Zoom-zoom!
We love our new Mazda3 GT. Admittedly, we hadn't purchased a new car for 15 years, so anything was going to seem amazing compared to our 2000 Honda Accord EX (a lovely, faithful car). Knowing this, we investigated the top 7 compact and midsize cars identified by Kelly Blue Book, Car and Driver, and Motor Trends. Mazdas were at or near the top of every list, so we decided to give it shot against Hondas. Our first discovery is that compacts today are almost as big as our 2000 Accord, and today's midsize versions are bigger (and more boat like). The compacts' interiors did not feel small, but the exterior size seemed perfect for city driving (and parking) so we settled on the Mazda3 and the Honda Civic (must improved from 2000). The Mazda3 immediately impressed us with its interior layout, particularly the controls for the infotainment system. The Civic was very bland in comparison. The only drawback to the Madza3 interior is the lack of storage space. The front doors have a small, tilted space for a capped bottle, and the console space is small and somewhat awkwardly placed. Our 2000 Accord had a nice size door pocket big enough to store fairly large books and/or other items like file folders. The old console was also large enough to store the manual, with a large tray for items you did't want to have to reach into the glove compartment for. We looked at the Madza6 just because its storage was a little better, but decided that difference didn't overcome the downsides of driving a larger car we didn't really need. The factor that really sold us on the Mazda3, however, was the "zoom-zoom" factor. We really loved the pickup and handling. The Civic is a nice comfortable car, but the Mazda3 is a driver's car that is also comfortable. We drove both Touring and Grand Touring models, and they both handled beautifully; we decided on the Grand Touring because of the additional features but the Touring with the premium package would have been a nice option as well. We've been impressed with the navigation system and the voice controls, and have used the manual drive option a few times driving the steep, curvy roads of west and southwest Portland. All of our previous cars had standard (manual) transmissions, so the transition to an automatic has been softened by having a manual option. We're very pleased with the 6-speed skyactiv engine, which got incredible mileage climbing several mountain passes on a trip from Portland to Ashland -- we never lost speed and still got great mileage! Amazing. Overall, we are very pleased with our decision to move to a Madza3. We haven't owned the car long enough to comment fairly on its reliability, but given the build quality and its reputation, we expect it to match our Honda for reliability.
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