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Sedans Honda Civic Honda Civic vs Toyota Corolla vs Mazda3
879 messages, Last post on Nov 25, 2008 at 2:57 PM
You are in the Honda Civic Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: thegraduate (Jul 10, 2007 7:19 am) In the Civic's defense, the Si's 17-inchers are both a great looking design and look fantastic on the car. In all fairness, the 16-inch wheels on the Mazda3 i Touring and s Sport Sedans are dinky looking in relation to the proportions of the car's sides, too. The 17-inch on the s Touring and Grand Touring Sedan and on all 5-doors totally change the look of the car, in my opinion. As far as noise, yes the Mazda3 isn't as quiet as the Civic. The performance-oriented tires are largely to blame. The only negative in choosing a 5-door over the sedan is that the 5-doors open cargo area makes the noise slightly worse. The sedan's trunk absorbs some of it. All Mazda3s with 17-inch wheels are delivered with a high performance tire that impacts ride quality, makes more noise and wear sooner than normal tires. Their traction is seriously reduced in rain also, something I found out the hard way. In return for all that, you get a subcompact that handles like an RX-8. A cloverleaf on-ramp near my home has a 20mph limit and I managed to hold 60mph all the way thru it when my car was new. The OEM tires were worn out at 31k miles. I decided to go with a slightly less aggressive all-season Michelin and they're much quieter and the ride is smoother also. The handling isn't scalpel-sharp anymore, but it still handles better than any vehicle I've owned before. |
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I plan on replacing the 16 inch Pirelli's on my Cobalt with Michelin also when they wear out. I may get another year out of my 2006 tires and I think the Michelins will also improve the ride. Which model Michelin's did you get? |
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Replying to: eldaino (Jul 11, 2007 5:53 am) I've always wondered why the base Mazda3's 2.0L puts out 150hp (75hp per litre), but the 2.3L is only 160hp (69.5hp per litre)? It seems like it should have at least 173hp just to match the 2.0L output. I can't discern much difference in the 2.0L I've driven compared to my 2.3L manual. The sole reason I went with the 2.3L is because I wanted the 5-door which does not offer the 2.0L. In all honesty, had the Si Sedan been available when I was in the market, it most likely would be in my driveway now instead of the Mazda3. Then again, if the Mazdaspeed3 had been available at that point, it might be out there.....what might have been......
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Replying to: igozoomzoom (Jul 11, 2007 8:06 pm) |
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and the proportions to the body of the car still seems odd to me. do you mean in porportion to the wheel size? because the wheel to body gap in the civic ex is just as tight if not tighter than that of the mazda 3 with 17's and looks much better than the 3 with the 16's. ( i know a family who has a 3 2.3 with 16's and i remember when i parked my civic next to theirs, the lines with regards to the wheel gaps was so much better looking on my car, it didn't look awkward at all.) All Mazda3s with 17-inch wheels are delivered with a high performance tire that impacts ride quality, makes more noise and wear sooner than normal tires Really? the last 3 2.3 hatch that i was looking at at a dealer had goodyear eagle rs-a's; i've never seen ANY 2.3 with actual summer performance tires (which fits your description) aside from the mazda speed 3. Heck you can even find Gti's with all seasons, and those cars have more sporting intentions than base hatchback 3's. the civics interior isn't exaclty known to be quiet; and in fact one of its bad points. (when i had mine, it was worlds better than the 01 i had traded in, but i hadn't really done any other comparisons. My rabbit on the other hand is like a museum compared to either!) But tires can transmit road noise greatly without ever being performance tires. In fact, the good year eagle rs-a's are commonly seen on civic lx's and on ex's! They are a performance (not high or very high) all-season tire, but nothing more. While i was hoping for at least 155 hp for the ex ( i still think that the ex should have been the 'se' trim that does not exist, with the k20 and standard 17's and sportier interior) but it would have had to been with a different engine and i doubt honda would have offered all the extra goodies on the 140hp lx to compensate for those who wanted better fuel economy than a civic with a more powerful engine, but still wanted the extras the ex offers. The ex is not simply cosmetic feature upgrades; it has 4 wheel disc brakes, something alone that made some people opt for the ex. me? i think they should have been standard across the line, made 2 versions of the ex (ex and ex-s (for the bigger engine version, but able to keep a 140hp ex as well)) and made the dx more of a value with regards to content instead of making it as bare bones as it is. (imagine getting a dx priced civic with the content of an lx plus 4 wheel disc breaks. honda would have had a hit within a hit!) |
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hhmmm... I have a different experience on the interior noise though. Car and driver actually shows the Civic a a little bit noisier than the 3, which is my personal experience when I'm driving my 3 and my sister's Civic. And that's with the OEM Goodyear Tires on my 3. It's not that much difference though, but still noticeable. At first, tires were slipping now and then when it rains or snows. But as time goes by and drove my 3 more and more, I got used to driving it in the rain or snow with a lot less tire slippage. Once I hit more than 25K on this vehicle, I'll replace my OEM tires with either the Avon M550 A/S or the Michelin Pilot Exalto's. Tirerack users are giving good reviews on these 2 tires with the Michelin's are lot more expensive and wears faster. Anyone have experiences with either tire? |
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I rented a Mazda3 while my 98 Corolla was in the shop this past spring. Outside of the purple color, it was a cutie with some VERY sensitive power brakes, and it's HUGE on the inside, to the point where I was surprised how much roomier it was than my Corolla. Being bluish-purple, it had dark interior, which I prefer light, and I WAS NOT a fan of the orange illumination that made me think of constantly seeing brake lights. Were it not for that, I would buy one in a heartbeat, because the visibility, surpisingly, was fantastic. The side mirrors seemed very large, and the fastback rear window really wasn't that much of a problem for me. I didn't have it long enough to find out if the seats fold down in the back. I like a car that has some utility, like my older Corolla. The hatchback would probably be OK, I just hate the styling. The sedan seems much cuter. If I had absolutely no choice, I could do a lot worse than a Mazda3 sedan. I just flat hate the looks of the Honda Civic. Too much windshield for me. However, I've never driven one. So, I really can't comment much on the latest-generation Civics! LOL The 8th generation Toyota Corollas (1998-2001) are, to me, the most elegantly designed sedans ever made. They're positively handsome and classy. Which is to say that when they redesigned the current generation (2002-present), I wasn't thrilled with the rounded tail lights, the taller stance, the ugly wheels/wheel covers. However, these newer Corollas are supposedly bigger than mine. And even though I'm less than impressed with the styling, there are other things to consider. A Corolla interior does come in beige; you don't have to have a dark interior. (Although, if they ever bring back the blue interiors I shall leap with joy!) Besides, if they're anything like their older predecessors, they last and last. Mine went eight years before things started going wrong with it. It got the H beaten out of it in a hail storm and kept on going. You can't buy that kind of service from a car. So from the sheer reliability standpoint, there's a reason Corolla is the best selling sedan ever. If you have a daughter who's working the night shift at Taco Bell, or going to night school, and is driving home on dark country roads, put her in a Corolla. It'll take care of her. I would buy another one without trepidation. So, I guess there are things to like, and things to wish had been done better, about all three cars!
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Replying to: irismg (Jul 13, 2007 7:32 pm) We almost have the same observations between the Corolla and the 3 except that I loved and preferred the 3, specifically the 5 dr, and I'm now a proud owner of one!  
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Replying to: zzoomp09 (Jul 13, 2007 10:26 pm) But I've had no real complaints on the service I've gotten from her, just turn the key and go (well, when the starter's working, LOL) with no excessive cranking and it's still running original plugs, and it'll be ten years old in November, according to the sticker on the door. I know so many people who have a car not even six months and they have to take it back to the shop. I'm thankful for this car, I'm the only owner it's had, even though it had a few miles on it when I got it it's never let me down, especially back when I was still paying for it! LOL I wanted to ask you, since you did end up with a Mazda3, did you get used to the red/orange lighting? I know that unless you do your test driving at night, nobody really takes that into account, so I'm glad that I got a chance to keep the Mazda over the weekend and really live with it. My Toyota has a nice green lighting, and I know Hyundai Elantra has a beautiful blue lighting, so I wondered what you thought of the dash lighting, that is, if you even drive much at night at all for it to even bother you. I saw one that's almost the same color of my Corolla (Sanddrift metallic - a neutral taupe color) and it looks a WHOLE lot better than the purple, especially with the lighter interior. I also thought the gear shift was odd, There was no D-2-L, but some sort of M. It was February when I had the car and I remember thinking "thank God it's not snowing, what would I do for low gear?!" So tell me also - what DO you do for low gear in the Mazda3?? |
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Replying to: irismg (Jul 14, 2007 10:08 am) When you slide the gearshift into the "M" slot, you'll notice you can tip the lever fore an aft. In this mode, the transmission operates as a manual transmission would. A display in the instrument cluster (near the speedo) indicates the gear you are in (1,2,3,4, or 5). For example, from a stop, you'd be in one. Accelerate as you would normally, but YOU decide when the automatic changes gears, by tipping the lever. This is called a "Sport Automatic" in Mazda terms. You'll hear it by many names from other automakers... Acura has this in all of its automatic-equipped cars; Mercedes-Benz, Toyota Camry V6, BMW, etc... all use this technology. "Howstuffworks.com" has an article explaining this as well. Allows manual gear changes, when desired, in an automatic transmission. Functions as a traditional automatic transmission when left in Drive, but includes a slot in which the shift lever can be moved to change gears manually. Sometimes, buttons for shifting manually through the gears are located on the steering wheel. This affords some of the advantages of a manual transmission, such as greater control of engine speed for better throttle response, but eliminates the need for a clutch pedal. I hope this clears things up. Sport-Shift/Manumatic/Automanual (all names that this may go by) is generally a desired option when people NEED automatics, but it lacks the true feel of a manual transmission.
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