Topic: 2020 Mazda 3

[sszoomzoom]

I think Mazda finally fixed the rust issue. I have not seen a Mazda 3, 2010 or newer, with body rust.

Mechanically, the Mazda3 is pretty bulletproof, they handle great (or at least they used to when they had multi-link rear suspension)

I did read about the new rear suspension, however I have not noticed any differences (2016 vs 2020 with the new suspension) so far on similar drives, actually I found the new one to have less of a roll through same curves at same speed. If anything the new one it is so quiet that I still dont believe I am in a Mazda 3.
Unless you go on gravel roads for rally or on the track on normal A to B daily drives and some weekend spirited drives I am sure that you wont notice a difference from the torsion beam suspension.
It is more of a hardcore Mazda fans that they just want the multilink, but how many have ever went to a track. In my opinion it is a fad and nothing more.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

I think Mazda finally fixed the rust issue. I have not seen a Mazda 3, 2010 or newer, with body rust.

Mechanically, the Mazda3 is pretty bulletproof, they handle great (or at least they used to when they had multi-link rear suspension)

I did read about the new rear suspension, however I have not noticed any differences (2016 vs 2020 with the new suspension) so far on similar drives, actually I found the new one to have less of a roll through same curves at same speed. If anything the new one it is so quiet that I still dont believe I am in a Mazda 3.
Unless you go on gravel roads for rally or on the track on normal A to B daily drives and some weekend spirited drives I am sure that you wont notice a difference from the torsion beam suspension.
It is more of a hardcore Mazda fans that they just want the multilink, but how many have ever went to a track. In my opinion it is a fad and nothing more.

That's why they did it.  The mainstream buyer will never know the difference.  Mazda took the money saved from the suspension and put it in the interior, which is something a mainstream owner WILL notice. 

[HeliDriver]

I know Honda went with a torsion beam for a few generations of the Civic Type R. Can’t remember if the new one has gone back to multilink?

Anyway, point is that while not ideal, a torsion beam rear can be made to work well. I expect Mazda has done a decent job of it.

[UnknownJinX]

Well it's just all about the bottleneck of the design.

A state-of-art independent rear suspension will be better than a state-of-art torsion beam, but we are talking about family cars here so these suspensions won't be designed anywhere close to their bottleneck. Doesn't necessarily mean a torsion beam is automatically crap, and a car is more than just rear suspension. It's about the overall package.

I sat in a last gen Mazda3 before and the rear leg room is pretty bad in it. It feels a bit tighter than the Civic I sat in. If they improved on that aspect and have to go torsion beam, so be it.

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Multi-link takes up a fair bit of space, too.  Torsion beam is a lot more compact, which means more rear seat and cargo room.

[dirtyjeffer]

Well it's just all about the bottleneck of the design.

A state-of-art independent rear suspension will be better than a state-of-art torsion beam, but we are talking about family cars here so these suspensions won't be designed anywhere close to their bottleneck. Doesn't necessarily mean a torsion beam is automatically crap, and a car is more than just rear suspension. It's about the overall package.

I sat in a last gen Mazda3 before and the rear leg room is pretty bad in it. It feels a bit tighter than the Civic I sat in. If they improved on that aspect and have to go torsion beam, so be it.

^^ exactly.

as has been said, IRS is likely "ideal" in a performance sense, but in a relatively inexpensive car, usually other aspects of the vehicle are more important...perhaps infotainment, interior comfort features (like heated seats and steering wheel), more rear seat/cargo space...the same is for the "power" figures most people harp on about...i'd say the average driver, in regular urban traffic likely accelerates from a stop in the range of a 15 second 0-60 time (if they didn't let off the throttle at the speed limit)...all vehicles will be fine in regular driving, and 99% of buyers don't need (or want, or will ever use) a vehicle that can do 0-60 in 6 seconds...that's not to say it's not fun to zip away once in a while, but it seems like so much emphasis is placed on performance metrics when in most mainstream vehicles, they're mostly irrelevant.

[sszoomzoom]

Quick update
One week today I brought home the new Mazda 3.
I have put on 500 km as I took it for longer drives with the family around our area and on some fun roads.
I love this car and it is in any way a huge improvement from the 2016 model I had. The car performs identically if not better on similar roads and speeds to my previous one.
I took the car through a touch-less car wash and could not hear the water hitting the car.
The NVH is nonexistent.
My daughter (12 years old) found the rear sitting and space better than the 2016. The details in the interior are so well done and the entire interior feels and looks as they are from a higher end vehicle and not a Mazda3. I find the visibility also better comparing to the 2016.
The 2.5 L engine pulls very nicely and its zippier than my 2016.
The automatic transmission is very smooth and the cylinder deactivation is seamless and unnoticeable.
This is a short review and so far I am truly amazed with this car.
My opinion is that for 27g Mazda has built something worth of getting acolades.

[Seafoam]

 Glad you like it. Was your 16 a 2.5 as well ?

[sszoomzoom]

My bad.
The 2016 was a 2.0

[Great_Big_Abyss]

My bad.
The 2016 was a 2.0

That would explain the increased zippiness.

[UnknownJinX]

Cylinder deactivation, eh? They are really pushing for that efficiency.

Hopefully, they don't screw it up as Honda did on their old V6s. They would burn oil and foul spark plugs if the cylinder deactivation kicks in too often. They had a class-action lawsuit that ended with extended warranties on these engines. They were also kinda hard on engine mounts due to vibrations.

Personally I am glad that my C7 7-speed only shuts cylinders off in ECO mode and the Camaro 6-speed just outright doesn't have it(though the hardware is supposedly still there, just never used). GM supposedly learned from Honda's mistakes and have combustions happen in deactivated cylinders once in a while to keep the cylinder pressure up so it doesn't start sucking in oil and cause issues.

[z973]

Cylinder deactivation, eh? They are really pushing for that efficiency.

Hopefully, they don't screw it up as Honda did on their old V6s. They would burn oil and foul spark plugs if the cylinder deactivation kicks in too often. They had a class-action lawsuit that ended with extended warranties on these engines. They were also kinda hard on engine mounts due to vibrations.

Personally I am glad that my C7 7-speed only shuts cylinders off in ECO mode and the Camaro 6-speed just outright doesn't have it(though the hardware is supposedly still there, just never used). GM supposedly learned from Honda's mistakes and have combustions happen in deactivated cylinders once in a while to keep the cylinder pressure up so it doesn't start sucking in oil and cause issues.

I already had a recall for it on my 2019 mazda 3 to reprogram the software

[UnknownJinX]

If they eat into reliability, I would rather shut it off with a tune and pay more for the gas. Honda guys with those V6 w/cylinder deactivation have some electronic connectors and tuners that shut the function off for good.

Like honestly, how much gas does it save on a 4-cylinder? Even on a V8, the effect isn't that apparent. All it's doing is just reducing a bit of pumping loss. That's it.

[dirtyjeffer]

If they eat into reliability, I would rather shut it off with a tune and pay more for the gas. Honda guys with those V6 w/cylinder deactivation have some electronic connectors and tuners that shut the function off for good.

Like honestly, how much gas does it save on a 4-cylinder? Even on a V8, the effect isn't that apparent. All it's doing is just reducing a bit of pumping loss. That's it.

the difference it makes for Joe Public is pretty small, but when you add that up for a fleet for a brand, it adds up...allowing a person to disable it would be ideal...you can get far more improvements in fuel economy by altering your driving habits than you ever will from start/stop systems.

[UnknownJinX]

If they eat into reliability, I would rather shut it off with a tune and pay more for the gas. Honda guys with those V6 w/cylinder deactivation have some electronic connectors and tuners that shut the function off for good.

Like honestly, how much gas does it save on a 4-cylinder? Even on a V8, the effect isn't that apparent. All it's doing is just reducing a bit of pumping loss. That's it.

the difference it makes for Joe Public is pretty small, but when you add that up for a fleet for a brand, it adds up...allowing a person to disable it would be ideal...you can get far more improvements in fuel economy by altering your driving habits than you ever will from start/stop systems.

Yeah, I know it's done for CAFE. Corvette and Camaro SS/ZL1 in manual trans have had the 1 to 4 skip shift for the same reason. At least GM has the audacity to make it super easy to bypass with a $20~$30 eliminator.

The Honda VCM disabler cost more than that, in about $80~$100 range. Wonder how easy it is to shut it off in Mazda.

[Ontariodriver]

I love the look of these Mazda's. for some odd reason they not selling well. Why. I don't know. SUV's Perhaps, Pretty sweet motor overall.

[UnknownJinX]

I love the look of these Mazda's. for some odd reason they not selling well. Why. I don't know. SUV's Perhaps, Pretty sweet motor overall.

I think price is a part of it. IIRC in the Car and Driver manual trans hatchback comparison, Mazda3 is the most expensive of the bunch.

Being a smaller company means they can't leverage off economy of the scale as much as bigger manufacturers. They are also trying to go upmarket which also may have something to do with it.

[JohnnyMac]

I love the look of these Mazda's. for some odd reason they not selling well. Why. I don't know. SUV's Perhaps, Pretty sweet motor overall.

I think price is a part of it. IIRC in the Car and Driver manual trans hatchback comparison, Mazda3 is the most expensive of the bunch.

Being a smaller company means they can't leverage off economy of the scale as much as bigger manufacturers. They are also trying to go upmarket which also may have something to do with it.

Did I miss something...when did you buy a lime green Camaro SS 1LE?  I remember your vet getting flooded not long ago but didn't see a show and shine for the new ride.  Would love to see some more pictures of it.

[OliverD]

I love the look of these Mazda's. for some odd reason they not selling well. Why. I don't know. SUV's Perhaps, Pretty sweet motor overall.

I think price is a part of it. IIRC in the Car and Driver manual trans hatchback comparison, Mazda3 is the most expensive of the bunch.

Being a smaller company means they can't leverage off economy of the scale as much as bigger manufacturers. They are also trying to go upmarket which also may have something to do with it.

Are some models still built in Japan? I thought that at some point the 2.5 litre cars were still coming from Japan while the 2.0s were hecho en Mexico.

[sszoomzoom]

I love the look of these Mazda's. for some odd reason they not selling well. Why. I don't know. SUV's Perhaps, Pretty sweet motor overall.

I think price is a part of it. IIRC in the Car and Driver manual trans hatchback comparison, Mazda3 is the most expensive of the bunch.

Being a smaller company means they can't leverage off economy of the scale as much as bigger manufacturers. They are also trying to go upmarket which also may have something to do with it.

Are some models still built in Japan? I thought that at some point the 2.5 litre cars were still coming from Japan while the 2.0s were hecho en Mexico.

All the 2020 hatchback's (2.0 and 2.5) are made in Japan and the 2020 sedan's (2.0 and 2.5) aremade in Mexico, for the Canadian market from what the dealer said. I guess they had to make some changes as the new cx30 is made in Mexico.