So yeah, I'll start a new thread on the new mazda3. Got it tinted today, 45% all around and 75% windshield. No more dark tint for me lol
Been driving this car for a few days now and here's my impression/comparison to the vibe.
One thing annoyed me on my vibe was I could never really get a comfortable or perfect seating position. If I go one click up it'll just a bit too close to the pedals and if it's one click back it's a tad too far. I'm just glad I can get the comfortable seating position now with the power seats. When in my vibe, I could never get comfortable when resting my left elbow on the door arm rest, it's kind of in an awkward position that's too far forward to comfortably rest my elbow so I never rest my arms there. Again, I can comfortably rest both my elbows in the 3.
The 3 rides really smoothly, compared to the vibe. It's still stiff but the suspension soaks up bumps a lot better. Has a very european feel to it lol My vibe rode really stiff and when going over uneven roads or bumps it's really harsh, especially in the back seat. People riding in the back often complains it's too bumpy there. Aside from the smoother ride, it's a lot quieter too and even quieter than the 2010-11 mazda3 rental I had a few years back. I remember when I test drove this car I was very impressed how quiet it was and after getting back into the vibe it felt like a hollow tin can. I'm super happy mazda put more sound deadening stuff to this car. Speaking of quiet, the engine and exhaust is really quiet and I have to turn down the radio to hear the exhaust note. On my vibe I have a k&n drop in filter and love how the engine and exhaust sounds. Vibe stock exhaust sounds more throatier.
Power wise, it's not a significant jump but merging onto the freeway seems quicker. Probably due to the low end torque coming in earlier. Also, the car is so quiet sometimes I find myself going 80+ and not knowing lol
Forward visibility is really good in this car. The side mirrors are on the door which I find very helpful as it cuts down the blind spot. My vibe I had window visors which made it very difficult to see past the A pillar so there are times when I make left turns I had to move forward and back to make sure it's clear. The 3 has blind spot monitoring which is helpful too since in the vibe I have almost hit another car while merging because I could not see it in my blind spot. Also beeps at you when you're reversing and there's a car or person coming, it actually works as I found out today.
I had retrofitted tsx projectors in my vibe and it's a stellar performer. The 3 came with bixenon headlights so I don't think I'll do anything in that department anymore, maybe just swap out the lens for a clear lens to give it a sharper cutoff. Another thing this 3 has are adaptive headlights that turns as you turn. It's pretty neat and kind of trippy when I first saw it and it does help light up the sides more. One thing I had to get used to is the push button start. It's very neat but I find myself reaching for the ignition area when I turn off the car. I'm sure I'll get used to it. The keyless entry system on this car is pretty cool too. No need to take key out of pocket and I can lock/unlock/turn on car and I also turned on the feature to lock car as I walk away. Oh and the auto headlight has the option to turn off, unlike the vibe where you can't turn off the headlights at night (I disabled drl feature to remove the auto lights on the vibe).
Overall it's a nice fun little car that fits me comfortably. It was nice to not have car payments but I was getting really tired of the harsh ride so it was time to upgrade. I got the 7 year/100k extended warranty for this car so I'll hopefully keep it for a long time.