Hi: Thanks. In fact I did buy a Mazda 3, but still am second guessing myself. Elantra has several features which at GS level are lacking in Maz3, for at least $2K less. Elantra seemed to have a little less acceleration (both are 2.0 L). Can you better guid me to the thread ?

 

hey, sorry i thought it was this forum, but it was mazdaforum.com....so heres the link.
http://www.mazdaforum.com/m_26615/tm.htm

 

Elantra is also a Hyundai. You can also get a fully loaded Kia for the price of a base model Mazda3.

 

OK- I looked at the previous comments. I see only two items about Hyundai's (I would not buy a Kia- quality still too poor) 1. Supposedly Hyundais are harder to work on- less space ? 2. warranty is to suck you in, car will actually not last that long. No evidence for this- "Lemon Aid " book here in Canada is very positive about Hyundai quality. Added features in Elantra confort vs Maz3 GS include heated seats, aerial in window (will not be hurt by vandals, car wash) alarm system against theft, and longer warranty. Slightly less HP seems to give less acceleration of Elantra. Any other comments ?

 

Well, what I really meant is that Hyundai is still cheaper for a reason. They will not be able to compete with Mazda or Honda if they put similar price points on their cars that offer equivalent features. As much as I think Hyundai's doing well (In Korea, every thing is Hyundai and you see tons of them in Canada now too) they are still not up to par with the Japanese manufacturers' quality. They really are coming along and I doubt it'll be long before I would consider buying a Hyundai as an alternative.

IMO, Hyundai is great for younger ppl on a budget that like a sporty looking vehicle for less money. As you mention, Hyundai is able to load their car with features without raising their prices much. Just remember one thing - you can get all that great stuff like heated seats and security but it's also more stuff to break. I realize this with my 3 and it makes me nervous. I guess I am putting faith in Mazda reliability.

 

One last thought - I didn't go look but if Hyundai offers 10 yr warranty, you can consider having the car for 5 years (i doubt you will span 100000km over 10 years) and then selling it. You won't have to worry about it breaking for that period. I just wouldn't expect the resale value to be very high.

Back on topic, I just filled up my tank last Friday and reset my trip meter. I haven't used the tank up yet but so far just over 120km with only 3 ticks gone from a full tank, so just over 3/4 tank left. I am continuing to drive like a granny, shifting at around 2k RPM and watching my fuel consumption on my computer to try to not go over 10L/100km when in 5th gear.
I suspect my fuel economy has gone down since I first got the car since I'm due for an oil change in 500km and I haven't checked my tire pressure for a couple weeks.

 

allright, update on my fuel economy....
since i filled up a couple weeks ago, i managed to get 350km to the tank

and this was with a couple of races and full out driving....
but lately ive been shifting at 2K to 2.5K rpms, and always trying to drive in 5th, at least in 60 zones

but it's also winter here, so i'll get better economy in the summer...right?
and would the MAZDA cold air intake increase my fuel economy? and are there any other tricks??

 

Mazda quality hopefully is still there, and will continue. Some of the European cars suffered a lot in quality after being bought by or merging with the big 3. Ford now owns Mazda, and is itself struggling to stay alive. Hopefully the poor quality attitude of US carmakers- which is partly traceable to the attittude of the US UAW workers, after years of battling with management- is not spreading to the Japanese workers who assemble Mazda, and the designers are left to do thier jobs. Hyundai is cheap in order to break into the market, but they are doing a good job with design and quality. I agree with the comment that more features means more things that can go wrong, and it semains to be seen if these features last.
I get my Mazda 3 to-day, and we'll see what the real fuel economy is.

 

Yay, great decision!! =D

By browsing this forum, you will only be re-assured of your purchase. Everyone here is nuts about their mazdas and one thing that makes Mazdas awesome is their Mazdaspeed accessories. That only shows that Mazda is really paying attention to the 'enthusiast' market.

Dentinger - yes winter makes for crap fuel economy compared to summer. Some reasons - winter tires are stickier, road conditions due to snow and ice and heavier traffic(I was gridlocked in a snowstorm going to work, 1 hr drive, bye bye fuel economy) and running your defrost almost all the time. I was able to go without defrost all of last week because it was warmer, but I needed it badly this morning.
So those few factors can't be avoided in the winter. Oh well right? We can only make do with the factors we can try to optimize such as tire pressure, foot weight and shifting early.

PS. congrats with the improved fuel economy. I've been using my will power to keep me shifting at 2k, but it's lame when some guy's ford escort accelerates past you. =) And we all need to burn up those civics/corollas who think they have a nice new vehicle.

 

and another question:
how come on like, every vehicle, when you fill up the tank, the needle on the gauge always goes past the top of the gauge??

 

I dunno about that - but the gauge is really not that accurate in telling you how much fuel is in the car. In my previous post, I said I used up 3 ticks. How much is 3 ticks - what does that actually mean?

Here's a guess - maybe it's like that so that the tick defined by (E)mpty isn't actually empty.

 

yeah maybe...
i always just fill up when my "please feed me" light shows up on my gauge.
i know i shouldnt wait that long, but it's winter, and my pump aint going to overheat in
-10C weather.

 

okay, my mazda is f--ked up....
on my last tank of gas, like i said, i shifted at 2.5k rpm, and got 350km/tank
on this tank of gas, i shifted whenever i wanted, anywhere from 2.5k to redline, and i still got 350km/tank....
so whats going on here? am i just getting better at shifting or what?

 

Yeah that may be it. I found that shifting slow and often improved my shifting alot. Maybe you're also lighter on the gas now. I heard fuel eco goes up as the mileage is put on.
It's opposite for me - I don't think I hit 500 kms (went down from ~550kms) and I have to fill up first thing tmrw. Will look on my odometer, fill up, take the litres and make an estimate.
Due for an oil change at 730 am, joy, hopefully it makes a difference in my gas mileage.

PS. I've been driving a bit harder now, so my reduced gas mileage is not a huge surprise.

 

its weird tho, cuz on that tank of gas, where i shifted whenever, i was doing alot of near gunning it from the stoplight, as well as a lot of drifting....
whatever, im not complaining....
i'll see how i do on my new tank of gas....