Learn me Mazda 3..

I've been doing some research and have found a couple Mazda 3 hatchbacks for decent prices. It appears that the hatchback only came with the 2.3 motor. Anybody own a Mazda 3 hatchback? Looking for feedback and also curious if the 2.3 motor can touch 30 mpg..

I don't own a 3, but I shopped them heavily about a year ago and I ultimately wound up with my Miata (in fact, I put a deposit down at a dealership on a 3 and then backed out). So I've driven several and read a lot on the forums.

I believe the 3 hatchback only came with the 2.5 motor. The 3i sedan had the 2.3. For a little hatchback, they're incredible fun. Decently quick and handle great. Of course, the hatchback versitility is cool if you need it. They're pretty reliable too. I don't recall anymore what, if any, weak points the car had reliability wise.

If you drive conservatively on the highway, you'll probably hit 30mpg or maybe a bit more. Mixed driving will be more like mid 20's.

are you looking for new or used? before the 2010 remodel you could get the hatch with the 2.3

i have a 2008, 2.3 with 5sp and get 36-37hwy with the cruise set to 75.

there are things i love about the car and things that annoy me but. my mom has a 2007 hatch, i have a 2008 sport sedan, and my dad has a 2009 speed3. great little cars for the money!

Yeah, the 2.5 is basically the 2.3 bored out, and it was released for the 2010 models. Before that, it was the 2.3. I've had one of those, and currently have one of the turbo ones. 30mpg highway is pretty easy, though if you do a lot of city driving, it'll crash that pretty fast.

I've owned two: a 5 speed an an automatic. Both had the 2.3. The five speed returned 28 MPG overall in a mix of 70% highway, 30% city. The automatic did slightly better, but my wife was driving that most of the time.

My wife had the 2010 3s with the 2.5, which as previously noted, was new for 2010. She didn't like the car much, primarily for the sporty ride, rigors of shifting the 6-speed manual, and cabin noise.

I loved the car, but the cabin noise did seem a bit excessive. Not sure if different tires would have helped, but the Yokahamas that came on it aren't known as being particularly noisy. I guess it's a common trait for a compact car. They just don't load it up with sound-deadening material. She would get right around 30 with the 2.5 in mixed driving, easily low 30's on the highway.

I had an '06 with the 2.0L. It had some fuel pump and what I believe was injector leaking issues. It would not want to start at times. Check service records for those issues if you're going for that generation of car. Other than that, it was a great wrong driver. It would give me 30+ flogging it and handled great for being a tall sedan. I sold it after buying a Miata for the street. I needed no payments and a car I could work on myself.

My 2010 Ford Fusion Company car with the 2.5 auto is showing 29.5 in mixed driving with quite a bit of highway recently. 1000 miles of that with 5 people and luggage in the car. I usually set the cruise at 78 but also don't drive like a grandma.

When I have manually taken mileage I see around 30 on the highway and mid 20's around town.

In the previous 2008 Fusion with the 2.3 auto car I got about the same.

You might want to look into getting a used Fusion with a 5 speed. You know it wont be a fleet car and the manual hurts the resale. Lots of room and very comfy. Handle suprisingly well for a regular mid size car.

i had an 07 ms3 for two years, and it would return close to 30mpg highway if you stayed out of boost and kept the cruise on 70. it would drop to 26ish if you ran much over 75 though. in town was 20-22.

My wife and I have a 05 s with the 2.3 and love it. She just uses it to get around town so after 6 years, it only has 33k miles. It will be around for a good long time.

I have an 06 hatch. I've never recorded better than 28 mpg mixed driving. I also drive it pretty hard most of the time. Its very enjoyable to drive, easy to work on and has never had one issue. I've also removed the back seats and built a platform, it holds of ton of crap. The only down side is the AC. During Florida summers it might take 15 minutes to reasonably cool the cabin.

We have an 07 3 hatch, 5 spd. Lifetime average MPG is about 27mpg over 83k miles. On all highway runs we regularly get over 30 MPG, and I usually drive at about 80-85 on the long trips.

The car is a fantastic daily driver, enough power and handling to be fun, lots of room, great stereo, extremely reliable (only repair was a slightly noisy A/C compressor under warranty), we plan ok keeping it for another 150k miles.

I have an '07 Mazdaspeed3 and it has been very reliable for me. I have put over 30K miles on it since I got it in 2009 and the only problems have been cause by me.

If you do buy one, and even if you want to keep it bone-stock otherwise, I would absolutely upgrade the rear motor mount. They aren't sufficient for even the base sedan's 2.0L. It's quick, cheap, and easy to replace. You'll get reduced engine movement, reduced wheel hop, and slightly more direct shifting and steering for a tiny vibration penalty when the A/C kicks in.

Yup, we upgraded the rear motor mount, to a CP-E piece. I recommend the lower durometer bushing for a daily driver.

Ours is getting Koni FSD and springs in the next two weeks, yay.

Hotlinked for your pleasure, with RX8 wheels

The upgraded rear mount was super easy and well worth the cost. Made a great difference in the way the car feels going through the gears. I do get some noticeable vibration with the AC on and at a stop light.

In reply to Sonic: I always like the RX-8 wheels

Mrs.Mini bought a '09 3i sedan in Nov. of 2008. It was a" base", 2.0, 5 speed. It came with air, decent cd w/mp3, and the dealer installed cruise to make the deal. Total out the door was $13800. She decided she didn't like not having power locks and windows, and sold the car in March'10 with 18K on it for $13,200. The only thing we didn't like was the paint or clearcoat seemed to scratch very easily. I'm including this only to help with pricing. The car itself had more than ample power, cornered very well, rode well, and averaged 32-34mpg combined(50-50). At some point I will have another.

Sonic wrote: Ours is getting Koni FSD and springs in the next two weeks, yay.

give us a review of the FSDs when you get them in. I'm debating FSDs for the wife's Mazda5 to replace blown OEMs. I thought about KYBs but I'm not sure if it would feel like wasted money afterwards.

Our '04 Mazda3 was an autotragic which was a 4 speed that year. I'd avoid those, it's much better with the 5 speed auto that started in '05. Our 5 with the 5 speed auto hits 30mpg highway so I'd imagine a 3 would do at least that.

I had a 2008 2.3 Hatch for 2 weeks as a rental and I could never find a comfortable driving position. I think I just wasn't meant to fit right in that car, the center console intruded way too much for my long legs.

It was fun and nippy though.

I have a 08 2.0 w/ 5 speed and it is loaded, the only thing it doesn't have is leather seats. I avg 28mpgs all city driving like grandpa, the worst tank avg I've ever had beating the hell out of it was 25.6, my best all highway was 42 mpgs. I have my timing advanced 4 degrees and run mid grade

Blitzed306 wrote: . I have my timing advanced 4 degrees and run mid grade

How did you mange to do the timing advance?

Calling Curtis73, Isn't there a component on the Mazda3s that fails often and is a pain to replace? I am thinking about a 3 as well and want to know what to look for in the maintenance records.

I've noticed a lot of them seem to have rust issues at a surprisingly young age. Any comments on this?

Sorry for the late reply and bringing this dying post back to the top, but if you're like me you like data and more data is typically better than less data. So here we go.

I have a 2004 Mazda3 Hatchback 5-speed. All U.S. hatchbacks are 3s which means 17" wheels, bigger brakes and 2.3 motor. Canada has a model that is hatchback with the 2.0.

I have tracked my mileage at fuelly.com for about 25k miles now. I bought the car with 130k already on it. Over 25k miles I have averaged about 31 mpg with the worst tanks being around 25mpg. Most of my miles come from commuting at 55-65mph for a 25 mile commute. I've found my fuel mileage to somewhat disappointing over 55mph. At 75mph I usually get about 30mpg and at 80-85 I am closer to 27-28mpg. My best tank has been 37mpg which was on a windy mountain road (go figure).

The 2.0 motors seem to be quite a bit more efficient and fairly close in power to the 2.3. If you don't need the hatchback and you want the best mileage I'd definitely recommend the 2.0. I had a rental 3 with the 2.0 auto in South Dakota in the winter. I let it idle for 20 minutes to warm up and then proceeded to drive it hard all week and I think it still returned 30-31 mpg. It had plenty of power for appliance work.

While the hatchback does improve the utility of the vehicle don't confuse the hatchback with a wagon. The luggage space is still very small and only marginally larger than the sedan.

I really like my 3 and plan to drive the wheels off it. I'm at 156k miles right now and haven't had any problems. It's due for new struts and it had the idler pulley assembly replaced at 100k when it grenaded. In 2004 there was a package for TPMS & Xenon lights (I found that helpful when I was shopping). The 3s models (including hatchbacks) can't take wheels smaller than 16" - can be a factor if you're into autocross or buying snow tires.

bluesideup wrote:

Blitzed306 wrote: . I have my timing advanced 4 degrees and run mid grade

How did you mange to do the timing advance?

Drop the plastic air dam under the motor and turn your wheel all the way to the left I think to get at your crank pulley the best. Then you mark the sensors stock location with a grease pen just in case something goes wrong, loosen the sensor.. has a bolt on the top and bottom. then you push it towards the ground and snug the bolts up. Don't tighten them much because the ears on the sensor are plastic. I hooked my autotap up and the timing was advanced 4 degrees