I had a Mazda (non-speed) 3 this weekend for a Hertz rental car. I thought it would make a good commuter car, though probably not great for long distances. The room for the driver was good, with a nice upright seating position. It was peppy, even with the 4-speed automatic. The trunk was roomy, if commuting also means bringing home groceries. I didn't care for the large amount of torque steer, though. Then again, I haven't owned a small fwd car for a long time and I'd probably get used to it. It certainly didn't use much gas.
Yep for an even better bargain just buy a Mazda3 wagon. You'll get to work just as fast for 2/3 car cost, insurance and gas bill. I've driven the Mazda3s and they are great cars..I would have no problem having a Mazda3 for commuter daily driver, especially the wagon with it's ability to haul more crapola. I'm just not into overpowered FWD pseudo pocket rockets.
I picked up a new one in June as a commuter car. Keeps the miles off the C6.
Likes:
Good power, decent amount of room for the kiddo in the back seat, handles very well for a FWD car. Well equipped with the GT package as in Nav, Sirius, 6 disc CD, partial leather, stability control and HID's. All for about $24k.
Dislikes:
Gas mileage is only ok as I'm averaging just under 24mpg probably because its hard to stay out of the boost. The C6 gets better MPG on the highway. 6 speed is a little notchy. All the kids in Civics want to race.
Just had little time after work yesterday and today, so I test drove a VW GTI turbocharged, 2.0-liter 200 HP yesterday and the Speed3 with 260 HP today.
I am not a prolific writer on car reviews, so I am just giving you my general impressions. I expected both cars to be compact so most of my reviews are on performance. I was not able to test drive the VW on the freeway just on city streets,
Both sales person let me drove the cars like I stole it, literally
VW GTI - price tested 28K.
The clutch is a little to close to the brakes and feels too soft. Shifting the manual transmission was not as smooth but will do the job. Good take off on first gear (I burned rubber every time I get a chance ) but shifting to second felt like a thud sound (this is when I was really pushing the car hard), it's probably due to the front wheel drive. Overall it had good power for a small car.
Speed3 - price tested 22K.
Clutch was well place and felt good. This car moves but too high reving but I guess that is expected with the tuning for this car. The gears felt a little short. I was able to take it to 100 MPH in the freeway pretty easy. As we made the exit, we saw some cops on the other side of the freeway overpass chatting, if I took the next exit on that speed its adios for me. In the freeway there were turns when I accelerated and it felt a little uneasy not feeling in total control, the power of the car scares me a bit on the high speed turns. In my opionion this is a good buy at 22K.
fyi. They did not push the car sale on me. I told them I still need to drive the EVO and Subaru to decide. Just got their business cards and left.
Last edited by GaussianMist; 10-24-2007 at 11:58 PM.
I think the Mazda is a great car. You really cant beat the "bang for the buck" with that one.
I would also look into a subaru wrx. They are 2.5L tubocharged. AWD, so it's a great handling car. I have one and i average about 27mpg mixed driving. It really is a blast to drive to. But, if you looking to get new, the 08's are pretty ugly.
Mazda Speed AWD 6 is for sale for 26 grand brand new..
The Mazda 6 speed AWD is larger and better planted than the fwd Mazda 3 speed..
I dig the VW DSG GTI for about 25K too...
For a daily driver I like the DSG option but if a stick shift is in the cards...The mazda six speed with 274hp, AWD, leather and a little more space would be a good car to consider..
My favorite out of all these cars would be the 300hp AWD EVO X with dual clutch sequential. I think its the best sleeper, daily driver, killer performer of the bunch but then at 35 g's it should be?
The 22 grand Speed Mazda 3 is lookin like a smokin deal for a small fwd hot hatch..
Corvette Store
MAZDASPEED 3 - For Daily Driving
) but shifting to second felt like a thud sound (this is when I was really pushing the car hard), it's probably due to the front wheel drive. Overall it had good power for a small car.
