I read once that someone didn't like the A/C because it was too loud at full fan speed. But I've never heard a quiet fan at full speed in a car, so I didn't think much about it. There's not much you can do to suppress the sound of air moving at a high speed, heh.

I think I'm more interested in the 5-door hatchback too. I just think they look better and I want as much cargo room as possible. From the reviews I've read, most of them prefer the 5-door over the 4-door also because of styling and the fun-to-drive factor. I really wish I could test drive one of these cars. I saw a newer 4-door Mazda3 while I was running on-post today and I wanted to just go walk around it and check it out, heh. It looked pretty sweet. I love the rear-end on these things, those tail-lights look sweet IMO. Well, enough rambling...

Thanks for all the feedback guys! Please... keep it coming!!

 

I have an 06 Mazda 3 sedan and its really nice, the headlights are not that bright to me atleast, the sound sytem has great sound quality for stock, i only have a few problems with the car but it deals mostly with stuff that shouls not concern you.

 

Can anyone find the Mazda3s 0-60 times anywhere? I cant seem to find it for the 2.3 Litre 4 or 5-door. I'd like to know how fast it is compared to it's competition.. anyone know? For the manual tranny, that is.. and the auto with manual sport-shifting. Thanks again, guys!

 

I can do that for ya right after school (2:15) i have the sport-shifter 2.3L 4-door, ill report back ASAP.

 

Guys and Gals,

Don't waste your money on the factory GPS systems on ANY car. Here's why. You typically pay between 1500-2000 for a factory installed GPS system. They aren't as good (accurate) as aftermarket systems and you can't take them with you so EVERY time you buy a new car, you need to buy that GPS option. I bought a Cobra NAVONE GPS system and it's AWESOME! It's a very bright 5in (biggest aftermarket) screen and it has a very POWERFUL windshield suction cup mount or a bracket mount if you want to put it on your dashboard. I paid $799.99 at Circuit City for it and I've owned it now for over 4 months without a problem. It's very very accurate and MUCH better than ANY of the aftermarket GPS systems I've used (Pontiac Grand Prix GXP, Acura TL, Honda Civic EX, just to name a few that I've used.).

BOTTOM LINE IS BUY AN AFTERMARKET SYSTEM...PORTABLE FROM CAR TO CAR and MUCH MUCH MORE ACCURATE AND EASILY HALF THE PRICE!

My $0.02,
Jason

 

Purchased an 05 Mazda3 last summer.
Ever since its flawless, have 11k miles! The car is very fun to drive has allot of "zoom" to it.
The lights that you asked do a very good job are very bright.
As far as room, there is plenty, would recommend the hatchback for versatility.
Reliability has been very good so far, Mazda makes very good cars.
There were some A/C issues with first model year, but they have been resolved.
Consumer Reports ranks it very high in tests and reliabililty.

Hope you enjoy your new car.

 

Out of over 30 new cars in past 30 years, the Mazda 3 is the best I've had, including new Alfa Romeo spyder, Infiniti G20, Mustang 5.0, Impala SS, etc. over 30mpg, handles great, the 5 door is better than Focus SVT, can carry my road bike upright inside with the seat down. Stay away from Xenon lights, $300 plus labor for a replacement bulb. I just had relay go bad at 36K and would have been over $1,000 for bulb replacement if not for warranty. I have ABS, sunroof, leather, 5 sp, everything but GPS navigation and auto. Even auto is best I've seen in small car.