My Review

[10spokess]

Yeah I still have 3 more years till I purchase this car but when I do it will be well worth it! Hopefully they have the mazdaspeed version out already.

 

[rochrunner]

Visibility in the car is a big thing for me, when I test drove the 2010 Camaro (as a camaro fanboy) I was so disapointed in the car because I was unable to manuver the car confidently because of the lack of visability from the driverseat. The Mazda 3 however has excelent forward visability, while in my opinion the A pillar is a bit on the thick side I was still able to place the driver tire and the passanger side tire exactly where I wanted it.

One of my biggest concerns on my test drive was rearward visibility. I always use the right-side and rear-view mirrors to keep track of someone on that side (for which the blind-spot detector will be an enhancement), but my wife tends to rely on a head-check before switching lanes to the right. When I tried looking back that way, I found that the small rear quarter window and reduced rear window really restricted my view. Have you noticed this at all?

We are also contrasting it with our '08 3, which has a much more boxy design with full-height glass all the way around. (One of my rants with recent hatchbacks in general is the styling tendency that slopes the roof down to the point that it not only restricts visibility, but also makes the car less usable as a hatchback!)

 

[ceric]

After driving test, I have never turned my head to check.
By adjusting the side mirrors properly, with BSM and $1 convex mirrors, I fail to see the need for it.
I have never caused any accident or near-miss, either.