Mazda 3 vs Ford Focus Shootout!

[dja4260]

Originally Posted By: InhalingBullets
Originally Posted By: JOD
Originally Posted By: dja4260
I've driven both of those and still prefer the elantra gt. I wasn't impressed at all with the Ford. I test drove the 3 and had the ford as a rental in San Fran. I can't comment on gas mileage...


I'll definitely check out the Elantra GT as well. The one big appeal to me is that is appears the cargo floor is flatter on the Elantra than the others with the rear seats down. This is why I'm going to have to check out the actual hatch versions of each of these cars.

As far as the speedo/console thing, the 2013 Mazda 3 still had the traditional set-up. For me, buying a "new" car means most likely finding a 1-2 year old car, so the 2014 Mazda 3 isn't on the table yet...


We looked at the Elantra before we drove the Ford Cmax, Mazda 3 and a few others. Now we needed a hatchback so your search may lead you in a little different route. My wife and I both did not like the "feel" of the elantra, it just felt flimsy?
However the full sunroof was bad-ace! I loved the Sonata too, but no hatch tossed that one! One thing I did find with the Elantra was that the latch to lock the rear passenger seat in the upright position was faulty...myself and the GM of the Hyundai dealer looked at 4 other Elantra hatchbacks on the lot and found the exact problem with 3 of them- definitely not safe for a kid or anyone else for that matter.



I drove the elantra sedan as a rental for over 200+ miles and didn't care for it either. I would agree that it felt flimsy. The GT is a European model that was brought over to the states and branded a "elantra GT". Doesn't share anything with the sedan other then powertrain. I've heard horror stories of those awesome sunroofs ejecting at highway speeds. I hope they resolve this issue before someone gets injured.

 

[SteveSRT8]

My Elantra experience was last years model so maybe they are better. But the one I drove actually fluttered the floorboards like a 53 Ford I once had!

Flimsy ain't the word here...

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: JOD
...
-transmission: horrible. For a new car, I'm pretty amazed this made it into production? It's really bad. I'd buy the manual, so this isn't a deal-breaker for me, but if I were buying an auto, it would be. It's feels like it's constantly flaring, the shift points are poor and it shifts roughly. It pretty much ruins the entire driving experience.




That's it in a nutshell. Every current Focus I have driven has had an abysmally bad transmission. It just seems to be confused all the time.

The Volkswagen DSG gets confused when you are slowing for a stoplight and it turns green. Reapply the gas and it doesn't do anything which causes you to apply more gas. BANG! Second gear at 35 mph. Sounds terrible on the driveline too. But you could get used to that and adjust your throttle inputs accordingly.

No matter what I tried, the Focus didn't seem to know what it wanted to do. It's befuddled all the time.

Unfortunately, the only affordable manual models I see are S models with the ugly plastic wheel covers. Give me just some silver painted styled steel wheels with center caps over those ugly plastic daisy dinner plates.

I also don't like the dash intrusion on the passenger side. Seems unnecessary to eat up that much knee room but there might be a reason for it sticking out that far.