2010 MS3
Gotta love a clean car!
couldn't stand looking at my dirty car anymore after driving back from windsor, so decided to got to the car wash and spent an hour washing it, then got home and decided to wax the car XD
With that said; after driving my new car for almost a month and ran over 2000kms on it already... it's time for a review...
I'm going to go ahead and skip all the specs since you can find it anyway and just give my inputs on the car...
Exterior look:
With all the hate on the smiley face, I for one actually love it! I feel the design has become much more elegant. The gen 1, however does have a tougher look to it that this one, but over all I just really like the look of the gen 2 speed.
The only thing is, I'm not such a fan of the round fogs and much prefer the squared off ones myself. Minor detail that doesn't bug me enough to bother and change it.
Interior look and feel:
This is what sold me! As I've mentioned on some of my other posts, I was looking at the SI(2010 sedan) and the STI(2011 sedan). Although the STI is a better car overall. The interior doesn't have the same comfort feel and lacks the elegant design to that of the 3 and note that this car isn't any less fun to drive than an STI, but I'll talk about that in a bit. When sitting in the drivers seat, it feels like everything is just in the right place and I can comfortably and easily drive without the slightest strain on anything. (I like sitting almost straight up, but low, with the steering wheel all the way down, but the top of the wheel blocks my view to the speedometer =( )
The design is very easy on the eyes, not too busy or distracting and with just the right touch of leather (not a leather fan, I like my cloth seats) but it works very well in this car. Having the extra bit of leather in there makes the car feel a little more luxurious and with the cloth center on the seats I get what I want out of sports/racing seats, not to mention the terrible sticky leather feel on your back in the summer...won't have to worry about that!
The back seats I feel don't have much leg room for passengers which is a downfall if you're more of a family guy or drive you friends around a lot, but for me, it's actually a plus. I hate having passenger in the back!
The one thing they could have done was make BOTH front seats automatic instead of just the driver, which again, doesn't bug me too much.
Tech and Gadgets:
I'm going to start with keyless entry. I love the fact that I don't have to take out my keys or reach into my pocket to press a button to unlock the doors. Just press the button and I'm in! Minor detail though, would have looked much better if it wasn't a black rubber button, but a hard button painted to match the body colour. Maybe that's something they can do for 2012. Although annoying at times, it's nice to have a reminder that you're walking away from the car with the engine still on (not that you wouldn't know) but just neat in my opinion.
Steering wheel controls + cruise control - I find the "flick action" controls on the steering wheel to be easier to use when I'm wearing gloves compared to the press button controls, but of course doesn't look as sleek. I'm going to go with function. Love them. The cruis control, however, is a little more difficult to access. It's tucked in the inside of the wheel and is a little awkward to get to without "reaching" for them. Mazda could improve on that a little bit to make it easier to control. I love the cruise control on the Lexus RX330, very simple and easy to access.
The Bose sound system - very crisp and great sound, but for those of you who are bass junkies, you'll need to upgrade to a bigger sub. Good luck trying to keep all that trunk space though =P. I love the sound system and don't plan on changing it.
With the GPS - Initially when I test drove the car (gps wasn't set up on that one yet..?) I found the screen to be way too small and thought the gps would be terrible to use. When I finally got the chance to use it, I actually liked it. Although small, the clarity and position of it is great. Its nice that I can control it from the steering wheel when I'm driving, but with the safety feature... you can't really do much. When stopped. It's a little annoying how long it takes to scroll through letters to enter destinations, but once set the gps works very well. The info displays on the same screen are pretty good too, but I just wish it had a few more functions (ie. engine temp, tire pressure, etc... ) ----also bluetooth audio works great with my iphone along with phone calls. The voice recognition is pretty decent.
The drive:
Contrary of what others may say, and I may get people telling me "Just wait till you do it..." etc... I find this car has enough power. Yes having more is great and fun, but it's just not necessary for the street. (If you're tracking then by all means...)
I like the fact the turbo eases in instead of having such a huge impact when you hit a certain rpm, but of course the other way is more fun I have to admit
I find the car takes corners much better when you pull through it with is a lot of fun and I don't feel too much roll at all. The steering is pretty responsive and you don't really feel much understeer until you're pushing it in corners. All in all, the handling is good and responsive. Launch is pretty quick, which is expected, but the car does feel slightly sluggish from the initial start (that may be just me though).
Some reviews have said the suspension is pretty stiff, but I feel it's pretty comfortable and doesn't feel all that stiff. My last car was riding on coilovers with really stiff suspension though, so the transition for me may be a little different.
While at speeds over 90km, I feel the inside of the cabin has a little more noise than I'd expect from a new car, but that's very minor and doesn't really bug me too much.
The stock lights I find don't beam far enough and aren't quite as bright as I'd like it to be, so HIDs will be going in in the near future. They do brighten up width-wise though which is a plus. The fogs especially are so dim that it's quite useless, so that will have to be changed too.
The clutch is actually not very heavy, as some say it's a very heaving clutch. I find it to be fairly light-medium in weight.
The shifter has a short enough throw, but shorter would be better. Some times I have trouble getting into second gear, mostly when it's a colder day and the car's not warmed up yet. That's discussed in another thread though. Compared to the SI and the STI gear box, I find this one to be slightly rougher at the beginning, but after about a week or so it felt pretty smooth when shifting, so I guess it just took me some getting used to with the car.
A little long, but I'm sure I've forgotten a bunch of stuff since it's 2:30 in the morning.
If there's anything else that anyone feels is worth mentioning or have questions about any other aspects of the car... feel free to make your inputs.
I for one, can't wait til spring to really have some fun with the car! XD
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Originally Posted by Unoriginalusername
Any tints on that thing yet? Don't think I see any
