Posted: 5/17/2026 6:46:12 PM EDT
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Any feedback on the Mazda sedan, or hatchbacks Got that itch. |
| I have owned a Mazda Protege 5 hatchback, Mazda 3 Hatch, and currently own two Mazda CX-5's. The Protege 5 was a great car until totaled. I ran the 3 Hatch from new to the junkyard. The engine and transmission was still in great shape, but the body was rusted to hell. But this was 15 years ago. I think Mazda are great vehicles, and they have made some great improvements to their bodywork to help prevent rusting out. Their paint is still a bit on the thin side for Ohio roads. I would have no issues buying a new 3 hatch, they look awesome. I would wrap the front end in PPF if I would get a new one. |
Well, I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison....
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Originally Posted By Slingblade2006: I have owned a Mazda Protege 5 hatchback, Mazda 3 Hatch, and currently own two Mazda CX-5's. The Protege 5 was a great car until totaled. I ran the 3 Hatch from new to the junkyard. The engine and transmission was still in great shape, but the body was rusted to hell. But this was 15 years ago. I think Mazda are great vehicles, and they have made some great improvements to their bodywork to help prevent rusting out. Their paint is still a bit on the thin side for Ohio roads. I would have no issues buying a new 3 hatch, they look awesome. I would wrap the front end in PPF if I would get a new one. We had a protege back in the late 90s. Thats what me and my sister learned to drive on. It was a PoS. Constantly throwing CEL codes even though nothing was wrong. Then the code would clear itself after 50 or so miles. The car was in decent shape, but some lady backed into my in a parking lot and dented the door. Thats all it took to total it. My wife and aunt both have mazda 3s. They like them. Those cars seem much better made than the old protege PoS. The wife's did have an issue where it would burp fuel back at you when you filled it. Ended up being a clogged vent line. Hers is from around 2014. The built-in hands free and bluetooth stuff is pretty trash. It was trying to be smart back then. It has not aged well. I replaced the stereo with an aftermarket one that takes the factory one out of the loop. We test drove a bunch of them while we were shopping. They seem to hold up well, even when you can tell the previous owners were not the sort who take care of their cars. Some of them had fart can mufflers, aftermarket wheels, curb rash, and signs that they'd run over things. But they were still operating fine. The clutch pedal does feel weird. It feels like there's zero clutch at all. Pedal sinks to the floor with no effort. But it works fine. |
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Originally Posted By cruze5: the Turbo. are their disadvantages of not using premium fuel long term for these cars? The computer has knock sensors. It can handle 87 octane up through premium. It will adjust the timing. It will make more power with more expensive gas. But it will also last hundreds of thousands of miles on 87. According to the very first google result, on the mazda 3, its an extra 23HP (about 10%) and 10ftlb, up from 310 to 320. My wife's non-turbo hatch gets 40mpg of mixed driving with the AC on. Hers is only the 2.0L and it feels pretty slow off the line to me. I did see where some of these were mazda's mix of gasoline engine and diesel. It runs on gas, but can ignite it more similarly to a diesel engine. They do use spark plugs, though. There are some pretty in depth youtube videos about it. The big takeaway is they are able to run it much leaner like 17:1 and get good fuel economy.  The Game Changer Nobody Cares About - Mazda Skyactiv-X SPCCI How it Works and Why It Didn't Catch On |