I thought I would start a thread where I document various notes and observations about my new 2014 s GT while it is still fresh. My primary features and operation comparisons are with my previous car, a 2001 Eclipse GT I had since new.
General operation:
Turning radius is amazing, it's so easy to park and zip around tight spaces. By comparison half the parking spaces ended up being 3 point turns in my old car. I know it has electric steering, which early iterations by other manufacturers were constantly derided by the press, but this feels great especially with the thick steering wheel reminiscent of my Dad's old MX5.
The HID headlights are also amazing. For the first time out of any of my cars I can actually see the road ahead further than 10ft and to the sides at night. The headlights were always terrible in the Eclipse even after adjusting the beams higher than normal and aftermarket brighter bulbs. The adaptive system really does work and helps to see to the side when turning. Also the led tailights and front halos look really cool.
I was apprehensive about going back down to a 4 cylinder since I'm less concerned with mpg than power. However due to the very light weight and eager 6 speed its actually faster than my old car. It doesn't have the same low-down torque but doesn't feel far off either.
Accelerator pedal: this was something I noticed test driving several new cars the last few years and the new 3 included. All the gas pedals are very firm and difficult to modulate, the CX5 being the worst. I thought I had my foot on a foot rest at first it was so firm and needed to put all my leg into it. The 3 isn't as bad thankfully. It makes the initial tip-in and modulation more difficult than it needs to be. The Eclipse was very smooth and easy by comparison, which was good because it was difficult to start off smoothly. I wonder if I'm just depressing too low on the pedal and need to try higher.
Visibility is better than expected, way better than the CX5. Even though it has the rising rear that is so popular now I don't feel like a car is going to disappear under the rear window like the CX5.
Keyless system: this was one of the few requirements I had to have with a new car, and this works exactly like I hoped it would. Once I enabled the auto lock when walking away its totally transparent. The key fob does include a metal backup key but I have yet to figure out what it's good for or where it would go. Maybe the shifter override?
Interior notes:
The seats are a bit on the firm side but the bolstering is great. Really the second best seats I've ever sat in, the first being from the current MX5. The size and shape fit me almost perfectly. Keeping the light colored leather clean is going to be a challenge, I'll need to research ways to protect it. The two-tone interior really helped sell the car for me, I think it looks better than any other car in this price range.
The infotainment rebooted a couple times the first day but has been reliable since. Not completely unexpected for a new system and hopefully future updates will improve it more. I really hope Mazda gets on board with iOS in the Car, as my ideal would be using Google maps on my phone for all navigation. The Pandora setup works great with my iPhone 5. However podcasts sound absolutely terrible suffering from a extremely low bitrate. This is going over bluetooth right now, I want to try experimenting with plugging into a USB port.
Regarding the sound system performance, I'm very pleased. Good amount of bass, treble and mid-range for my admittedly low-standards tastes with the bass and treble cranked up.
Instruments: I would prefer an analog speedometer and digital tach like the lower trims. It's good they added the hud because it's all I use since the speedo in the tach is very low. Maybe it will just be a matter of getting used to it, but I feel I could gauge speed much quicker at a glance with an analog speedo. Especially when all you care is to be in a general range of speed and not so much the exact speed.
General operation:
Turning radius is amazing, it's so easy to park and zip around tight spaces. By comparison half the parking spaces ended up being 3 point turns in my old car. I know it has electric steering, which early iterations by other manufacturers were constantly derided by the press, but this feels great especially with the thick steering wheel reminiscent of my Dad's old MX5.
The HID headlights are also amazing. For the first time out of any of my cars I can actually see the road ahead further than 10ft and to the sides at night. The headlights were always terrible in the Eclipse even after adjusting the beams higher than normal and aftermarket brighter bulbs. The adaptive system really does work and helps to see to the side when turning. Also the led tailights and front halos look really cool.
I was apprehensive about going back down to a 4 cylinder since I'm less concerned with mpg than power. However due to the very light weight and eager 6 speed its actually faster than my old car. It doesn't have the same low-down torque but doesn't feel far off either.
Accelerator pedal: this was something I noticed test driving several new cars the last few years and the new 3 included. All the gas pedals are very firm and difficult to modulate, the CX5 being the worst. I thought I had my foot on a foot rest at first it was so firm and needed to put all my leg into it. The 3 isn't as bad thankfully. It makes the initial tip-in and modulation more difficult than it needs to be. The Eclipse was very smooth and easy by comparison, which was good because it was difficult to start off smoothly. I wonder if I'm just depressing too low on the pedal and need to try higher.
Visibility is better than expected, way better than the CX5. Even though it has the rising rear that is so popular now I don't feel like a car is going to disappear under the rear window like the CX5.
Keyless system: this was one of the few requirements I had to have with a new car, and this works exactly like I hoped it would. Once I enabled the auto lock when walking away its totally transparent. The key fob does include a metal backup key but I have yet to figure out what it's good for or where it would go. Maybe the shifter override?
Interior notes:
The seats are a bit on the firm side but the bolstering is great. Really the second best seats I've ever sat in, the first being from the current MX5. The size and shape fit me almost perfectly. Keeping the light colored leather clean is going to be a challenge, I'll need to research ways to protect it. The two-tone interior really helped sell the car for me, I think it looks better than any other car in this price range.
The infotainment rebooted a couple times the first day but has been reliable since. Not completely unexpected for a new system and hopefully future updates will improve it more. I really hope Mazda gets on board with iOS in the Car, as my ideal would be using Google maps on my phone for all navigation. The Pandora setup works great with my iPhone 5. However podcasts sound absolutely terrible suffering from a extremely low bitrate. This is going over bluetooth right now, I want to try experimenting with plugging into a USB port.
Regarding the sound system performance, I'm very pleased. Good amount of bass, treble and mid-range for my admittedly low-standards tastes with the bass and treble cranked up.
Instruments: I would prefer an analog speedometer and digital tach like the lower trims. It's good they added the hud because it's all I use since the speedo in the tach is very low. Maybe it will just be a matter of getting used to it, but I feel I could gauge speed much quicker at a glance with an analog speedo. Especially when all you care is to be in a general range of speed and not so much the exact speed.
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