Mazda3 vs Civic
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Mazda3 vs Civic
I went with the 'vic because of a lower price and cheaper financing, which is more important than performance for me on a work car. If it was for personal usage, I would have gone with the Mazda.
If you had to buy a new car today, would you still go with a Civic or the Mazda3?
If you had to buy a new car today, would you still go with a Civic or the Mazda3?
Last edited by qfinger; Jan 24, 2005 at 03:00 PM.
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Originally Posted by stroked_monkey
mazda3's are decent but they just look to ... somethin, civic is way sexier.
ive driven a few 3's before and yeah the interior is nicer then ours, 3 spoke steering wheel kinda nicehas tiptronic which is kinda cool, the 3 I think looks better in the right color. But it isnt as good as our cars on gas and when your driving into the damn Toronto core everyday its something I need.
wouldn't trust mazda too much on reliability,
the wagon version seems practicle, doesn't look too bad either
wouldn't trust mazda too much on reliability,
the wagon version seems practicle, doesn't look too bad either
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F that dood did neone c the pointyness of the mazdas rear hatch. if you look at its profile view it just..eh. ah well it prolly is funner 2 drive but just wait for the
Audi 3series!!!
Audi 3series!!!
The Mazda 3 is a nice car but i think we got the better hp/weight ration so i think performance wise it's pretty even unless you bump up to the 160 hp engine, correct me if i'm wrong. i can't wait until this summer/fall when my gf pics up a white Mazda 3 sedan. Looks caaaaaaleean.
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My father and I were debating which of these two vehicles would be my car.The 3's look good, but in the long run, I would rather have the Honda, because our aftermarket will be much bigger.
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Rep Power: 0 Mazda3 IMO looks way better, interior is waaaay better. My g/f tested one this saturday and it's nice, inside and out. Engine is a work horse too, smooth as butter and handling is crazy, the turning radius is sick!
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Rep Power: 0 new focus us fugly thou..3 is 3 yrs younger in compared to our vic so everything should be better, i have no regret getting my vic thou. But IMO if you are just getting the car now maybe you can consider the 3, or can wait a little longer for the new vic.. 
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Rep Power: 0 As someone who traded in their Civic EX (Canadian Si, automatic) for a Mazda3 GT (sedan, 5spd, 2.3L engine), let me just correct some things here.
The car doesn't look best stock, but if you order a darker colour (esp. the new carbon grey, which is a dark dark grey), slap on a tint and some nice rims, the car looks completely different. Also, there are some JDM parts from the Axela (read: Japanese Mazda 3) that look rather nice on the NA version, esp. the rear tails. After a while the rear grows on you and even if you don't like it, the interior of the car, IMO, is much better than the Civic, w. steering wheel mounted audio controls, a better looking center stack and supportive seats.
Now this isn't a site for grannies, so I'll address performance. I've become a really big fan of the MZ3 (2.3L) engine, unlike our 1.7L you don't have to rev this shyte out of it to get it to move and it has torque, I wouldn't call 2.3L a big block, compared to other cars in its class, say a tC or a Sentra SE-R. The engine is extremely quiet, extremely smooth (balance shafts) and shifts very nicely. Clutch feel is good and gear shifts are precise.
Suspension-wise, Car and Driver recorded the 3 pulling 0.87g (or was it 0.89, I think that may have been the RX-8) , which, taking into account the stock tires (which are better than the Civic stock tires Firestones vs Eagle RS-A, or Toyos on the non-GFX version w. the 16" rim) is pretty damn good. Multilink in the back, MacPhersons up front, very rigid body structure, I must say I'm impressed overall, compared to the Civic I'd say cornering is better. Turning radius was already mentioned earlier on.
Aftermarket-wise, no, there isn't a whole lot available, but what is available is very promising. Aftermarket CAI systems are yielding impressive numbers vs our Civics and exhaust and header testing (prelim. mostly) is also yielding high number. I would safely bet the a good I/H/E combo could easily yield another 15HP out of the engine. Balance shaft delete kits are also available to free up a few more HP. Also, early testing of turbo kits has shown v. impressive results, up around 260HP versus the stock 160HP, turbo test I -believe- was at 6psi, but as I'm on a workstation I can't double check that at present.
I'm sure someone is going to come and correct everyone calling the 3 a Focus. The 3 is not related to the Focus, the body is completely different, designed independantly by Mazda, as is the engine, the only major FoMoCo component to the best of my knowledge is the engine block itself, but I've never heard of Ford having defective engine blocks, so that isn't of concern. Ford -is- using the Mazda chasis in the next generation Focus, but as it stands we may not see that chasis in NA for a few more years and the chasis itself was designed -by- Mazda and is also used in the Volvo S40 (which also has superior handling/ride). Ford has a stake in Mazda, but more or less keeps it's hands off design, it will borrow parts, etc. but never dictate how they are made.
Lastly, at least the 3 truly qualifies as an import as they are still made in Japan, unlike our Civics which are by and large made in North America. Sorry for the length of the post, just thought I'd be thorough.
The car doesn't look best stock, but if you order a darker colour (esp. the new carbon grey, which is a dark dark grey), slap on a tint and some nice rims, the car looks completely different. Also, there are some JDM parts from the Axela (read: Japanese Mazda 3) that look rather nice on the NA version, esp. the rear tails. After a while the rear grows on you and even if you don't like it, the interior of the car, IMO, is much better than the Civic, w. steering wheel mounted audio controls, a better looking center stack and supportive seats.
Now this isn't a site for grannies, so I'll address performance. I've become a really big fan of the MZ3 (2.3L) engine, unlike our 1.7L you don't have to rev this shyte out of it to get it to move and it has torque, I wouldn't call 2.3L a big block, compared to other cars in its class, say a tC or a Sentra SE-R. The engine is extremely quiet, extremely smooth (balance shafts) and shifts very nicely. Clutch feel is good and gear shifts are precise.
Suspension-wise, Car and Driver recorded the 3 pulling 0.87g (or was it 0.89, I think that may have been the RX-8) , which, taking into account the stock tires (which are better than the Civic stock tires Firestones vs Eagle RS-A, or Toyos on the non-GFX version w. the 16" rim) is pretty damn good. Multilink in the back, MacPhersons up front, very rigid body structure, I must say I'm impressed overall, compared to the Civic I'd say cornering is better. Turning radius was already mentioned earlier on.
Aftermarket-wise, no, there isn't a whole lot available, but what is available is very promising. Aftermarket CAI systems are yielding impressive numbers vs our Civics and exhaust and header testing (prelim. mostly) is also yielding high number. I would safely bet the a good I/H/E combo could easily yield another 15HP out of the engine. Balance shaft delete kits are also available to free up a few more HP. Also, early testing of turbo kits has shown v. impressive results, up around 260HP versus the stock 160HP, turbo test I -believe- was at 6psi, but as I'm on a workstation I can't double check that at present.
I'm sure someone is going to come and correct everyone calling the 3 a Focus. The 3 is not related to the Focus, the body is completely different, designed independantly by Mazda, as is the engine, the only major FoMoCo component to the best of my knowledge is the engine block itself, but I've never heard of Ford having defective engine blocks, so that isn't of concern. Ford -is- using the Mazda chasis in the next generation Focus, but as it stands we may not see that chasis in NA for a few more years and the chasis itself was designed -by- Mazda and is also used in the Volvo S40 (which also has superior handling/ride). Ford has a stake in Mazda, but more or less keeps it's hands off design, it will borrow parts, etc. but never dictate how they are made.
Lastly, at least the 3 truly qualifies as an import as they are still made in Japan, unlike our Civics which are by and large made in North America. Sorry for the length of the post, just thought I'd be thorough.
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Rep Power: 0 I forgot to mention the 4 wheel disc brakes (read: amazing stopping distance), included roadside assistance and better cost-to-performance ratio vs most any other import on the market right now...
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Rep Power: 300 I rode in the 3, so much better. The whole inside just looked like an expensive sports car and lit up and everything. I was also very imressed with how solid the ride was, took corners very quick and easily. I'd get it over the vic. Everyone and reliability. We are all acting like we are keeping our cars till like 200k.
I like the performance of the 3, but I'm not as convinced with the styling. We have one up at school and I've always thought the hood and trunk are a little bulged. The 3 will certainly make the next Civic a much better car though. Competition is always good.
The Mazda3 is a wake up call for the 8th generation civic. I could not see myself driving a Mazda but I have a certain respect for what they are. I am hoping that the new Civic will offer far more then the current Mazda3 in terms of performance and drivability. The 7thgen civic is in its final production year so it is difficult to compare to the new Mazda3. Mazda3 Interior styling wins hands down. Stock to stock performance wise the Mazda3 wins. In terms of fuel economy and proven reliability, emissions, and safety I believe that the civic still leads...correct me if I am wrong. Build quality on the the civic is still better, I believe, as well.
Last edited by 02ciVike; Jan 24, 2005 at 10:33 PM.
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mazda3 and sciontc are just better cars than the civic. It's really not fair to compare them as they are a class up. Civics are down with kia, hyundai, etc while mazda3 is up with si, scion, etc. Imo I'll take my civic, but the 3 really does look nice and I would've been happy with the 2.3l and all the extras. If my civic weren't all modded out, I would be considering something better and faster about now.
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Rep Power: 328 As mentioned, the Mazda 3 is a better overall value than the civic. In the performance aspect of things, it excels in all things over the civic. Build quality, is actually better than the civic. Chalk it up to where it was built, but you'll find that body panels do not have as large of gaps as they do on the civic. As far as the Focus comments, the new focus uses Mazda design, and not the other way around. There are some components in the engine that Mazda opted to borrow from Ford in order to keep manufacturing simplicity.
If it wasn't for the fact that Honda gave me a better deal on my trade for my 2001 civic, I would have a 3 instead of a 2004 civic, but eh, who cares my mom drives it. (It's just in my name)
But if you're really into performance, the Protege is an all around better car. Granted, the Mazda 3 handles better out of the box than the Protege did, but the Protege did not come with equally decent tires. The 3 is a good bit heavier than the Protege, plus the FS20DE motors are quite stout and proven. They've been used since Mazda built them for Ford's Probe, and Mazda's Sport 20 uses the FS20ZE engine which was a Protege 5 with AWD, and higher performance cams. (Japan only.) Add in the possibility of turbo from hiboost, and many many proteges are hitting 13's without problem, plus the suspension on the older proteges wasn't as "average user friendly" and was easier to tune for the track. Tripoint engineering has been spanking the BMW 3 series in the speed world challenge quite consistently with Proteges.
I like the Mazda 3 in that it has the best value and most options with decent performance in its current class. In fact, I think it is still the best handling cars in its class. Mazda knows steering and handling. However, I would much rather have a Mazdaspeed Protege, MP3, Protege 5, or even a regular Protege, for reason I already explained.
If it wasn't for the fact that Honda gave me a better deal on my trade for my 2001 civic, I would have a 3 instead of a 2004 civic, but eh, who cares my mom drives it. (It's just in my name)
But if you're really into performance, the Protege is an all around better car. Granted, the Mazda 3 handles better out of the box than the Protege did, but the Protege did not come with equally decent tires. The 3 is a good bit heavier than the Protege, plus the FS20DE motors are quite stout and proven. They've been used since Mazda built them for Ford's Probe, and Mazda's Sport 20 uses the FS20ZE engine which was a Protege 5 with AWD, and higher performance cams. (Japan only.) Add in the possibility of turbo from hiboost, and many many proteges are hitting 13's without problem, plus the suspension on the older proteges wasn't as "average user friendly" and was easier to tune for the track. Tripoint engineering has been spanking the BMW 3 series in the speed world challenge quite consistently with Proteges.
I like the Mazda 3 in that it has the best value and most options with decent performance in its current class. In fact, I think it is still the best handling cars in its class. Mazda knows steering and handling. However, I would much rather have a Mazdaspeed Protege, MP3, Protege 5, or even a regular Protege, for reason I already explained.
Last edited by nookiemonster; Jan 24, 2005 at 10:18 PM.
According to J.D. Power and associates
Comparing 2004 Civic to 2004 Mazda3
Civic Interior/Exterior build quality is better.
Civic Overall Quality is better.
Civic Mechanical Quality is better.
http://www.jdpower.com/cc/auto/jdpa_...ndJdAwards.jsp
to find out more about vehicle Quality and Satisfaction
http://www.jdpa.com/businessservices...us_studies.asp
Honda Civic resale value is better as well
Comparing 2004 Civic to 2004 Mazda3
Civic Interior/Exterior build quality is better.
Civic Overall Quality is better.
Civic Mechanical Quality is better.
http://www.jdpower.com/cc/auto/jdpa_...ndJdAwards.jsp
to find out more about vehicle Quality and Satisfaction
http://www.jdpa.com/businessservices...us_studies.asp
Honda Civic resale value is better as well
Last edited by 02ciVike; Jan 24, 2005 at 10:52 PM.
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Originally Posted by nookiemonster
Add in the possibility of turbo from hiboost, and many many proteges are hitting 13's without problem
I mentioned turbo development in my earlier post, HiBoost is testing a turbo right now (http://www.mazda3forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=12837) getting 240whp (250ft/lbs) on 7.5psi on an automatic 2.3L Mazda 6 (read: same engine as 2.3L in MZ3) and though I'm aware the 2.0L from the Protege put out respectable number w. a turbo from the same company as well, I still think those are good numbers. The number for the 3 though I don't believe have been finely tuned (fuel management and timing I think is still preliminary) and the car itself I believe is stock. So add an exhaust, assume the tranny is a 5spd and proper timing/fuel management ought to yield even better results.
I'll be the last one to put down the old Protege, but from what I've seen, the 3 really has a lot of potential, its too bad extensive aftermarket support doesn't exist yet like some newer cars *cough* tC *cough*.
