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So I finally took a week off from work, I don't really have the money to go anywhere but maybe florida or somewhere on the coast and thanks to the hurricanes that plan is out. So I decided to just spend the week goofing off. My town doesn't have a mazda dealership but just 30 minutes up the road in Monroe there is a smaller dealership. I was over there trying to get some contract work lined up and just happened to be driving right by the dealership. So I figured what the heck I think I'll go drive one.
The guy gave me the keys and said have fun, it had 1/4 tank of gas. [img]graemlins/rock.gif[/img]
First off the clutch is hair trigger light, and it took a minute to get used to it, though I never stalled the engine. It's not quick off the line but once you just barely get rolling, that little sucker moves. All 6 gear ratios are very close togehter, I suppose this is done to keep the engine in the powerband. And yes it will wind out to 9k rpm very very smoothly I might add. Also the sound of the engine at the higher rpm is quite plesant. The power isn't the kind that is gonna kick you in the pants, though on several downshifts I did manage to bark the tires and only managed to get it up to about 70mph. There was just too much traffic to really let loose safely. But from what I could tell, that little car handled like a dream.
Bads:
the shifter felt quite rubbery and this made it tough to tell what gear you are in. I imagine B&M or Hurst will soon solve this problem.
the rear seat everyone raved about is just about as useless as ours
the stock radio isn't something that can be easily changed out to a nicer aftermarket one, but from what I heard it sounded quite nice
the sticker for one with a sunroof broke $30k which is a little steep for me.
finally it gets 18/24mpg and only runs on premium which right now is quite expensive
and after driving this car getting back in my firebird wasn't a pleasant experience, it certainly felt much quicker. According to car and driver it takes 7 sec to 60 which isn't much quicker than our cars but I tell ya it certainly felt much quicker.
The guy gave me the keys and said have fun, it had 1/4 tank of gas. [img]graemlins/rock.gif[/img]
First off the clutch is hair trigger light, and it took a minute to get used to it, though I never stalled the engine. It's not quick off the line but once you just barely get rolling, that little sucker moves. All 6 gear ratios are very close togehter, I suppose this is done to keep the engine in the powerband. And yes it will wind out to 9k rpm very very smoothly I might add. Also the sound of the engine at the higher rpm is quite plesant. The power isn't the kind that is gonna kick you in the pants, though on several downshifts I did manage to bark the tires and only managed to get it up to about 70mph. There was just too much traffic to really let loose safely. But from what I could tell, that little car handled like a dream.
Bads:
the shifter felt quite rubbery and this made it tough to tell what gear you are in. I imagine B&M or Hurst will soon solve this problem.
the rear seat everyone raved about is just about as useless as ours
the stock radio isn't something that can be easily changed out to a nicer aftermarket one, but from what I heard it sounded quite nice
the sticker for one with a sunroof broke $30k which is a little steep for me.
finally it gets 18/24mpg and only runs on premium which right now is quite expensive
and after driving this car getting back in my firebird wasn't a pleasant experience, it certainly felt much quicker. According to car and driver it takes 7 sec to 60 which isn't much quicker than our cars but I tell ya it certainly felt much quicker.
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