I GET A TEST DRIVE TOMORROW!
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That's sweet Levi. Which part of Canada do you live in? Bring your camera! Have fun. Are you driving the 2.3?Levitron said:YES!!!!
That's right.....test drive tomorrow morning at my dealer
Muhahahahahaha!!! This is on the same M3 that I sat in, a few days ago. Apparently, they kept them on the lot.
I only got to test drive it for like 5 minutes because it was booked solid for test drives the whole day. The suspension felt good, similar to my sister’s protege 5. All I know is it’s pretty quick for an automatic. It revved up to 7500 rpm with no problem, but it was a little buzzy. An exhaust would fix that. The interior, in my opinion was awesome. The blue and black seats looked great, comfortable too. The blue and red gauges were nice. The steering wheel looks good with the audio controls on the left and the cruise control on the right. It was not cheap at all; the whole feeling of the car is like it is in another price range. Compared to my sister’s protege 5, I think the interior of the 3 is a lot nicer.
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post in consumer reviews, people!
I need some propaganda!!! hehehe
I need some propaganda!!! hehehe
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sweeeeeet
can't wait!
can't wait!
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Levitron you lucky ass jk
Hi,
I also visited my dealer yesterday afternoon and got Mazda3 5-door with 1.6 engine for test drive. I had time about 10mins so I was able to just get the first feelings from the car
The official introduction will be in coming weekend and there was two 5-door models and two sedans. Three of those was silver and one sedan was blue (same color as in these pages).
First impressions was that the sedan looked much better in my opinion than 5-door model.
The interior was quite nice and looked much better than in the most of it's competitors. The car was equipped tyre with spikes (yes, it's winter here) so I can't say so much about the noise level. Also I had to drive with smaller roads so I was able to drive about 70km/h.
The engine was quite ok (1.6) of course nothing special on it. My current car is also equipped with 1.6 engine and there was nothing big difference between them. This 1.6 engine is probably here the most common model.
The dealer said that they will have 700 Mazda3's in country and if there is no suitable model, color etc in this set, they can reserve it from set which is made on February => probably here in April.
One interesting this was that there is no cruise available yet but I have seen pictures with those control buttons in wheel. Is cruise available in NA? Right now there is only 3rd party cruise available, this was strange...
But after all the first impression was quite good and I had to wait little bit the get better test drive and hopefully with 2.0 engine :lol:
Sorry I don't have any pictures, I take some but it was very dark and rainy outside then :evil:
I also visited my dealer yesterday afternoon and got Mazda3 5-door with 1.6 engine for test drive. I had time about 10mins so I was able to just get the first feelings from the car
The official introduction will be in coming weekend and there was two 5-door models and two sedans. Three of those was silver and one sedan was blue (same color as in these pages).
First impressions was that the sedan looked much better in my opinion than 5-door model.
The interior was quite nice and looked much better than in the most of it's competitors. The car was equipped tyre with spikes (yes, it's winter here) so I can't say so much about the noise level. Also I had to drive with smaller roads so I was able to drive about 70km/h.
The engine was quite ok (1.6) of course nothing special on it. My current car is also equipped with 1.6 engine and there was nothing big difference between them. This 1.6 engine is probably here the most common model.
The dealer said that they will have 700 Mazda3's in country and if there is no suitable model, color etc in this set, they can reserve it from set which is made on February => probably here in April.
One interesting this was that there is no cruise available yet but I have seen pictures with those control buttons in wheel. Is cruise available in NA? Right now there is only 3rd party cruise available, this was strange...
But after all the first impression was quite good and I had to wait little bit the get better test drive and hopefully with 2.0 engine :lol:
Sorry I don't have any pictures, I take some but it was very dark and rainy outside then :evil:
Well, today is "tomorrow"
And yes, I got to drive the 3!
The one I tested, was the Titanium Grey Sport GT, fully loaded (w/ auto) @ around $26000CAD.
Keep in mind, I drive a 1.6EL....basically a prettied up version of the Civic EX from 2000. I like driving the EL, save for the exception of the really bad torque and hp. So basically, as a one person driver, the EL is very suitable for my commuting to and forth from school and hom (around 77km's total).....but lacks a lot of power. I like the crisp road feel of the EL, since it has, I believe, a little stiffer springs than a normal Civic. In a way, the EL will be my "benchmark".
Unfortunately, it was raining really hard in Vancouver today....therefore, the roads were slippery, and I didn't want to drive too fast (which also meant I didn't want to bring my "baby"; my camera; out in the rain). However, I loved the short gears....there was plenty of "oomph"! And you can definately feel it too....it's quite like what you'd feel with a V6 actually. Up-shifting on the "Sportronic" (or whatever Mazda calls it) is great, but down-shifting is a little slow. Took about a second to go from 3rd to 2nd.
Did I say that this car has OOMPH!?
Visibility is very good...save for the rear hatch. I think since there is now a "reverse" window, there's more of a larger blind spot in the back. Front visibility is very good.
Weird thing was, after I finished driving it, it felt strangely like a Volvo S40....the older one, not the new one based on the same platform. Possibly this is due to the higher positioning of the driver's seat?
Body roll is minimal. Even in the Sport GT, I felt almost none, but then again, I wasn't cornering that hard. Traction on the wet pavement/paint marks was EXCELLENT. No slippage on the hard accelerations. Steering is "light", but still maintains good road feel.
As for road noise, the M3 is FAR superior to my EL. It's QUIET! I'd say, on par with the M6 2.3L....maybe even better. Speaking of sound levels, I love the steering wheel sound controls - my family has a Caravan that has that, and I love how easily I can change stations and stuff. I'll sure miss the little "Honda-roar" on my EL....
So, here's a Cole's Notes for all you lazy people :
Pros
-LOTS of power
-feels "safe" (Volvo)
-nice gearing
-quiet
-good road feel; body roll, handling, is so far so good
Cons
-big blind spot
-feels like a Volvo (could be bad or good)
So there you have it. I will be going back for a 2nd test drive, I think. I still don't think I got a good feel of the car yet. Like I said, no pics, because it was raining real hard, and I didn't want to take out my camera.
And yes, I got to drive the 3!
The one I tested, was the Titanium Grey Sport GT, fully loaded (w/ auto) @ around $26000CAD.
Keep in mind, I drive a 1.6EL....basically a prettied up version of the Civic EX from 2000. I like driving the EL, save for the exception of the really bad torque and hp. So basically, as a one person driver, the EL is very suitable for my commuting to and forth from school and hom (around 77km's total).....but lacks a lot of power. I like the crisp road feel of the EL, since it has, I believe, a little stiffer springs than a normal Civic. In a way, the EL will be my "benchmark".
Unfortunately, it was raining really hard in Vancouver today....therefore, the roads were slippery, and I didn't want to drive too fast (which also meant I didn't want to bring my "baby"; my camera; out in the rain). However, I loved the short gears....there was plenty of "oomph"! And you can definately feel it too....it's quite like what you'd feel with a V6 actually. Up-shifting on the "Sportronic" (or whatever Mazda calls it) is great, but down-shifting is a little slow. Took about a second to go from 3rd to 2nd.
Did I say that this car has OOMPH!?
Visibility is very good...save for the rear hatch. I think since there is now a "reverse" window, there's more of a larger blind spot in the back. Front visibility is very good.
Weird thing was, after I finished driving it, it felt strangely like a Volvo S40....the older one, not the new one based on the same platform. Possibly this is due to the higher positioning of the driver's seat?
Body roll is minimal. Even in the Sport GT, I felt almost none, but then again, I wasn't cornering that hard. Traction on the wet pavement/paint marks was EXCELLENT. No slippage on the hard accelerations. Steering is "light", but still maintains good road feel.
As for road noise, the M3 is FAR superior to my EL. It's QUIET! I'd say, on par with the M6 2.3L....maybe even better. Speaking of sound levels, I love the steering wheel sound controls - my family has a Caravan that has that, and I love how easily I can change stations and stuff. I'll sure miss the little "Honda-roar" on my EL....
So, here's a Cole's Notes for all you lazy people
:Pros
-LOTS of power
-feels "safe" (Volvo)
-nice gearing
-quiet
-good road feel; body roll, handling, is so far so good
Cons
-big blind spot
-feels like a Volvo (could be bad or good)
So there you have it. I will be going back for a 2nd test drive, I think. I still don't think I got a good feel of the car yet. Like I said, no pics, because it was raining real hard, and I didn't want to take out my camera.
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