I first went to the Mazda dealership and drove a Mazda 3 hatchback. The interior is not as roomy as I had thought and the road noise is very loud. The handling is extremely sharp however. The car is decent at acceleration. I'm not totally sure about this car.
On to the Civic: I went to the Honda dealership and test drove a Civic EX sedan with Navigation system. The interior is great and the navigation system screen is very large and has great colors. Love it. I also love the digital speedometer - you don't have to look down and look how fast you are going. The acceleration is almost similar to the Mazda 3 and the road noise is less. It is very good at handling as well. Pricewise, both cars are about the same.
I did not except that the Civic would out ahead of the Mazda, but it did.
Now I'm leaning towards the Civic, but I may have another test drive.
*update*: 10/25/06
I just did a second test drive of both cars today and the Mazda 3 felt better than the Civic. The Civic just seems weak in terms of power. On the highway, I had to press the gas pedal very hard and it still had a hard time going over 60 MPH. I would imagine it is not very good on hills.
The Mazda 3 has a nice feeling to it. Love the bright windshield and back windshield - maybe it was just me, but it seemed brigther outside. The feel was great. I did not try the sound system, but is the Bose sound system ok on the Mazda 3 GT?
Right now, I'm leaning towards the Mazda 3, prefebly the GT.
On to the Civic: I went to the Honda dealership and test drove a Civic EX sedan with Navigation system. The interior is great and the navigation system screen is very large and has great colors. Love it. I also love the digital speedometer - you don't have to look down and look how fast you are going. The acceleration is almost similar to the Mazda 3 and the road noise is less. It is very good at handling as well. Pricewise, both cars are about the same.
I did not except that the Civic would out ahead of the Mazda, but it did.
Now I'm leaning towards the Civic, but I may have another test drive.
*update*: 10/25/06
I just did a second test drive of both cars today and the Mazda 3 felt better than the Civic. The Civic just seems weak in terms of power. On the highway, I had to press the gas pedal very hard and it still had a hard time going over 60 MPH. I would imagine it is not very good on hills.
The Mazda 3 has a nice feeling to it. Love the bright windshield and back windshield - maybe it was just me, but it seemed brigther outside. The feel was great. I did not try the sound system, but is the Bose sound system ok on the Mazda 3 GT?
Right now, I'm leaning towards the Mazda 3, prefebly the GT.