Team-BHP > Team-BHP Reviews > Test-Drives & Initial Ownership Reports


Reply
  Search this Thread
25,108 views
Old 16th June 2008, 10:54   #16
BHPian
 
Wimwian's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Mumbai
Posts: 191
Thanked: 5 Times

Congrats Sir!! The car looks quite sexy... I actually like the color (similar to my sunlight copper swift) but you're right, black would've been a killer.

Here's hoping you have some fantastic drives in it and regale us with your experiences on return.
Wimwian is offline  
Old 16th June 2008, 12:06   #17
BHPian
 
vrooooooom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Kolkata
Posts: 97
Thanked: 3 Times

Thats one hot looking beast. Good choice dude. Wish you could get it to Kolkata. I personally didnt like one thing. The Steering cover.
vrooooooom is offline  
Old 16th June 2008, 12:12   #18
Senior - BHPian
 
abhinav.gupta88's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Delhi , India
Posts: 4,092
Thanked: 325 Times

Well congratulations for owning the world car of the year.
abhinav.gupta88 is offline  
Old 16th June 2008, 14:16   #19
BHPian
 
hmishra83's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: New York City & New Delhi
Posts: 222
Thanked: 2 Times

Quote:
Originally Posted by vrooooooom View Post
Thats one hot looking beast. Good choice dude. Wish you could get it to Kolkata. I personally didnt like one thing. The Steering cover.
Ditto on that. Please get rid of it. The car is really nice otherwise and a good VFM deal. Enjoy your ride!
hmishra83 is offline  
Old 16th June 2008, 15:07   #20
BHPian
 
kingshan's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 68
Thanked: Once

Congrats mate on your Mazda3.
I had this for 3-4 months when I was in the middle east, and believe me it was truly a performer, everyone loved it but the market was not so open to this baby, when I planned to trade this off for my Chevy Lumina it took my life off, no one was ready to buy it, any how this was a story in the middle east but as you are interested in importing it into India then cool, Happy motoring.
kingshan is offline  
Old 16th June 2008, 16:08   #21
Senior - BHPian
 
planet_rocker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Bong-land
Posts: 2,323
Thanked: 426 Times

Congrats Saurabh - the car looks great - get rid of the steering cover looking forward for your reports in the travelogue section.

take care and drive safe.
planet_rocker is offline  
Old 16th June 2008, 19:50   #22
BHPian
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: CCU & Ontario
Posts: 610
Thanked: 153 Times

I agree, not that I like the steering wheel cover very much, but wanted something thicker to hold. Will look for a better one and get rid of this.
Saurabh M is offline  
Old 16th June 2008, 21:51   #23
Senior - BHPian
 
karanraheja's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Coimbatore
Posts: 1,961
Thanked: 436 Times

Congrats Saurabh ! Mazda 3 looks great. Im big fan of Mazda ' s styling especially the Mazda 2 hatchback. The instrument cluster shape does remind me of the one in the Aveo ! Enjoy your ride buddy!
karanraheja is offline  
Old 16th June 2008, 22:19   #24
BHPian
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Bangalore
Posts: 45
Thanked: Once

she's a real beauty. Enjoy your drive

Why don't these Mazda car makers come to india ?

With such s*** models i don't think many people will hesitate from buying them.

Alas, we always get the old discontinued models from japan
blip is offline  
Old 16th June 2008, 22:40   #25
Distinguished - BHPian
 
mobike008's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 11,657
Thanked: 14,561 Times

Congrats Saurabh, for that price, it indeed is a steal. I am not sure if the latest Accord is expensive than this car? If only you had it in black with black alloys, it would have stood out in a crowd completely.

All the best and drive safe!
mobike008 is offline  
Old 16th June 2008, 23:19   #26
Senior - BHPian
 
aaggoswami's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Vadodara
Posts: 4,982
Thanked: 2,929 Times

Great car! Congrats! Now I know what even toyota feared at one time and had to " redesign " Corolla. This is nice car with great looks. Boot space looks like a little less. Steering wheels is something that is not suited to this car.

Will wait for further updates!
aaggoswami is offline  
Old 17th June 2008, 02:13   #27
BHPian
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: CCU & Ontario
Posts: 610
Thanked: 153 Times

Hi Sujay,

Hope this helps. Please let me know if you need to know anything else.

Quote:
What kind of revs does the engine do at highway speeds (75 mph)?
At 75mph, the tacho hovers around 3250RPM

Quote:
How is the wind and tire noise inside the cabin at those speeds?
The cabin is quiet enough for those speeds. With the audio on at decent volumes, you wont hear the tire and wind noise.

Quote:
How much do you need to floor the pedal (and/or downshift) when you are passing someone on the freeway?
The torque is good. On the way back from the showroom, was doing 60mph in 5th and needed to pass a truck. A gentle tap on the pedal took it to 75mph without needing to downshift. This was with 3 people of board and no luggage (3 laptops). The engine is very responsive.

Quote:
And is the high trunk lid any hindrance when you are backing up or parking?
The high trunk lid does not create much of a problem during backing up. The visibility is quite good.

Quote:
And talking about the plastics inside, how are they compared to the domestics
Will not be able to judge the plastics with respect to the ones you mentioned, but they seem to be of good quality with nice fit and finish. Might appear to be a little on the harder side, but, I can live with it. I would say that they are similar to the Corolla.
Saurabh M is offline  
Old 17th June 2008, 20:37   #28
BHPian
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North America
Posts: 960
Thanked: 6 Times

Thanks a lot Saurabh.

Greatly appreciate it.
sujaylahiri is offline  
Old 19th June 2008, 12:45   #29
Senior - BHPian
 
Guderian's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Thane
Posts: 1,616
Thanked: 1,455 Times

Hey Saurabh,
The Mazda 3 ! That's one great car you have !
For three months (Oct-Noc-Dec 07) I drove this beauty in CA when I was there on an official trip. What made it more memorable was that the Enterprise branch from where I had rented it had recd the vehicle brand new just a day ago with less than 100 miles on the odo. For three months it was my constant and only companion for long drives and other shenanigans ! I felt the vehicle to be extremely taut in its handling, very sorted,and humungously comfortable and small. Drove to LA and back from SFO and couple of other trips near by...the vehicle was just amazing.
One diff I notice from your pix - that the M3 that I drove had the auto and manual transmission option. Even this was a great feature I felt ! Yours appears to be manual only ? Am I missing something here ?
Congrats and enjoy your vehicle to the fullest !
Here are a few snaps of the cute one ! Ahhh fond memories !
Attached Thumbnails
The Mazda 3 comes home (Initial Ownership Experience)-dsc02746.jpg  

The Mazda 3 comes home (Initial Ownership Experience)-dsc02747.jpg  

The Mazda 3 comes home (Initial Ownership Experience)-dsc02748.jpg  


Last edited by Guderian : 19th June 2008 at 12:51.
Guderian is offline  
Old 19th June 2008, 13:10   #30
Team-BHP Support
 
BlackPearl's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Calcutta/London
Posts: 3,604
Thanked: 16,949 Times

Congrats Saurabh for the acquisition. The car looks hot. Please get rid of the steering cover as others have mentioned. Your car has changed my perception about Indian car companies as I thought that they are really cheap in not providing alloy wheels as standard particularly for tubeless tires. But now I am seeing that even American companies dont.. lol
BlackPearl is offline  
Reply

Most Viewed
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Team-BHP.com
Proudly powered by E2E Networks