Not necessarily - you just need a company to make a kit with the integrated a/c controls among other things on it. It's the same way with my Accord - a company just came out with a kit for mine to install a single din aftermarket deck. It just takes time but it's not impossible in that sense.

notfred - so they never found your car yet?

 

[EvilYoda]

That's one of the things worrying me about my next car...looking at new and used, and one thing that would be important would be audio quality, which means a new HU...no way in hell I'd be able to replace the 3's or Saab 9-3's either. bah.

 

[Spikesoldier]

Originally posted by: mAdD INDIAN

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Notice that it's essentially impossible to change out the deck if you ever need to?

Have you ever tried removing an aftermarket deck from a 2002 Protege?

Its not fun believe me. I dunno how hard it is to remove the stock deck, but that aftermarket JVC deck required a lot of loving and blood to remove.

is the double din stereo really a bitch? you need 2 sets of ford removal tools to get it out.