Pleasantly surprised w/some new economy cars...

[Rand]

I got a 07 focus with the 2.0L and MT its pretty fun to drive.. I dont know about hauling more than 2 people for a longer trip in it.. but I drive 70miles a day for work.. and average 34-35mpg at 75mph on highway and the other half the trip is typical city traffic.

I also drive it pretty spirited but dont use the AC much as it feels like I got 500lb more in the car if I use it.

I like everything in the car esp the vent controls..

The base radio could be somewhat louder, and it could use about 2" inch of front legroom because I'm 6'1" but its a very nice transportation car on a budget. I paid 12500 and it has most of the options except moonroof.

 

[Merkurwwu]

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When I test drove the Mazda3, I thought the interior was pretty good, no worse than a comparable Sentra, Civic, or Corolla. The only thing I did not like personally was the instrument cluster design, but that's a personal preference, naturally.

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You hit it on the head here. I don't know what people want to compare different cars to but they're obviously not comparing within comparable price classes. Do they want a $30k car for $15k? Not going to happen. The Mazda 3, Civic and Corolla are all very comparable. The Mazda might handle better, the Corolla might have a more comfortable ride and the Honda might have better seats... Who knows? They all use the same cheap plastics inside- one might just style it differently to make it "look" better. One might have missed one "soft-touch" location that the others might have found, etc etc. You can't compare a Mazda to a freakin' BMW or Audi in terms of "fanciness." There IS no comparison. I have news for everyone here, manufacturers pay about the same price for all their raw materials so it makes sense that the cars are all similar and in the same price class.

If you take a step down and look at Hynudai, Kia, the Focus, etc, all the cars that may sticker for $17k but sell for $14k, you find that the materials are all cheaper, but they're comparable in their price classes. Even though a Mazda 3 or Civic and a Focus are the same size, I really don't see them as being in the same price "class" when a loaded Focus can be had for a basic Mazda3 or Civic. So why compare them?

Then I always ask the real question (since resale doesn't matter to me), is a Civic or Mazda3 really worth $6000 more dollars over a Focus?

Back on topic though, I like the idea of "nice" small cars. They're coming. A new Civic or Mazda3 really is a nice car. A "luxury" small car like the BMW 1 series or the A3 from Audi, or the new Volvo C30 that is coming in the fall, I think, are really slick ideas and I hope they catch on! "Its just as nice as the bigger car, just small." Nice and small don't have to be mutually exclusive.

 

[mstrjon32]

IMO, the 3 has a both a much nicer design for the interior as well as better build quality than the Civic (which isn't bad), and the Sentra and Corolla (which I think both have horribly unpleasant interiors). A friend of mine had a Mazda3 5-door, spent my fair share of time in it, it was comfortable and had a good look for the size of the car. Unfortunately, he ended up getting sandwiched between a truck and a van in an accident, and the 3 folded. He was alright at least, and used the insurance money to trade up to a Mazdaspeed6.

As for the comment about my Monte Carlo not making it...

...let's just say that while I made the trip in comfort and getting 30mpg, my friend who made the trip a week after me in his same-age Corolla had a catastrophic brake failure along the way, hit a few highway barrels, and when he finally did get back on the road, the A-pillar interior trim fell off and hit him in the head. I'll take the Chevy, thanks.

 

[DrinkDuff77]

Critics of the Mazda3's interior need to tell if they've driven the "i" or "s" models. There is a big difference between the two. My s Touring Hatchback has a leather wrapped steering wheel and shifter, decent ergonomics and nice tactile feeling on all the controls and switches.

Sure if you're used to driving a Lexus or even a VW you might think it feels cheap but compared to the competition that everyone else has mentioned, it holds its own just fine.

 

[keith]

The wife just purchased a HD. (for the unpretentious, that's a 2007 Hyundai Elantra - 4th generation Elantra's are known by the code HD). Nice simple car. She compared it to Corolla, Civic, etc. and the Elantra is very similar, actually a little larger interior, for thousands less and with a longer warranty. First tank of gas, mixed 70mph highway and city driving, 32mpg. EPA is 28/36.

The wife loves the car, so I'm happy too. I'm already planning to install a large transmission cooler + external filter and engine oil bypass filter. We like to get at least 10 years / 250K miles out of our cars with no major repairs.

 

[g20ooh]

One thing among others that the current Kia Spectra deserves credit for is the the engine compartment layout .

(Observing from the top only .)
As far as any transverse I4 that I've seen or worked on from '76 forward , this is one of the very best .

From MY '94 forward , I just can't remember anything even close , - for sensible and even somewhat attractive accessibility .
All this at this price point ........

If you can appreciate such things , (external view only) its also one of the most impressive head castings I've ever seen - period .

Reminds me a little of some of the 'good to have stuff - but nobody - does it - for cost' stuff Packard did before WW2 .

Hyundai/Kia appears to be really serious about long term durability .