Dang, the new Mazda 3 2.5 is great

Last week I was lamenting to a coworker that nobody makes a car like the original B13 Sentra SE-R anymore. Just a basic unpretentious economy car with a great drivetrain, great seats, and great handling. Nissan's own options are way behind the pack at this point and everyone else's performance compact models seem to have turbos and body kits and kinda lack subtlety. I've begun shopping to replace my Fit and stopped at the Mazda dealer a few days ago.

Dear lord I'm smitten with the new 3 and that 2.5 engine.

It's the first thing I've driven in a long time that reminded me of the old SE-R. Of course all modern cars look kinda silly but the 3 is relatively mundane compared to something like a Focus ST or even the plain Civic hatch. Great naturally aspirated four with a linear power band, great seats and wonderful steering. The fuel economy is just icing on the cake. I really wish Mazda would sell you the drivetrain in a less-optioned car as the 3 Club or something like that, but alas. Definitely think one of these is gonna be my next car.

Anyone else been behind the wheel of the new 3 with the big engine?

Haven't driven one yet, but will admit considering a used automatic Grand Touring hatch as my next daily driver.

I looked over one in the parking lot the other day. I like the layout. On top of that I had a friend who is a gigantic car snob nearly buy one after having one for a rental. He talked himself out of it in the end, but he still raves at how good it was.

Haven't driven one but I've considered the 2.5 Hatch as a much more practical and economical DD to replace driving the BRZ.

But I also have the desire to do something like buy a BMW M2 with the DCT gearbox.

Only nearly 2x the price!

I should also add that I drove a 6 Touring 6-speed while I was there. Despite being yuuuuuge (holy crap "mid-size" cars are monstrous these days!) it felt surprisingly athletic and seemed like a wonderful place to spend time. Definitely more grown-up than the 3 though, which just felt effortlessly fast. The big-ass tach in the center of the 3 gauge cluster was pretty nifty too

Mazda is building great cars. Our CX5 with the 2.5 is about to roll over 100k and has been faultless thus far.

GREAT little car. And I agree about the SE-R Sentra comparison.

Take a long test drive.

I bought a white 2015 3 sport 6 speed manual hatchback 2 years ago but unloaded it after 3 months for a huge loss.... because the seats just wrecked my back after an hour of driving. Otherwise, I loved everything about it. I have no doubt the 2.5 would have been fantastic.

[I'm really tall so my seat experience may be far different than yours]

pointofdeparture wrote: The big-ass tach in the center of the 3 gauge cluster was pretty nifty too

Huh. Every new 3 hatch I've sat in has a huge speedo in the middle and an itsy bitsy teeny tiny tach on the left. The instruments are the only thing that turns me off on the new 3. My '09 3 hatch has nice big analog dials with a sizeable tach even though it's an autotragic. Is there some option package on the new one that nets you a better cluster? (hope, hope)

In reply to mblommel:

The '15-16 2.5 engine cars replace the speedo with a big analog tach. From '17 on it has to be a 2.5 Grand Touring but you can still get it.

3 Hatchback S, T or GT is high on my Sportwagen replacement list. I've read and watched reviews until I'm cross eyed. T or GT 6 is up there too. It's going to come down to size/room, but I'd much prefer to have the hatch.

If we could get a 6 wagon that'd be the clear winner for me.

The current Mazda6 wagon is so beautiful. I hate that we don't get it here.

Ive seen it written that there are only two manufacturers that build some level of sporting pretension into EVERY model they make, Mazda and Porsche.

My interest in Mazda was reawakened when they released the original 3. I've had one of those, a 626 GT, 1g and 2g MX6s, and an NA Miata. Still have the 626. Gotta love Mazda.

We drove a 3 2.0 last year. It was a nice car and seemed to drive nice, but seemed slow. I'm sure the 2.5 would wake that car up. We decided to go used and bought a 2008 focus. Still miss the idea of a 3, such a pretty car. The hatch is one of the prettier cars out there, really at any price point.

There's one place the 3 falls woefully short, it's not RWD

carguy123 wrote: There's one place the 3 falls woefully short, it's not RWD

While potentially true, all the cars in that category are not rwd, at least that I can think of. So I wouldn't say it's falling short, as it's typical for the breed lol. Does anyone make a rwd four door with a four cyl?

joey48442 wrote:

carguy123 wrote: There's one place the 3 falls woefully short, it's not RWD

Does anyone make a rwd four door with a four cyl?

If they do, they don't sell it in the US.

I'm enjoying the fact that I don't currently have any car payments, but if I were in the market, this would be the perfect car for my family. Currently we have two SUVs and a sports car. I'd love to have a car that offered most of the sports of the sports car as well as most of the utility of a small SUV.

pointofdeparture wrote: In reply to mblommel: The '15-16 2.5 engine cars replace the speedo with a big analog tach. From '17 on it has to be a 2.5 Grand Touring but you can still get it.

NICE! I should add this to the TIL thread.

We only have the 2.0, but it's still super fun to toss into corners and has great steering feel for an electric rack.

When I drove the 2.0 I didn't feel like it was particularly lacking, but then my DD is an E39 525i, which people often criticize as underpowered. As long as it was kept in the middle of the rev range or above it seemed happy to play.

Duke wrote:

joey48442 wrote:

carguy123 wrote: There's one place the 3 falls woefully short, it's not RWD

Does anyone make a rwd four door with a four cyl?

If they do, they don't sell it in the US.

Mazda already even has the perfect platform to build it on.

Much like bigdaddylee82, I definitely see the 3 (2.5 6MT) hatch or maybe 6 (especially if ever offered in 6MT wagon) as top contenders for replacing my Fit.

Is this as good as the Mazda2 was? That car never failed to make me happy and I miss it.

In reply to mazdeuce:

I would say better in every way. I drove a 2 before buying my Fit and while I liked it, there is little comparison between it and the new 3, especially with the big motor.

A year ago, my dad bought a Grand Touring with the 2.5 and 6-speed auto. It's utterly fantastic. Great steering, nice engine, great handling, the auto is the best I've driven, the fuel consumption is wonderful, the interior is really nice. It's hard to believe it's a compact "entry level" car.

On a twisty road, it actually reminded me of my E36 M3 in the way it handled, just with different wheels driven.

Does anyone make a rwd four door with a four cyl?

Actually, there are many now. But they are mostly entry-lux models like Cadillac ATS, Lexus IS, Lexus GS, etc.