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Sedans Honda Civic Honda Civic vs Mazda3
1333 messages, Last post on Jun 06, 2008 at 6:37 PM
You are in the Honda Civic Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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Replying to: eldaino (May 24, 2007 6:50 am) Actually, it is quite the opposite. The Mazda3 i is tougher to get right now. Inventory on s models is higher then the i models in most cases. go to fueleconomy.gov and look up the numbers for both of these cars....while there is a significant difference between the 2.3 and the civics engine, the 2.0 closes this gap a bit more, the civic only gets 2mpg better in the city...but the highway difference is pretty big more mpg He is not shopping the 2.3L, only the 2.0L. The 2.0L Mazda is not too far off from the 1.8L Honda. |
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| I've driven the Civic SI sedan, & liked it alot. Am going to test drive a Sentra Spec V this weekend - hopefully. Has anyone driven one of these yet, & how does it stack up to the SI? | |
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Coming from a 20 year old, I prefer the Mazda to the Civic any day. I've driven/ridden in a Civic and while I really like the split instrument panel..it just feels like a middle aged person's car. I could see my parents driving it. It reminded me of my dad's Ford Taurus. And I'm not saying by any means that the Civic is a crappy car, its a REALLY good car. Its nice...it just feels boring to me. Where as the Mazda has fun styling, amazing handling, and they stick out in a row of cars. Like I said, this is all just an opinion from someone in the market that these cars are targeting to. Maybe that's more what the comparison was considering. Obviously the Civic is a better family car, but for a college kid like me, the Mazda wins.
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Replying to: zoomzoomnole (Jun 09, 2007 3:37 pm) Haha, just goes to show how much opinions can differ. I'm a college kid myself, and think the Mazda 3 is a very nice, great handling, very conventional looking sedan. The Civic has a style to it that Mazda doesn't. The Civic isn't derivative looking, something I can't say for the 3. I've driven both, and know completely that the Mazda 3 is a great handler, but the Civic is too (capable of probably 90% of what the Mazda is). Add in the fact that the Civic's tires don't scream when driving down the interstate, and the interior isn't incredibly dark (the Mazda 3s I drove was blue outside, BLACK inside. Very dour looking, and lacking in contrast. For a college kid like me, the Honda wins. Just goes to show that there are different attitudes in each category of people sa well. I commute to school everyday on a rough interstate, and the drone of the road noise would just be a bit much, when coupled with the bumpier suspension. By the way, i'm not a Civic owner (at 6'4", both are a bit small for me to live with every day). Have a great weekend... TheGrad |
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Ah, well, everyone has their own opinion especially when it comes to cars. I don't have to commute to school, so I don't have to worry about the "screaming" on the highway. And I hate light interior. So the dark isn't an issue for me. I was just saying in general the Mazda is more fun than the Civic, which is probably a little more practical. And I think when the comparison was written (I saw a lot of people complaining) it was written from the POV of people who would be looking for a more fun, sporty-er car. I mean I see kids around campus with these giant trucks and I'm wondering how anyone would squeeze those into the tiny parking spaces, but hey, i guess that's their thing.
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Replying to: zoomzoomnole (Jun 09, 2007 7:40 pm) I KNOW! I live in Alabama, and commute to UAB (Alabama at B'ham) which is downtown, so parking is quite limited, yet the number of large SUVs and pickups never ceases to amaze me. As I re-read something in your post, I can't help but make this point regarding the Mazda. It is MORE practical in the "room" department. More headroom and legroom due to the overall shape of the vehicle. The sleek Civic means I can't ride in the back seat without slouching, and when I slouch, my limited legroom shrinks even more (although I've only ridden in the EX model with a sunroof, it probably wouldn't be any problem in an LX wihtout a sunroof). So, props to Mazda in that regard. I hope it wasn't taken that I was slamming the Mazda around for its "conventional" looks. I drive one of the most conventional things on the road, but if I were shopping for a smaller car, I'd likely pick the Civic because of characteristics mentioned previously...the same characteristics my car shares (sporty, but not too firm for me, and quieter than its sportier competitor as well, with the nicer interior in my opnion - all of this is subjective though, so take what I say with a grain of salt!  )
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Replying to: thegraduate (Jun 09, 2007 11:36 pm) a split dash desing and star wars styling just makes me scratch my head when people liken it to their dads taurus?  to zoomzoomnole; the reason a lot of folks complained about the mazda 3/civic comparo was because of the articles misleading nature; it was supposed to be about economy cars, and the civic should have won in that regard; it was well built, quality materials, nice ride and got 7 mpg better than the 3. Yet all of this was mentioned as an after thought. Then to top it off, they tested a 3 that was A LOT more expensive than the civic, decked out with leather and the like, and then commented on how the civics interior was not as nice, and then said it to just mentally delete the added cost of all the options and you have a comparably priced car. Do i like a sporty drive? yes i sure do. And the 3 is great at that! But why not compare it to the si if thats where your true priorities lie? The reason is simple; the si is a faster, better handling car than the 3 and just as funcional. Ofcourse, after the si sedan debuted, the mazdaspeed 3 came out, AND THEN it was ok to throw the si into the mix.  and another .
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Replying to: eldaino (Jun 11, 2007 8:41 am) But, maybe you are focusing on the interior, which def is less conventional. As for the original article: Edmunds used the title of economy because that's the traditional name for cars branded with the Civic/corolla nameplate. But, neither the Civic or 3 are really 'economy' cars anymore. Their quality and size are comparable or exceed those of midsize cars from less than a decade ago. Their price also is closer to 20,000 than 15,000. If you want true economy these days, there's a whole new B segment of cars. Also, I believe when the comparo was done, there was no Civic Si sedan (only coupe). So, it wouldn't have been a apples to apples comparison. As you mentioned, soon after the Si sedan was introduced to the states, Mazda introduced the Speed3. So, there wasn't really a time when the top 4 door vehicles from either company in this segment was the Si sedan and 3s.
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And agree with some of the comments...but not all. Funny though, I drive the Civic and the wife drive the 3s. She likes the "zoom zoom" and I prefer the economy and the split dash. We've been Toyota and Nissan folks before this, but we're both quite happy with our current rides. The Sandman
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Replying to: socal2006 (Jun 11, 2007 3:42 pm) Sometimes people associate bland with seeing a car often, and you probably do see slightly more civics than 3's...but that still doesn't change the civics unorthodox design. true, there was only an si coupe, but there was probably enough time to do a comparo before the speed 3 came along. I just knew it wasn't going to happen. Just like testing the civic type r sedan wont happen, a car that while maybe not as quick 0-60 would pretty much obliterate the mazda with regards to driving purity and handling. (a civic that laps faster than an s2k? yeah, amazing.) if there is a whole slew of b-segment cars that are the new 'economy' cars, then the title was still a bit on the tricky side. And REGARDLESS of the title, the civic DOES pack more 'economy' and frugality than the 3. |
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