The Mazda 3 comes home (Initial Ownership Experience)

[Saurabh M]

Hi,

To start with, for the uninitiated, this is what has been going on, in deciding on my car in the US.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/luxury...-carolina.html (Help me in choosing a car - S Carolina)

Finally, decided on going with the Mazda3, after much deliberation between new cars and used exotics (with valuable tips from 1100D, MPower, Mayavi, sujaylahiri, spawnofsatan, Bimster, Superleggera, aah78 and many others), I finally went ahead and got the Mazda3 i Sport. I wanted it to be a Manual and in Black. The first challenge was to get a Black one and that too a Manual. These guys just dont stock up enough Manuals here. Finally got a Copper Mica Red manual day before yesterday.

The car looks great and rides well. Here are my initial impressions:

Looks:
Its really a looker, both from the front and rear. It appears very proportionate and has a sporty styling. The finish is extremely good.

Interior:
There is adequate space in the front with 3 way adjustment of the driver's seat. The rear might be a little crampy for those around 6ft. There are enough storage spaces and the glove compartment is really huge.

What catches the eye is the instrument cluster and the illumination. While all controls fall well in place, the illumination has just blown me away. So far, I used to be a big fan of the blue-on-white illuminations of the VW, but, this one has a red-on-blue one, which looks very good.

Engine:
The engine is a 2.0L 144bhp 16V DOHC VVT engine, which has great pickup, seems to be revv happy and has got good low end torque. The owner's manual says the running in period is 600miles. I am not pushing the car much but took it upto 75mph on the freeway and it was very well planted and handled very well. The gear shift seems to be a bit stiff, but I guess it will smoothen out over another 100 miles. Or may be its me, getting used to shifting gears with my right hand.

Ride Quality:
Ride quality appeared to be on a slightly harder side due to its sporty suspension. Cornering is extremely good and the steering is precise and well weighted, giving good feedback from the road. The car comes with Toyo Proxes 195/65/R15 tubeless tires.

Audio System:
The factory supplied audio system has 4 speakers and mp3 compatible. The sound quality is good with nice and tight bass, but not exceptional. Another $1500 would have given me a 6-speaker Bose audio system.

Safety Features:
The car has Disc brakes on all 4 wheels and comes with ABS and EBD. It also has side curtain airbags both in front and rear, apart from driver and passenger side airbags.

While these are initial reports of 2 days of ownership, will keep you posted on the developments.

[shuvc]

Congratulations ! Looks lovely !

The boot lid is damped?
What's the damage to the pocket?

[Saurabh M]

Yes, the bootlid is damped.

What's the damage to the pocket?

If you are referring to the last pic, they had cleaned the door panels before delivery and the marks are for that.

[Stratos]

Congrats Saurabh. I remember renting the Mazda 3 with the semi-automatic gear box. Great car to drive, quality and features are top notch. For a starting price of $13,000 it is of great value.

[Dippy]

Nice car Saurabh Congratulations. The colour looks great and I just love those tail lights. I just noticed one thing however. No power windows??

[Mpower]

Saurabh, congrats on your cool ride. Its a rocking car and its my favourite (if only it was black with blacked out grille)

I was gonna say get the 2.3 style clear rear tail-lights but looks like they are now giving it as standard on all 2.0s too. The full red ones they used to give earlier dont look so good. What tires did it come with ???

I see you live in Cali, MA or one of those nerdy states because you have a PZEV engine that 144 bhp vs 148bhp elsewhere. (damn those PZEV cats).

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by Saurabh M

If you are referring to the last pic

Nah. I meant price.

Does look like no power windows - at the rear at least.
No alloys too?

[Saurabh M]

No power windows??

Its too bad the power windows are not standard. I did not want to pay the extra bucks for getting them installed.

Hi MPower,
I also feel that these tail lights look much better than the all red ones. It comes with Toyo Proxes 195/65/R15 tires.

I live in SC, but I guess, they give the 144bhp ones here :(

Note from the Team-BHP Support Staff : Please use the "edit" button if posting within 15 minutes of the first post, instead of creating another back-to-back post

Also use "Multi Quote" option for quoting Multiple posts.

[flyingspur]

Lovely looking car. I love Mazda's styling. Especially the R-8 and the Mazda6. COngratulations !!

[sujaylahiri]

Good job Saurabh. You made the right choice.

Now that you have your Mazda 3, I'm gonna need a few details from you about how the car behaves, especially on the Interstates. Since I might get a used one soon (2004-05 model, maybe even the 2.3), I need to know a few things. Keep in mind that I've only driven its elder brother, the Mazda 6.

• What kind of revs does the engine do at highway speeds (75 mph)?
• How is the wind and tire noise inside the cabin at those speeds? (My buddy's 6 year old Civic is so noisy inside at 75 mph)
• How much do you need to floor the pedal (and/or downshift) when you are passing someone on the freeway? (Talking about low end torque here, American engines do it quite well. I sometimes drive in the left lane and while overtaking may reach speeds up to 85 mph easily, but some engines just run out of breath at that speeds, especially if you have 4 people and some luggage in the car)
• And is the high trunk lid any hindrance when you are backing up or parking?
• And talking about the plastics inside, how are they compared to the domestics (Chevy Cobalt, Pontiac G5, Dodge Caliber etc.)

I'd really appreciate your help.
And congratulations on your new car again, terrific colour too.

[Stratos]

Guys, the reason this has manual windows is because it is the iSport. I believe, versions higher up like the i, itouring, etc have these.

[sabret00the]

Congo mate...sexy she is one hell of a beauty...amazing styling and gr8 interiors...amazing...hope you'll bring her back to Kolkata along with you when you return..

[Saurabh M]

Nah. I meant price.
Does look like no power windows - at the rear at least.
No alloys too?

This is the basic model and does not have all the goodies. There's no power window in the front as well. I thought of getting the fog lights done, but that would have set me back by another $350. Might go for them later on. Overall, its $15300 OTR, including a keyless entry which I am getting installed separately and mud guards and floor mats (which the dealer has giving free). Need to get the keyless thing installed next week.

...hope you'll bring her back to Kolkata along with you when you return..

I really wish I could bring her back. Would have been the perfect size for our roads and with that killer engine, would have given BlackPearl and SilverBullet a good challenge.
Its one of the best VFM cars here and the package is extremely neat. Can't wait to take her to the winding mountain roads.

Sujay: Will give you a feedback by tomorrrow.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Congrats Saurabh!

Specially love the meters in the display. Nice colour combinations.

[ananthkamath]

The question that I've been asking myself since I first saw this car: Why oh why didn't they make it in the Speed 3 version???