General Comments:
This has to be one of the best handling cars on the road today- it has no body roll. This means the ride is firm especially in the back.
The 1.6i engine is refined and quick enough.
Seats are well padded- not too firm, not too soft, excellent comfort.
Spec is high with climate and sunroof, traction, alloys, leather wheel, 4 airbags.
The high rear seat is 50/50 split and slides back and forward- very useful idea and gives a good view.
Front headrest for driver moves forward and back to stop neck ache- excellent.
The sound system is very poor- volume does not go up enough, though wheel controls are cool.
Biggest problem is body rigidity. The front doors and roof are very flexible and shudder when any door is closed. The doors feel very lightweight and almost flimsy. This is not normal for Mazda and our newly acquired 1996 model has much more solid panels.
Overall it is a lovely car, ideal for deterring people from driving fast at motorway speeds because there is quite a bit of road noise on some surfaces and the revs always seem quite high, i.e. 5000rpm at 100mph.
Looks good from the front as ours has a front spoiler and is in starry blue mica- probably the best, least dowdy colour!
16th Apr 2009, 08:37
Did you say "great on gas"? What are your real consumption figures please - i.e. km per litre or how many litres per 100km say (could be in mpg).
I have 4-door saloon 1999 Protege (1.6 litre, auto trans) and I make about 10-11 kn/litre without the use of AC and with careful, regulated right foot in town. On highways and less busy country roads, cruising at regulated speed (90-100km/h) I can average 13.5- 14.4km/l.
My only worry is fuel consumption (tight pocket!) 14.4km/l.
Overall, reliability of the car is without question and I'd go for another Mazda 3 or Protege equivalent in future, preferably a diesel (2.0 turbo) or the modern smooth 1.6l 108bhp TDCI as seen in the Ford Focus.