2014 Mazda 3 unveiled...

Status
Not open for further replies.
Thanks for the interior pictures of the 3. I'm not a fan of the exterior styling, but I *love* the very simple and high quality look to the interior. I prefer the look of the base model interior to that of the one with the LCD screen and the faux aluminum brightwork. That 3's interior reminds me of older BMW 3-series interiors. Very simple, nice straight lines, no gaudy flaired HVAC vents that look like ET's mothership, etc.

This design languge is WAY too absent in vehicles today, in my humble opinion.

The interior is enough for me to put that car at the top of the list if I were looking at small sedans to buy. I'd just have to live with the exterior styling.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Yeah, completely innovative, and on my Chrysler built in 05!


Yeah, and your Chrysler is a luxury, top of the line performance model.
The fact that this kind of engineering can now be found in econoboxes is pretty darn impressive to me. Also, the fact the it comes from a company that apparently can go away just with the swing of Yen impresses me even more.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Thanks for the interior pictures of the 3. I'm not a fan of the exterior styling, but I *love* the very simple and high quality look to the interior. I prefer the look of the base model interior to that of the one with the LCD screen and the faux aluminum brightwork. That 3's interior reminds me of older BMW 3-series interiors. Very simple, nice straight lines, no gaudy flaired HVAC vents that look like ET's mothership, etc.

This design languge is WAY too absent in vehicles today, in my humble opinion.

The interior is enough for me to put that car at the top of the list if I were looking at small sedans to buy. I'd just have to live with the exterior styling.
smile.gif


I agree. I was going to say this, but you stated it better than I could've.

...except that I also happen to like the exterior styling.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Yeah, completely innovative, and on my Chrysler built in 05!


Yeah, and your Chrysler is a luxury, top of the line performance model.
The fact that this kind of engineering can now be found in econoboxes is pretty darn impressive to me. Also, the fact the it comes from a company that apparently can go away just with the swing of Yen impresses me even more.


C'mon, shorty headers hardly represent state of the art, even in 05.

My overall point is that Mazda is not breaking much new ground here, just a thorough overall tweaking of the entire platform for efficiency while retaining their focus on driver involvement. Overall it's a GOOD thing and I like the company's intent, but too many here wave the 'skyactiv' flag as some kind of groundbreaking new tech. It's not. Just good marketing.

And they really are in a precarious situation, but you can bet they will team up soon with somebody. Lets just hope that won't dilute their offerings.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8


C'mon, shorty headers hardly represent state of the art, even in 05.

My overall point is that Mazda is not breaking much new ground here, just a thorough overall tweaking of the entire platform for efficiency while retaining their focus on driver involvement. Overall it's a GOOD thing and I like the company's intent, but too many here wave the 'skyactiv' flag as some kind of groundbreaking new tech. It's not. Just good marketing.


All I'm saying is that it is an impressive piece of engineering and fabrication. Just look at the bends and welds. If you drop the heat shield and the bracketry, this header could be almost taken for a limited production fit for some high performance car, not a mass produced item found in econoboxes under $20k. That's all.

I agree that there is nothing new or ground breaking in the Skyactiv slogan. However as a car enthusiast I appreciate that mazda went back to basics with reducing weight, stiffening the chassis, taking advantage of DI and making small tweaks overall. And it appears that Skyactive, while not ground breaking, does deliver promised fuel economy gains while retaining good power/torque figures without sacrificing driving dynamics.
CX-5 delivers some top notch gas mileage figures far a small SUV, so does the new Mazda 6. The same cannot be said about ecoboost or other small turbo implementations.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Check out the crazy 4-2-1 exhaust manifold
crazy2.gif

2014-Mazda3-exhaust-manifold.jpg



Looks like an alien squid about to burst from the womb...
 
KrisZ said:
Here is a picture of the manual showing a tac. Perhaps it's digital and can be set to show either RPM or speed, depending on your preference?

Mazda-3_2014_800x600_wallpaper_69.jpg


Thanks, Kris. I was going by the photo captions in the Edmund's article. This makes more sense.

Count me in for a 6-manual with the 2.5, which they will eventually offer, at least according to Edmund's. Wonder if it will replace the turbocharged Mazdaspeed3?
 
Originally Posted By: k24a4
I was going by the photo captions in the Edmund's article.

It's not just a caption. If you expand the below image and look in the right bottom corner, you'll see the top of the manual shifter, and yet, it has a speedo in the center, not the tach. Maybe it varies by equipment version?

2014_mazda_3_steering_fd_709131_1600.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8


C'mon, shorty headers hardly represent state of the art, even in 05.

My overall point is that Mazda is not breaking much new ground here, just a thorough overall tweaking of the entire platform for efficiency while retaining their focus on driver involvement. Overall it's a GOOD thing and I like the company's intent, but too many here wave the 'skyactiv' flag as some kind of groundbreaking new tech. It's not. Just good marketing.


All I'm saying is that it is an impressive piece of engineering and fabrication. Just look at the bends and welds. If you drop the heat shield and the bracketry, this header could be almost taken for a limited production fit for some high performance car, not a mass produced item found in econoboxes under $20k. That's all.

I agree that there is nothing new or ground breaking in the Skyactiv slogan. However as a car enthusiast I appreciate that mazda went back to basics with reducing weight, stiffening the chassis, taking advantage of DI and making small tweaks overall. And it appears that Skyactive, while not ground breaking, does deliver promised fuel economy gains while retaining good power/torque figures without sacrificing driving dynamics.
CX-5 delivers some top notch gas mileage figures far a small SUV, so does the new Mazda 6. The same cannot be said about ecoboost or other small turbo implementations.



Totally agreed. We've had 3 egoboost V6's in our extended family and none got much over 17 mpg. Most of the turbo'd engines waste a ton of fuel as cylinder coolant, and the folks that 'lightfoot' them to get mileage have issues like the intercooler condensation, etc.

And it IS interesting that Mazda has decided to spend money on the header fab when an old fashioned log of iron would cost next to nothing to make. Maybe the bean counters don't run Mazda?
 
A Mazda3 2.5L 6sp MTX might be a hard sell, unless you really want a hatch - as the mazda6 would come in around a similar price I believe and achieve similar mpg in a larger platform.

Bring me a MTX 2.2L diesel CX5 and I think it would solve any choice issues I'd have and could be one vehicle that would do it all (cargo and mpg).

Ideally I'd have a CX5 and a Mazdaspeed3, though.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Yeah, completely innovative, and on my Chrysler built in 05!

Back in the 1990s, even basic Honda cars had that kind of exhaust like on your car.

However, none made a 4-2-1 header that worked well while improving cat light-off time.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top