I own a 2005 Mazda3 SP23 ("special edition, only 5K imported, only 1500K of the 5K were hatchbacks).
Anyway, it's the 2.3L 5-spd. manual trans w/17" wheels & tires. It's basically fully-loaded but w/o NAV. My wife & I purchased this car because:
1) Bang for the buck - at the time, there wasn't a better car for the money (IMO).
2) Fun to drive factor - With the 2.3L, MTX, & 17" wheels and tires this car is a blast to drive. It has enough power to make it fun and with the tight suspension it handles great!
3) Features - Heated leather, electroluminescent gauges, manual leveling projector HID's, clear LED tails, EBD, 17" wheels & tires, etc.
4) Cargo room - With the hatch, there is tons of space. It was actually the wife's choice to get the hatch because of this.
5) Overall quality - I think the quality of the interior is very good. I like the materials they use on the dash and door panels. The radio beeps that some people complain about can be turned off very easily in the menu system. My only real complaint about the interior is the carpeting. The nap is way too short and it's not well insulated. Getting rid of the stock RSA's vastly improved the road noise levels. Exterior quality is good to, except for the easily chipped paint. Other than those two things, we have no complaints.
As far as gas mileage is concerned, ours is good with the MTX. I've tracked every single tank of gas (yes, I'm a dork) and we're averaging right at 30mpg. The lowest MPG we've seen is 26. On highway road trips, we don't have problems getting mid to high 30's. Although it's not as good as say a Civic or Corolla, the "fun to drive" factor makes up for it big time.
We sold my wife's Corolla when we purchased our 3 because the Corolla was such a bore to drive. Now, we still get good gas mileage and have a blast driving our 3. We fight over who gets to drive the Mazda each day.
Here are some pics:
By the way, I test drove a Speed3 about a month ago just for comparison. All I can say about it is WOW!!! This thing is a rocket ship. For less than $25K, this thing is an absolute steal. It is crazy fast, handles like it's on rails, and sounds mean as #@$%! (a good thing, IMO)!
Anyway, it's the 2.3L 5-spd. manual trans w/17" wheels & tires. It's basically fully-loaded but w/o NAV. My wife & I purchased this car because:
1) Bang for the buck - at the time, there wasn't a better car for the money (IMO).
2) Fun to drive factor - With the 2.3L, MTX, & 17" wheels and tires this car is a blast to drive. It has enough power to make it fun and with the tight suspension it handles great!
3) Features - Heated leather, electroluminescent gauges, manual leveling projector HID's, clear LED tails, EBD, 17" wheels & tires, etc.
4) Cargo room - With the hatch, there is tons of space. It was actually the wife's choice to get the hatch because of this.
5) Overall quality - I think the quality of the interior is very good. I like the materials they use on the dash and door panels. The radio beeps that some people complain about can be turned off very easily in the menu system. My only real complaint about the interior is the carpeting. The nap is way too short and it's not well insulated. Getting rid of the stock RSA's vastly improved the road noise levels. Exterior quality is good to, except for the easily chipped paint. Other than those two things, we have no complaints.
As far as gas mileage is concerned, ours is good with the MTX. I've tracked every single tank of gas (yes, I'm a dork) and we're averaging right at 30mpg. The lowest MPG we've seen is 26. On highway road trips, we don't have problems getting mid to high 30's. Although it's not as good as say a Civic or Corolla, the "fun to drive" factor makes up for it big time.
We sold my wife's Corolla when we purchased our 3 because the Corolla was such a bore to drive. Now, we still get good gas mileage and have a blast driving our 3. We fight over who gets to drive the Mazda each day.
Here are some pics:
By the way, I test drove a Speed3 about a month ago just for comparison. All I can say about it is WOW!!! This thing is a rocket ship. For less than $25K, this thing is an absolute steal. It is crazy fast, handles like it's on rails, and sounds mean as #@$%! (a good thing, IMO)!
