C&D tested 5.4. I retract my 6.1 comment. 5.4 is the same time they tested the WRX at. C&D always seems to have aggresive times. I don't know what they are doing to get those times but they must be hard on the vehicle during launch.
Any Mazdaspeed 3 owners?
- Thread starter CyinCo
- Start date
C&D tested 5.4. I retract my 6.1 comment. 5.4 is the same time they tested the WRX at. C&D always seems to have aggresive times. I don't know what they are doing to get those times but they must be hard on the vehicle during launch.
thats too bad.. i love that car.. its insane.. i would buy it formyself if i had the money.. or insurence that wouldnt face rake me
:biglaugh:
(i swear he said somthing else)
If it wasn't such an ugly car, and didn't have that horrendous wing on the back, it would be a contender.
As ugly as the WRX is, the Legacy is worse.
Seriously, what is up with companies making slow cars that look fast, and fast, but hideous cars?
I'll take Hideous and Fast as long as it also handles well and is priced right.
I am not sure I would trade a suburu in for a ford.... Just my thoughts. I would stick with the WRX, or sell it to me.
I wouldn't call all American-made cars crap. I have never had problems with GM vehicles that I didn't cause myself. I have had NO problems with the current car I own. There are issues with Toyota's V6 that they use in the Camry, yet no one goes around saying that Japanese vehicles are crap. I only stated I wish my car had something that it doesn't come with.
At 34,000 the MazdaSpeed6 is a rip off in my opinion. At 23K you got a hell of a good car for the $$$.
I didn't call all American-made cars crap. Toyota makes some great cars, as does BMW, Mitsubishi and Honda.
I've never met an American vehicle that hasn't had some problem it shouldn't have. Most of the decent "American made" vehicles are based on foreign platforms, these days.
I own a regular Mazda3 and I love the thing to death.
Some of the positives:
Good power
-decent handling (unless you are on the stock tires in the snow, woops)
-Gobs of interior space (fun fact, you can fit an 8' long 2x4 in that car with all the doors and windows shut) although legroom is a little cramped in the back with the front seats all the way back.
-nice interior. Seats are fairly comfortable for a "sporty" car.
-good fuel economy when cruising.
Some downsides to it.
-All black interior shows everything. If you are one of those people whose car interior has to be pristine, you'll be wiping down the inside every other day.
-stock tires (goodyear eagle rs-a) are absolutely hideous in the snow and other winter precipitation. I solved that issue with some Blizzaks (went w/ LM-25s) and it's wonderful. Goes through anything as long as the car itself clears it. Even then I've used the front bumper as a snowplow once or twice
-not applicable to you, but the automatic gearbox desperately needs a 5th gear. I think they've added one in later models, but the gearing is a little off for high speed cruising.
-fuel economy isn't great at times. for the short in town trips I did in ames I was getting maybe around 25mpg max, but that was also b/c I tend to have a lead foot. If I babied it I'd do much better. Highway cruising I'm in the low to mid 30s ranged.
Not sure what my next set of wheels will be in a couple of years, but a mazda 3 is definetly on the list of cars to keep checking out.
Some of the positives:
Good power
-decent handling (unless you are on the stock tires in the snow, woops)
-Gobs of interior space (fun fact, you can fit an 8' long 2x4 in that car with all the doors and windows shut) although legroom is a little cramped in the back with the front seats all the way back.
-nice interior. Seats are fairly comfortable for a "sporty" car.
-good fuel economy when cruising.
Some downsides to it.
-All black interior shows everything. If you are one of those people whose car interior has to be pristine, you'll be wiping down the inside every other day.
-stock tires (goodyear eagle rs-a) are absolutely hideous in the snow and other winter precipitation. I solved that issue with some Blizzaks (went w/ LM-25s) and it's wonderful. Goes through anything as long as the car itself clears it. Even then I've used the front bumper as a snowplow once or twice
-not applicable to you, but the automatic gearbox desperately needs a 5th gear. I think they've added one in later models, but the gearing is a little off for high speed cruising.
-fuel economy isn't great at times. for the short in town trips I did in ames I was getting maybe around 25mpg max, but that was also b/c I tend to have a lead foot. If I babied it I'd do much better. Highway cruising I'm in the low to mid 30s ranged.
Not sure what my next set of wheels will be in a couple of years, but a mazda 3 is definetly on the list of cars to keep checking out.
The 3.8 with a supercharger is one of the most reliable cars I've ever seen. I had a GTP. Yeah the computer doesn't stop you from doing anything stupid, but I would be pissed if it did. I sold the car to my dad and he beats the crap out of it. He owns a construction company and drives it to work sites, down gravel roads, wherever. At 100,000 miles it's going strong with only tires and brakes.
As for Detroit pumping out crap I'd put my GTO or Cadillac V against anything listed so far. The GTO is technically Aussie, but at least GM had the good sense to bring it over here. I go through a lot of cars and the V is the first I've ever wanted to keep longer than a year.
sorry the s2000 didn't work out for you. I have an '05 and it's a blast. I'll probably keep it forever.
The GTO is an awesome car. It's a re-badged Holden Monaro, however, and they just killed it off. It's one of the few "big 3" cars I would have considered, but it's hardly a "detroit" car. I drive a lot of new Big 3 cars since I travel a fair bit and have a lot of rental cars. I haven't driven a single car or truck from any of the Big 3 that I would consider purchasing myself in the last 4 or 5 years.
I've never actually been in physical pain driving a car until I drove a 07 Ford Taurus a year or so back. After 45 minutes I had to physically get out of the vehicle because my legs were cramping so bad.
I had a Saturn ion with 10,000 miles on it a month or two ago that felt as though I was driving a dump truck. It felt like it had turbo lag, but it was just because it had no torque low in the power band, apparently. The steering wheel had a good 5 degrees of free travel on either side of the center, and it had so much body sway going around corners, I was afraid it was going to roll sometimes. I won't even get into interior trim quality, or how things 'felt' (in short, as if someone had crashed a Daewoo into a Tonka truck factory).
I hear repeated horror stories from almost everyone I know that has a piece of "Detroit" iron (which was likely built in Mexico). My friends Escort just got a new engine at ~100k miles. Another co-worker's car (chevy malibu) just needed some sort of fairly significant (~800 bucks) engine work after owning it for 3 months (bought it used). Another's Neon just had a Cam Position Sensor go out, which ended up running ~500 bucks. My parents have had nothing but trouble with their Cadillacs. My brother's Chevies have been maintenance pits (he just bought a Civic last year and has had no problems since).
Of course these may be exceptions to the rule, but every co-worker or neighbor I have that has a Jap car has had close to 0 problems with it over the same time (I say close to, because I can't recall anyone having one, but it's possible). I, myself, have a Saab which has largely been trouble free (new AIR pump, water pump, and an idler pulley, over the course of 100k miles), and a 1977 Dodge van, which is more of a labor of love than reliable transportation (though it is fairly reliable, other than not starting from time to time). I also had a Chevy truck that was very reliable, and after 200k miles finally got a new engine (though it's debatable whether it was necessary or not).
I'm not saying that Toyota or Honda or Mazda are perfect either, but I'll take my chances with them over the Big 3 any day.
I'm pretty sure that's what I said already. Holden is a GM division and GM had to be smart enough to import it. I wouldn't call it "hardly a detroit car". There are so many Vette, Camaro, and Firebird parts in it that modding is really easy. I just buy parts meant for some other GM.
GM didn't kill off the GTO either. They had to negotiate with the unions and from day 1 it was known it would be 3 years with a max of 16,000 per year. They also knew they wouldn't meet current crash test requirements.
As for the rest whatever. I have stories of bad experiences with one make and you have them for another. Great. I get the absolute best service with a local Chevy dealership. Better than Cadillac and way better than the horrible Toyota service.
Well you have to consider the union pretty much the same as GM at this point. You don't have one without the other, and the union has far more influence in regards to how GM does business than is probably healthy. The unions are, IMO, the biggest problem with the Big 3, and a large part of why they turn out garbage.
The Holden Monaro (and Vauxhall Monaro as well as Pontiac GTO) was designed, built and exported in and from Australia. Regardless of where they ended up, it's an Australian car, manufactured by an Australian car company that happens to be owned by GM. The platform it's on has never been on an American-built vehicle. It's a brand-engineered, Australian car with an awesome GM engine in it. The engine is about the only contribution that the American arm of GM had to the car, other than to put those stupid useless scoops on it in '05 and '06.
I never had an ounce of trouble with the Toyota dealership here in Des Moines when they also had the Saab franchise.
There's a reason that GM, Ford and Chrysler are in their death throes, while Toyota, Nissan and Honda are growing like crazy.
Yeah GM only contributed a minor thing like the drivetrain. Really who cares about that. I don't even care if my care has one.
At this point GM is a global company. If the Aussies make a great platform and America makes a great drivetrain then it only makes GM better.
GM is in trouble because of the retired workers and unions. Not because of the cars they are currently making.
