Mazda 3 2.0L Skyactiv

RENESIS VIII

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If you do some research on new BMW, their fc is very low (might even lower than manual myvi) and the throttle response is fantastic pair with the 8 speeders. Nowadays, conventional auto is not like the old day where having higher fc and slower response.
What I mean in good FC is not comparing between auto and manual variant like the cars of the older days. I mean, I want a normal modern manual transmission car with good fc. If it is a performance car, the fc won't be that good. If I want a normal car, most of the time I can't get a manual option over here.


I would like something like this as a daily car but it seems not possible to get one over here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5R5C2BpeSCY
 

ixeo

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For used German cars, I'd rather get a 328i F30 at about those price range, just a bit older.

Ic, hmm ok the Mazda 3 does seem to be the best choice in terms of spec and features but somehow I don't really dig the exterior look of it. To me it looks like misproportioned shape with the nose too long and the rear looks too short like something chopped the tail off a bit. But yeah if someone point a gun at me to choose one, I'd probably choose this Mazda 3 as well coz I also don't like the Civic with its crab claw taillight design, the boring much slower Sylphy and Altis, plus all those 3 use CVT instead of conventional auto in the Mazda 3. However I would not choose the high end spec with all the bells and whistles electronic driver aids coz they're not necessary for me, or actually can be annoying.
The 2012 328i Sport trim is rather "kosong". That'd be what I would get as well, but the 2014 328i M-Sport trim is so much nicer, with the adaptive suspension that you want.

What driver aids do you not want. Blind spot monitoring? Not useful? Auto brake to prevent collision? Not useful?

There are some enthusiasts that might want a manual for a daily driven car. Something like Lotus Elise manual are a bit unpractical to be a daily driven car. Looking at our market now, there really isn't much manual offerings to choose from if I wanted to get a new car that is comfortable by today's standards. What else can I choose? Vios and Almera manual? The Inspira 1.8 manual had already been discontinued.

Being able to get a manual variant in this segment sounds good to me. I can enjoy shifting the gears myself, experience faster throttle response and at the same time still able to enjoy all the modern features of a new car like those you mentioned earlier. And still able to get acceptable or good mileage for FC.
Some enthusiasts doesn't give enough sales to make economic sense to car distributors here to sell it.

You are the minority, you are irrelevant to them. Sooner you accept the fact and move on the better. Cars like Vios & Almera have manual simply because to make it cheaper to try and attract people to "level up" from national makes.
 

6UE5t

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The 2012 328i Sport trim is rather "kosong". That'd be what I would get as well, but the 2014 328i M-Sport trim is so much nicer, with the adaptive suspension that you want.

What driver aids do you not want. Blind spot monitoring? Not useful? Auto brake to prevent collision? Not useful?
...
I just stick to the basic model which has at least VSC & TRC, G-vectoring, ABS/EBD, and 6 airbags, that's about it. The rest I don't need so I won't spend extra on them, also to make the car simpler, reducing risks of malfunctions of those sensors later on. Not sure if this car also has that auto stop/start function if in traffic like the one in Mazda 6, that also I don't want.
 

4gbanger

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Skyactive 6spd close 1 eye can beat cvt few tiang. Talking about civicT, I just went for test drive recently and the response is so so disappointed. The only compliment to civic is it feels solid and comfort when going through the bump and rough road. Wife Mazda2 also 6spd and it beats my Lgt kaw kaw. The best part is it manages pushed me to seat when full throttle.
the best parts is, your mazda2 uses mmc ecu which can be reflash/remap tuning.. can remove speed cut(if any), set rev limiter etc...
 

ixeo

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I just stick to the basic model which has at least VSC & TRC, G-vectoring, ABS/EBD, and 6 airbags, that's about it. The rest I don't need so I won't spend extra on them, also to make the car simpler, reducing risks of malfunctions of those sensors later on. Not sure if this car also has that auto stop/start function if in traffic like the one in Mazda 6, that also I don't want.
The normal spec is what you want. I'd go for full spec because lazy. Honestly Mazda3 is like the hidden gem right now.
 

6UE5t

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The normal spec is what you want. I'd go for full spec because lazy. Honestly Mazda3 is like the hidden gem right now.
Now reading the spec list again, even the normal spec is also already a bit much for me. For example that brake assist, I don't think I need that either. But the one that I would really avoid is the lane keep assist, coz that one may resist my steering input which is a big no for me. Not sure if this function can be turned off though, but many of these functions are turned on by default hence must specially turn off if you don't want them (if that's even possible), hence becomes annoying for me.

Well not so much hidden anymore now, it's becoming quite popular car actually and nowadays aside from the new Civic or the older Altis, I see this car way more often than the new Sylphy let alone the latest facelift Altis which I cannot remember seeing one on the road!
 

hon_cs

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the best parts is, your mazda2 uses mmc ecu which can be reflash/remap tuning.. can remove speed cut(if any), set rev limiter etc...
Bro, may i know from where you got this info? MMC and subaru ecu usually tuned to richer setup. That's why can see obvious power gain after optimized via remap.



M2,3 and 6 are very good driver car. M2 suffers steering rack problem and there is no perm fix at this moment. Not sure this will happen to M3. SC will replace the parts and it will come again after a while. Also due to its i-stop function, the car requires higher Amp batt which cost Rm500++(buy outside) for M2. M3 definitely more expensive. Some owners said the batt cant last even a year for heavy usage. Also its parts are more expensive than T,H and N. When comes to service, I still don't understand why SC use semi sync oil and interval change is 10k. The different between skyactive engine and other brand is its compression way higher.
 

ixeo

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Now reading the spec list again, even the normal spec is also already a bit much for me. For example that brake assist, I don't think I need that either. But the one that I would really avoid is the lane keep assist, coz that one may resist my steering input which is a big no for me. Not sure if this function can be turned off though, but many of these functions are turned on by default hence must specially turn off if you don't want them (if that's even possible), hence becomes annoying for me.

Well not so much hidden anymore now, it's becoming quite popular car actually and nowadays aside from the new Civic or the older Altis, I see this car way more often than the new Sylphy let alone the latest facelift Altis which I cannot remember seeing one on the road!
Think of brake assist as a bigger brake servo. I don't see a negative on that. Lane keep assist can be turned off. I've never driven a car with lane keep assist so I can't comment, but like you I imagine I don't want it. Especially when you swerve to avoid an accident and lane keep assist pull you back LOL.

I see more ketam Civic on the road vs Mazda3. I guess resale value plays a big role. That CVT (fine any CVT) is stupid. Altis, lagi rare. Must be stupid to buy an Altis. Sylphy also quite rare -- the older model quite common. I think current prices Sylphy doesn't make sense since the base Teana price quite close.

Bro, may i know from where you got this info? MMC and subaru ecu usually tuned to richer setup. That's why can see obvious power gain after optimized via remap.



M2,3 and 6 are very good driver car. M2 suffers steering rack problem and there is no perm fix at this moment. Not sure this will happen to M3. SC will replace the parts and it will come again after a while. Also due to its i-stop function, the car requires higher Amp batt which cost Rm500++(buy outside) for M2. M3 definitely more expensive. Some owners said the batt cant last even a year for heavy usage. Also its parts are more expensive than T,H and N. When comes to service, I still don't understand why SC use semi sync oil and interval change is 10k. The different between skyactive engine and other brand is its compression way higher.
Interesting note on the steering rack issue. I learn something new. I'd disable start stop in non hybrids, I think its intrusive -- my experience is on a BMW F30.
 

6UE5t

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Think of brake assist as a bigger brake servo. I don't see a negative on that. Lane keep assist can be turned off. I've never driven a car with lane keep assist so I can't comment, but like you I imagine I don't want it. Especially when you swerve to avoid an accident and lane keep assist pull you back LOL.

I see more ketam Civic on the road vs Mazda3. I guess resale value plays a big role. That CVT (fine any CVT) is stupid. Altis, lagi rare. Must be stupid to buy an Altis. Sylphy also quite rare -- the older model quite common. I think current prices Sylphy doesn't make sense since the base Teana price quite close.



Interesting note on the steering rack issue. I learn something new. I'd disable start stop in non hybrids, I think its intrusive -- my experience is on a BMW F30.
Oh, I thought it will help to brake for some reason even when I'm not braking. If only bigger servo then fine but if it interrupts with my driving then I don't want. Yes the lane keep assist is like that, my colleague who has the 2.5 Mazda 6 told me like that, the steering can resist your input to swerve for some reason (maybe if it detects there's something approaching or whatever). She's also not sure if can be turned off or not (maybe not). The start-stop feature is default always on in the Mazda 6, so you need to turn it off every time starting the car if don't want, that's why that is also annoying IMHO. VW also like that.

On the Civic, people just love the look of it, seems very aggressive futuristic styling even though IMHO is too ricer and again I hate the crab claw tail lights (no offence to owners here though, just my personal honest opinion). Also it's turbo so the potential of tuning is much more and further hyped by many videos in youtube. Plus it's a Honda which is historically> Mazda. :biggrin: . Sylphy is for those who just want comfort and don't care much about anything else. Altis is just for Toyota fanatics now.
 

sweelt

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for straight lane assist. i thought it will give alarm. vibrate the butt like in citroen.
if pull us back to straight line, better off it. hehehe...
 

6UE5t

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for straight lane assist. i thought it will give alarm. vibrate the butt like in citroen.
if pull us back to straight line, better off it. hehehe...
Maybe better test drive to confirm but based on info from my colleague who has Mazda 6, it has some resistance to the steering. This is also the same like the newest generation Mark X just launched in Japan, so yeah not interested anymore.
 

ixeo

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Anyway the Mazda3 replacement should be out in 2018, most likely year end, and would come with a HCCI engine (google it). That would put it almost on par with a Prius on fuel consumption.

I only care about the power.
 

ixeo

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Test drove the Mazda 3 with G-Vectoring control...I can't tell any significant difference cause I did not test against a non-GVC M3. The engine is very rev happy, very. And the gearbox matches well with it. Floor the damn thing it downshifts aggressively very quickly, and the engine just happily climb the RPMs.

It doesn't feel slow when you floor it, at normal commuting speeds it feels powerful enough to puff along. The driver position is great. Steering is 5 stars, did I mention the seat is good? (Limpeh's boat got Recaro ok, so this is high praise). Full tilt and telescopic steering. I've spent extended time in the F30...and comparing to this Mazda 3 cockpit on the driver side, don't feel anything lacking versus the F30, except the badge. Yes the F30 8 speed ZF is superior, but the Skyactiv engine and gearbox is not lousy, just not-as-great as the 8 speed ZF. (Yalar yalar limpeh rave a lot about the 8 speed ZF, niaseng go drive it then you know why.)

I like.

I see sticker price, I walk away. Me poor. *goes back to boat*
 

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