What do people think of the 3?

[180HOA]

Just been wondering if people like the Mazda3?

Do you think the style/design of it will hold up over the years?

Considering the Focus and 3 are really only differentiated by how they look - which do you prefer?

[Bernard Siong]

i've seen a few good examples of the sp23 hatch

[JasonGilholme]

Yeah I like the look of them.

Put it this way... I wouldn't mind being seen driving one. lol

[Dee]

the SP23 is on my list of cinsideration for my next car... and at only $34,000 its a steal ;) i am taking one for a test drive this weekend actually :D cant wait for that

[JasonGilholme]

what you gonna do with your sxi??

[Dee]

sell up before its worth nothing!

atm they are worth $10K if the dealers want them... and im not private selling, i can not be without a car down here, we are too far away from anything to not have a car

[JohnBu]

not too bad looking car, alot of kit for mid $30k, but then again, for alittle more u could buy the new astra turbo or wrx,

make sure u get the sedan coz they look better (hatch like) rather than the hatch which looks like a wagon!.. i dont really like the interior, looks good, but feels cheapish

whats with hatches looking like wagons these days.. if i wanted a wagon i would buy a wagon, i.e. corolla, madza 3, bmw 1, pulsar, civic..

11-SXI, why not just keep the car, as you will lose more by upgrading the car, unless u really want the 3

[Dee]

i dont want my car anymore and im definately not downgrading. i need something with 4 doors, something practical and something bit a bit more grunt. i dont really want the 3, its just an option if i cant get the one i want

all barina's will be worth even less when the Kalos becomes the new barina :( so im getting rid of it now

[lowey22]

i like the shape of the 3, but personally wouldnt buy one. i like my Astra way too much :mrgreen:

[blackSRi]

I have been looking at the 3 and the SP23, but for better value it's down to the wire for either a Corolla Sportivo or a new Focus Zetec for my car order in the next week or so.
The Mazdas are just to pricey for what you get - I mean the look ok but you need to option them up to get same spec as the Corolla (I beleive in the SP23 for eg that leather is optional).

[Dee]

wow blackSRi you are doing the exact same thing as me. not interested in the ford zetec tho

you are right about the leather in the SP23 tho, it is an optional extra .. and at $2750!!!! they do have steering wheel controls tho.... but i dont think that is a big thing really when you have to pay extra for the leather... and it doesnt have lift

[Adrian]

i like the shape of the 3, but personally wouldnt buy one. i like my Astra way too much :mrgreen:

ill second that, i like the sp23 too, but its not as ummm how do you say drivable as my car hehe :oops:

[JasonGilholme]

they do have steering wheel controls tho


If it's got Steering wheel controls it just makes it harder to change the cd player. makes your modding choices easier.

You gonna mod your new one a bit aswell???

[oneightoo]

you can fet attachments that make ur new cd player compatible with the steering wheel controls.. i think they are pretty cheap too..

[imay]

They look like a shrunken Chrysler PT Cruiser . . . especially the darker color ones as they come towards you.
Some could say that's not a bad thing . . . IF you like PT Cruisers!

Didn't score really well in the latest (July) Wheels handling test. Thought it would have fared better.
The SP23 with leather and Bose looked nice at the Motor Show!
Wait for the MPS 3 (turbo, AWD) which is rumoured to be lobbing early next year, depending on how well the MPS 6 is received when it arrives late this year.

[sasrit]

I drove an SP23 sedan before buying my Astra T, went OK and had great steering feel (compared to Astra), but had a lot of road noise from tyres........the car was brand new and unregistered so there was no issue with wear. That was a year ago, my slightly second hand Astra T was cheaper than an SP23 on the road at the time, no leather option back then either. I just got addicted to the heated seats and the turbo grunt. SP's can't be too bad value considering you see one every 30 seconds.

[opel_calibra]

my bro has the base model 3... ive driven it a few times.. very nice to drive, standard trim is nice and the interior is awesome. pretty responsive engine too
i would buy one

[Namus]

i'll be posting up about the MPS 3 over the weekend

[Petey]

Funny, I too test drove an SP23 sedan in Feb. Very nice car, a bit better in its ride & handling than the TS Astra too. Really thought hard about changeing over. I love the Astra too!!! But the thing that I couldn't get my mind to overcome was the road noise!!! Compared to the Astra it was way too intrusive. Otherwise I would have gone ahead with it... The Astra is still one of the quietest cabins in this class/size of car.

The sedan is way more popular than the hatch. Mazda has had to increase the numbers of sedans in its orders as they were planning on the hatch being the popular seller, but got a surprise when it was the other way round by a large margin!!!

I too thought from some angles that it looked PT cruiserish & told the salesperson that. He was trying to steer me to a Hatch!!! Silly fella.
:lol:

[Petey]

Funny, I too test drove an SP23 sedan in Feb. Very nice car, a bit better in its ride & handling than the TS Astra too. Really thought hard about changeing over. I love the Astra too!!! But the thing that I couldn't get my mind to overcome was the road noise!!! Compared to the Astra it was way too intrusive. Otherwise I would have gone ahead with it... The Astra is still one of the quietest cabins in this class/size of car.

The sedan is way more popular than the hatch. Mazda has had to increase the numbers of sedans in its orders as they were planning on the hatch being the popular seller, but got a surprise when it was the other way round by a large margin!!!

I too thought from some angles that it looked PT cruiserish & told the salesperson that. He was trying to steer me to a Hatch!!! Silly fella.
:lol:

[sri guy]

i like the shape of the 3, but personally wouldnt buy one. i like my Astra way too much :mrgreen:
Im with you 100% on that one lowey

[rjastra]

i drove a SP23... Engine is noisier than the Astra Sri, Heaps more road noise, interior is tacky. Very nice steering. Styling will date.

Mazda 3 MPS will be FWD not AWD. It will run a detuned version of the turbo engine used in the MAzda 6 MPS... or a 2 L version turbo. Probably around 150kw.

If you are going to spend the cash ona SP23... spend a little more and get either a Accord Euro, or a mid spec Mazda 6. Both are better than the underdone SP23

[Namus]

pends what u want

[Miss_Astra]

My friend has a white one, sometimes i drive it, its ok it feels different to an astra, i prefer the astra to drive.
the mazda clutch feels loose kinda and the gearstick doesnt hardly move when changing gears.
the black ones look nice

[Dee]

now that i have done over 600km's in my corolla sportivo... i'd definately prefer it over any car :) dont go the SP23, not worth it for the money you have to pay for it

[CJB]

I don't like the 3 in the hatch either... it's like a wagon for sure. When I see the sedan I think it's the hatch. My friend wants one and he test drove one and said it handles kind of rough compared to the Rolla.

Getting a little off topic here, but why will the current Barina become ceap as chips?

[Dee]

cos they are jap pieces of crap. they are worth nothing.

the opels are worth the $20K that was put on them when they were released in 2001. the kalos's are going to be worth nothing because daewoo have badly built cars

[CJB]

But wouldn't people want to pay the extra for the Opel Barina because it's better built? Just a thought...

[180HOA]

the kalos's are going to be worth nothing because daewoo have badly built cars

I don't think its fair to say they're badly built. Some of the older ones, yeah, but the Lacetti was a match for Pulsar/Lancer and others in its price range.

I think you may be forgetting the Barinas are built in Spain. Last time I looked the Spainyards reputation for making cars wasn't that flash, but they do a decent job on the Barina. I know Korea was turning out some awful cars ten years ago, but things change. You've just bought a Toyota. Remember they started off the way the Koreans did, but obviously at some point they became 'good' enough for you to want to buy one...

Besides, I personally can't pick much difference between the quality of a new Toyota or a new Hyundai. Both are good, neither are outstanding. The new Sonata certainly craps all over the Echo from a very great height.

I just don't understand how people think they can judge a car having seen nothing of it but a photo. I know the Barina/Viva are based on the Kalos/Lacetti, but they aren't the same, so no one can really judge till they see them.

[Dee]

fair enough, but i know people that have owned/own Kalos's and they dont like the quality of the build that they paid for. they prefered the barina (opel) that i had. and i agree with them. maybe holden might make it better .... you dont know. but the only reason they left opel is because they couldnt sell the barina's at a price that would give them any profit out of it. so they went for daewoo, the cheaper option so they could still charge $13,990 and still make a profit out of them

btw dont knock my corolla... she will cry!!

Edit:
another point that has just been bought to my attention.
the sportivo's are built in South Africa, and all other toyota's are built in japan.

there is an obvious difference in the quality between the corolla and the mazda 3 in my opinion.... i just sat in the 3 and decided it wasn't worth the same as the corolla.

[sri guy]

MEH! korean built cars been there done that got the postcards NEVA GOIN BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im hooked on opels now. almost got me dad talked into gettin an sri-t

[Namus]

for the price u pay for the 3; there's better available...

[ecstasy]

i was gonna buy the 3 before i got the astra and they are very good cars both. I do like more the feeling of the astra interior, looks a bit more expensive than the mazda. More when you compare the weight of the doors and the inside trims. The astra is like a VW close to audi, the mazda got a flashy interior but not sure about the quality of the plastics. As for cars build they much not differ nowadays. Everything is so standarized that theres almost no difference between countries. The difference is on the materials that they use. But even the best car manufactures got problems. A mate of mine went through 2 BMW M3 in a week cause of a major fault on the electrical system and we are not talking about a 8000 dollar car. Should have bought a merc :)