Quote:
Originally Posted by rh77
Hey psy-
I like the new ride! How do you like it so far? I've rented a couple and test drove a 2.0 Auto and 2.3 Manual. I liked the handling, interior and FE (and the 5-speed better  )...
-Rick |
Im liking it a lot. The car is easier to drive than the Civic was. That little bit of extra torque makes the car much more drivable. The seating position and driving experience is much more like a Accord than a Civic. Its not as quite as our Accord. But almost. Im not impressed with the interior fabrics used. The upholstery feels cheap. Where as it felt upscale in the Civic. BUT I was already getting wear marks in the Civics seat and arm rest. So Im hoping the MZ3's fabrics hold up better. The car handles great!!! So sport EOC is a blast in this car.
I haven't got a chance to lay in the brakes yet. I have no reason not to believe that this car does have near world class braking ability's as mention in several road test over the years. Turn in is great and it digs very well indeed.
A buddy of mine owns a G35 he was struck with how the MZ3 dash reminded him of the dash in his car. Doesn't look like the G35 dash. But feels like it and interacts with you like it does. We both agreed that if there was a little oval clock in the dash. It would get spooky. ( That was a good laugh )
The AC does seem just a tad weak. Im OK with that as long as it keeps working when I do require it. Im not a freezer queen like most Americans.
I figure once the car is broke in good and running on M1 the mpg will be close to what the Civic was capable of. Its much more easy to keep the rpms low when launching the car. And it handles being in between 2000 and 1500 rpms much better than the Civic.
The paint is a orange peeled mess on it. But appears to be thicker than the Civic and Accord. So Im hoping gravel and bugs wont make it look like a Honda looks in short order.
I have had my first issue with the car. I launched semi hard the other day. The result was a awful bang in the passengers compartment. Sounded like a gun went off. It was a awful Bang. I was crossing a 4 lane hwy. Had a spot open and took it. I mean it wasn't a wheel turner or anything. Just squirt out into traffic to get the job done. Anyway I read the riot act to my dealer and Mazda credit and told them it would be fixed or I would abandon the car at the dealer and move on down the street and buy something else. I was very perplexed by this noise. The motor mounts looked fine. And many Mazda fans said it was wheel hop. None of this adds up to me. I couldn't sleep last night so I got the car up on ramps and started digging thru it. Found some TSB on it and started checking them out. Sure enough the right side / drivers side motor mount was loose. So I followed the TSB for a 05 MZ3. Recentered the mount. Put some locktite on the bolts. (My Mod) Then torqued down. I also took some measurements to make my own centering washers. This got rid of the problem for the time being. It almost looked like a tech was doing the TSB on the car in dealer prep and forgot what they were doing. So I will call the dogs off today and move on.
Its a drivers car with some mpg qualitys.
psy
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