Had the 2003.5 Titanium for one week now, impressions...

[2001GTI1.8T]

So, we've had the car for a week. Here's what I think, good and bad. Turbo spools a bit late, but power delivery is quite linear. Steering is excellent, as is general handling. Engine noise is a little too noisy, way too much vibration coming through the shifter. Cooling fan is crazy loud, and cycles constantly. Braking is quite good, exhaust note is nice, not ricey loud. Interior is fairly good, a bit too plasticy but the seats make up for it. Really odd not to have a power lock button on the passenger side. One touch down should be on passenger side too. Diverter valve really sounds like a turkey, engine gets extremely hot, extremely fast. So, good and bad, mostly good. I'm comparing mostly to my 1.8T, and it also has it good and bad points. Anyone else here find any of these to be true?

 

[Vicocola]

hehe all these minor things that u point out is sooo true!! especially the interiors, now all u gotta do right now is call mazdausa and force them to do the changes i wouldnt mind bringing my car in just to install power lock and one touch window down for the passenger side

 

[Caffeine]

By engine noise do you mean you have the engine rattle?

 

[Newf]

car is actually quieter then my mp3.

fan noise is loud though....too loud

I think the interior is very well done, and I'm coming from high end honda's, some with leather.

....yup, turkey

my turbo kicks in at about 2800 rpms which I think is just right. i can drive around town and shift before then and save gas, and when I want more go, just hold each gear more. I think it's just right, with the exception being the damn hesitation.

and don't get used to thinking the titanium is special. The Mazda 3 is coming in it as a standard color

 

[girth]

Well, lets see....

Turbo spools a bit late -- disagree - I don't think you can get a turbo that spools any faster than this one! It's perfect IMO.

power delivery is quite linear -- agree - except for when one of the forms of the hesitation kicks in and you get that "pulsating" power delivery.

Steering is excellent, as is general handling. -- agree - couldn't be better.

Engine noise is a little too noisy, way too much vibration coming through the shifter. -- disagree - doesn't bother me at all and seems to be on par with my previous cars.

Cooling fan is crazy loud, and cycles constantly. -- agree - you're exactly right on that one.

Braking is quite good, exhaust note is nice, not ricey loud. -- agree - great braking and the exhaust note is perfect IMO.

Interior is fairly good, a bit too plasticy but the seats make up for it. -- agree and disagree - interior is "OK" and the seats look great but the lack of side bolstering is pathetic.

Really odd not to have a power lock button on the passenger side. -- disagree - I'd rather save the money and make any passengers work their own lock manually. They shouldn't have control over the entire vehicle's locks like most cars give to the passenger side. It's perfect the way it is IMO - although I wish the locks would fully recess inside the door when pushed down (I want to rest my elbow there sometimes).

One touch down should be on passenger side too. -- agree - unfortunately VW is the only manufacturer smart enough to offer it.I want 1 touch up and down for all windows!

Diverter valve really sounds like a turkey, engine gets extremely hot, extremely fast. -- agree. 100% correct.

 

[girth]

Oh, and I'll add 1 more annoyance...

Why won't Mazda release a protege with a trunk that opens with the key-fob thing?! Arg!

 

[Newf]

agreed

....get compustar....apparantly you can hook that up somehow.

 

[Karl Marx]

I want 1 touch up and down for all windows!

I always wondered why it didn't exist, until ( i was washing something on my window with my finger while closing it... ) i managed to squeeze my finger while making the window go up.

Now imagine if it was on a "one touch up" ... i'd have no finger <g>

I know the probability of it happening is small, but still

 

[jeremyfl]

Karl the one touch up feature has a pressure sensor. I've tried it on VW and Nissans ( that offer it). If something is blocking the window from going up any pressure at all it goes back down.

There is no way you can trap your finger, hand, nose, anything in there!!!!

 

[girth]

Karl the one touch up feature has a pressure sensor. I've tried it on VW and Nissans ( that offer it). If something is blocking the window from going up any pressure at all it goes back down.

There is no way you can trap your finger, hand, nose, anything in there!!!!

That is correct, AND, I have to add (no personal offense meant by this) why should the masses suffer because of a few idiots that might get their finger stuck in there? That's the same :bs: that is leading to "low tire pressure dummy lights" being mandatory on all cars by next year (or whenever it's becoming mandatory - not sure on the year). Meanwhile we'll all have to pay more for the supid tire pressure idiot light because a few morons didn't know enough to occasionally check their tires! Argh!:mad:

 

[KyRaceFan]

kinda like my friends tiburon gt... the sunroof has one touch open, but gotta hold it to close.... on the korean version, its one touch open and close, a few morons probably closed themselves in and sued..... damn those idiots for ruining our conviences!