Once you've driven a BMW, it's hard to let go.
It's been 2 months and 7100km already. Admittedly, I had a couple more long weekend trips so the rate of driving will decrease, if only slightly. But I have put the car through its paces.
Day to day: As a daily driver or even a road trip car, this car is very good. Urban fuel consumption with the regenerative braking is down in the low 7s l/100km (+/- 33 US mpg). Annoyingly, true highway driving, I'm talking speeds of 120-160km/h (74-100mph) will yield the same results. Only on a perfectly flat plain, driving an even 100km/h (62mph) will you hope to achieve the quoted 6,1 l/100km (39 US mpg). Statistics aside, this is a very good day-to-day car. Rides well, won't beat you up, seats are good, build quality is good with no rattles, and the ACC is great for many situations, except it will only set a speed up to 145km/h (90mph) which is annoying. EU vehicles are programmed up to the full 200km/h (124mph) allowance.
Annoyances: This car feels fragile. Mazda was very focused on weight reduction. The windshield is thin and will crack rapidly if there is a small rock strike- I had to replace mine (600 $) within 3 weeks. Do a search, the CX-5 and Mazda 3 both suffer. Doors are thinner than paper. Paint is thin and well....."orange peel" on both sides of the car.
. I am a careful guy, but if you like to slam doors and chuck things around, this isn't the car for you. The fragility and weight loss is funny, because the Golf is only about 50kg heavier.
The Drive: This is an 8/10ths car. 95% of the populace will never complain. It is tossable, understeer is well controlled, and the brakes feel like a BMW's. If you drive fast but socially responsibly, this car is very good.
But at the absolute limits, where you're driving nearly like you're on the track, this is where German engineering still trumphs. Whereas both BMWs and the VW Golf platform seem to encourage you to drive faster, and seem to "shrink" the faster you throw them around corners, the Mazda 3 can get flustered. There is too much weight shifting around, the chassis can get unsettled if you're clumsy with the pedals, and it never totally inspires confidence. I feel my tires are doing the handling, not the chassis. The steering is spot on but the suspension is just......off. Perhaps it works on a track, but on mountain roads going flat out, I've learned to drive at 8/10ths because any more it becomes too much effort.
As a result, this brings me to my point. With the BMWs, I find myself in awe at the tuning, saying aloud, "Wow, this is so balanced" and "This a very, very good car". You enjoy driving it very, very fast and the car sings and think back upon a mountain drive as "wow that was excellent". With the Mazda 3, I still enjoy driving it fast but it never seems to nudge you to go around bends at 90km/h, the engine's a tad coarse so you don't really want to hold it at 5000rpm too long, and worse, you're never cackling with laughter at the end of a drive.
The good news is that both my parents still drive German cars, like my mother with the E90. And you can be sure, they will continue to stick with German cars.
Although I have driven many mountain roads, here is some from today:
