Dubcee
10-04-2009, 01:52 AM
Just brought home my new used 2006 Mazda 3 Sport GS a couple of weeks ago!
http://alanspics1.homestead.com/files/noplate.jpg
Brings smiles to my face daily. Was quite an exhausting search to figure out I wanted it though. In the back you can see the car it replaced, a lovely 20 year old Volvo 740. Given that it was starting to go last year, I had an entire year to scope out cars. With an appetite for corners, it telling me to drive it rather than having to tell it to drive (henceforth referred to as a soul), great interior and nice styling, it came out on top. What did it beat?
Subaru Impreza - 2nd place. Didn't look as good, wasn't as fun a drive, interior was not as good.
Suzuki SX4 - 3rd place. Has a 2.0 litre engine and has less hp and torque than Mazda's 2.3L, in a smaller car (but similar weight), yet uses the same amount of fuel. Interior wasn't as good, and while it was a fun drive taking 11s to get to 100km/h is painful. Felt less secure on highways. Despite all this, the car had enough soul to make James Brown weep. This thing wanted to go.
The rest:
Toyota Matrix XR - No soul. It would go, but it sure as hell didn't want to
Volvo S60 - I have felt more connected to the road in an airplane than this thing
Volvo S40 - Too expensive for what you get, rear seats for children only.
Volvo C30 - See above
Nissan Versa - looks alone failed out this one, the only car in this list I didn't test drive.
Chevrolet Cobalt/Pontiac G5 - ok drive, but reliability issues and a horrifically cheap interior ruined it
Chevrolet Malibu - felt like a land yacht, have fun seeing out the back window, inferior build quality (if I press a button on the roof, the entire roof should not move up with it!)
Honda Fit - decent little city car, not so fun on the highways
Saturn Astra - Weird turn signal controls, lack of get-up-and-go, uncomfortable seats
Honda Accord Coupe - i could possibly settle into one when I'm 40, but not in my 20's. Nothing wrong with the car itself, just felt too young for it.
Toyota Corolla S/XRS - such a numb drive. Again it had the power to be capable but lacked the soul to pull it off.
Acura TSX - Drives alright, but you want me to pay how much for a jdm accord!?
Kia Forte - decent looks, but the interior felt cheap and i still don't trust that badge entirely
Ford Focus - Another soulless appliance
Honda Civic - two tiered dash ruined it for me. There's just something about the needle that makes the car seem more alive. It felt wrong to go over the speed limit in this car even by a single km/h.
Dodge Avenger - never have I felt INSULTED to drive a car before. Interior by Tupperware, no soul, horrendous visibility, subpar drive. The D stands for "Do not want".
Suzuki Aerio - so-so interior and bloated fish looks killed it for me, but a surprisingly competent car.
http://alanspics1.homestead.com/files/noplate.jpg
Brings smiles to my face daily. Was quite an exhausting search to figure out I wanted it though. In the back you can see the car it replaced, a lovely 20 year old Volvo 740. Given that it was starting to go last year, I had an entire year to scope out cars. With an appetite for corners, it telling me to drive it rather than having to tell it to drive (henceforth referred to as a soul), great interior and nice styling, it came out on top. What did it beat?
Subaru Impreza - 2nd place. Didn't look as good, wasn't as fun a drive, interior was not as good.
Suzuki SX4 - 3rd place. Has a 2.0 litre engine and has less hp and torque than Mazda's 2.3L, in a smaller car (but similar weight), yet uses the same amount of fuel. Interior wasn't as good, and while it was a fun drive taking 11s to get to 100km/h is painful. Felt less secure on highways. Despite all this, the car had enough soul to make James Brown weep. This thing wanted to go.
The rest:
Toyota Matrix XR - No soul. It would go, but it sure as hell didn't want to
Volvo S60 - I have felt more connected to the road in an airplane than this thing
Volvo S40 - Too expensive for what you get, rear seats for children only.
Volvo C30 - See above
Nissan Versa - looks alone failed out this one, the only car in this list I didn't test drive.
Chevrolet Cobalt/Pontiac G5 - ok drive, but reliability issues and a horrifically cheap interior ruined it
Chevrolet Malibu - felt like a land yacht, have fun seeing out the back window, inferior build quality (if I press a button on the roof, the entire roof should not move up with it!)
Honda Fit - decent little city car, not so fun on the highways
Saturn Astra - Weird turn signal controls, lack of get-up-and-go, uncomfortable seats
Honda Accord Coupe - i could possibly settle into one when I'm 40, but not in my 20's. Nothing wrong with the car itself, just felt too young for it.
Toyota Corolla S/XRS - such a numb drive. Again it had the power to be capable but lacked the soul to pull it off.
Acura TSX - Drives alright, but you want me to pay how much for a jdm accord!?
Kia Forte - decent looks, but the interior felt cheap and i still don't trust that badge entirely
Ford Focus - Another soulless appliance
Honda Civic - two tiered dash ruined it for me. There's just something about the needle that makes the car seem more alive. It felt wrong to go over the speed limit in this car even by a single km/h.
Dodge Avenger - never have I felt INSULTED to drive a car before. Interior by Tupperware, no soul, horrendous visibility, subpar drive. The D stands for "Do not want".
Suzuki Aerio - so-so interior and bloated fish looks killed it for me, but a surprisingly competent car.