this is a sporty compact car - not a sports car
QBCERUS said:
There are problems with the delivery of the 160 hp on this car. I'm not saying that something is broken, I'm saying that some of the parts responsible to transfer the power to the ground are not either well designed or well suited for the engine/car. You just have to think about the 0-60 of this car and you immediately see that there is a problem. 8.8 sec (or 8.6 as I saw in a couple of articles) for a 160 hp little car like that is too slow.
8.8 seconds! Where did you see that? I'd be really surprised if it was a 2.3 5 speed Mazda3 (which I'd have to figure is what were talking about here because that's what Goldwing has). Even consumer reports got a better time than that for the 2.0 MT. The time I've seen that slow for a Mazda3 was for a 2.0 Automatic transmission. The numbers I've seen for a 2.3 5speed have tended to be right around 7.5 seconds. The highest I've seen has been from Road and Track and there's was 8.0 seconds. This is very similar to other cars with similar weight and power:
Focus SVT ($18,585 base retail)
170 hp, 145lbs-ft, 2750lbs
0-60 around
7.5 seconds to
7.8 seconds
Cicic SI ($19,000)
160 hp, 132 lb-ft 2744 lbs
0-60 in
7.6 seconds
Matrix xrs ($18,750)
180 hp, 130 lb-ft , 2800lbs
0-60 in
7.3 seconds to
7.5 seconds
Rolla XRS ($17,455)
170 hp, 127 lb-ft @ 4400rpm 2670 lbs
0-60 in
7.6 seconds to
7.1 seconds
Scion TC($15,950)
160 hp, 163 lb/ft, 2900 lbs
0-60 in
7.4 seconds to
7.5 seconds
The Mazda3 has an edge in touque over some of these but also tips the scales higher than some for that matter. What we are looking at here is real similar power, weight and acceleration numbers. I dont see what the big surprise is here. Automakers know that theyll sell more if things feel confortable, refined w/ decent mileage so the engine get tuned for easy real-world use.
Consider the base price of the Mazda3s is $16,615 it starts out less than most of the things linked up above. When you compare how it performs to the most popular cars in this class (Focus SE SES, Civic DX, LX, EX, Corolla LE, S) there's no comparison in performance. Mazda3 has an edge. If I was looking for a something within the same price range as the Mazda3 but with noticably better straight line performance I would have bought a spec-v. I hadn't heard good things about reliablity and resale and I'm not a fan of how they look. Overall I'm not disapointed with my choice 6 months down the road here. I knew I wasn't buying a race car or anything close.