After dealing with the morons at Bankston Mazda in Ft. Worth we called Hiley Mazda Saturday in Arlington and asked if we could drive a Mazda Speed 3. They had one and would let us drive the car practically straight off the truck.
I love the color of the car we drove, something or other blue. Real pretty, but looks aren't everything right?
Jeffery Macias was our sales assistant, and he was great. He was very knowledgeable about the car, professional, friendly, understanding, I just can't say enough about how great he was.
The car was so new it still had the shrink plastic on it. Jeffery took us out around a bend and I was immediately impressed by the car's handling and his skilled driving. He stopped in a lot and let my wife hop in the drivers seat.
Carlene went to take off and the car jerked and stalled out. I expected her to have a little trouble with the the clutch at first, but she failed to get the car moving on her second attempt and I could tell she was flustered. No need for me to worry though. Jeffery calmed her nerves and calmly instructed her on how to work the clutch. Her next attempt was a slightly stuttering success, but she got it down after a few tries in the lot and proceeded out onto the street.
The Mazda dealer was in a great location, surrounded by nice curvy roads with little traffic on them. We started out on a section that was essentially a large oval around an industrial complex. I could tell Carlene liked the car, but she was still a bit unsure about working the stick shift. I was dumb and far too eager to drive. She did a few laps and then stopped to let me drive. I foolishly jumped at the chance.
The MazdaSpeed 3 is very nice. It's got a 2.3L turbo 4 cylinder engine mated to a 6 speed transmission. The engine has like 263hp and the acceleration was more than I expected. The car didn't pull as hard as my brother's old Buick GN, but the way the power came in was very similar. I guess that's due to the way turbos build boost.
I found myself a bit lost when shifting gears though. I'm used to my old mustang and the huge gap between gates. I couldn't tell if I'd gone over far enough to reach first or not. Shifting quickly, I had no problem adjusting to the short throws or finding the gear I wanted. So it really wasn't an issue. The shifter was great, but just not what I was used to.
Handling was good in the car. I could tell the suspension setup was firm, but it wasn't jarring and felt good over the bumps I could find to test it on. Reminded me that I need to go back to the drawing board with my 73 stang's setup.
Cornering was good. Jeffery said the stability control system was on and keeping the rear tires in line with the fronts. Honestly I don't remember noticing the electronic nanny cutting into the fun. I did try to do a very tight turn in a parking lot and got reminded that all that 263hp is transferred through just the two front wheels. Tight turn + power = understeer. I'm sure I could have figured that out, but I didn't want to push it in someone's new baby.
We'd driven an older Mazda 3 back in Lubbock and the 2010 is improved over that car. I really liked the new information center they added to the top of the dash. The Speed 3 comes with a GPS nav system, but the screen for that's a bit small. That same screen was prefect for displaying the other information available from the system though.
So yeah, we got out of the car and I really wanted to take it home. Sadly we didn't.
I think I found a practical 4 door family car I could love. I was stupid though. I should have let Carlene drive the car more. She's decided she doesn't want a car with a manual transmission and that's the only way the speed 3 comes. This universe is conspiring against me again. That's just how it goes I guess.
We also drove a Mazda3 five door with the new 2.5L engine. It's got like 168 HP and comes with an automatic transmission. It's a strong contender for our next car, but I will always wonder what life would have been like with that other 95hp and snazzy interior from the speed.
If you get a chance to drive one go do it. The car is a blast. If you are in the Dallas area definitely go by Hiley Mazda in Arlington and ask Jeffery to take you out for a Speedy test drive.
Do you guys think there is anyway that I can talk my wife into the speed?
If we don't go with that car then the Kia is my pick. With that new Forte you get a lot of cool stuff and 173hp for around 20,000. That's a few thousand less than the almost as cool Mazda3.
We still need to drive a G6/G8, but the Cobalt SS is OUT. We saw one sunday and found the car completely uncomfortable.