Congratulations Shol,
My wife just bought the same car and colour. Test drove it last Friday, bought it, and picked it up on Monday. She was planning on silver, but chose the titanium grey when she saw it. The sales guy said that almost 1/2 of the 3s sold by that dealer are titanium grey.
Here's a review I posted in another forum:
We just picked up my wife's new Mazda 3 Sport (5 speed Hatch) GT tonight. Options on the car are A/C, moonroof, and leather. We would have liked traction control and heated seats, but these are not available in Canada.
Here's a brief comparison with my 2004 BMW 325i (Sport Package, 5 spd), after a couple of half-hour drives.
Egronomics
The Mazda fits both my wife and I very well. The telescoping wheel gives her room with the seat forward enough for her to reach the pedals (she's 5'1") and she can raise the seat high enough to get a good view out.
The leather covered wheel with stereo controls is as nice as the BMW's and feels a bit better to me (slightly smaller diameter and hands just fit right).
Interior
The interior has as much style as the BMW. The quality of the controls and the interior materials are excellent for it's class - I would rate these 3/4 as good as the BMW.
Layout
I love the 5 door hatch layout - it's both more practical and sporty looking.
Shifter
The leather covered shifter is very smooth (almost as smooth as the BMW), has slightly shorter throws, and falls very nicely under my hand.
Engine
Afer a couple of brief drives my initial impressions are the BMW is smoother and feels more powerful than the numbers suggest (184 vs 160 HP). The BMW is more willing to rev higher and has power throughout the rev range. The Mazda still feels smooth and has more of a growl when it reaches mid RPM range. I haven't really pushed it yet - I'll provide a more detailed comparison when the engine is broken in.
Chassis
The 3 feels very solid and has no rattles (yet). The BMW feels more solid over rough winter-ravaged roads.
This impression is probably partially due to the BMW's much better sound insulation which is especially noticable over snow/slush covered and rough roads.
From a couple of decreasing radius (dry) on/off ramps, the 3 has a very high level of grip. I'll have to wait until I get the summer tires back on the BMW to do a back-to-back test, but for my driving style, I do not find the 3 lacking in grip.
My Subjective Summary
For a little more than 1/2 the price of the BMW, my wife's Mazda 3 provides:
- A layout that's both more practical and sporty
- Fit that's equally comfortable and ergonomic
- Almost as many features (missing seat heaters, Xenon lights, and stability/traction control)
- 3/4 the subjective build quality (interior materials good, but not enough sound insulation)
- 3/4 the engine power and smoothness
- Almost as much fun to drive
My wife could not be happier with her car and I'm really looking forward to driving the 3 more agressively in good weather and taking it on a long road trip.
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