Over the weekend I went to Atlanta to help a friend test drive and pick out a new car. We drove a bunch of different cars and I thought GRM might like to hear my impressions. These aren't comprehensive reviews or anything so I apologize if things aren't consistent.
The criteria: We were looking for more of an appliance compact sedan type car that she can have for 10+ years. Under 185" long (small garage), 40mpg, comfortable and reliable were the main concern. Secondary concerns were fun to drive, silver exterior, and light colored interior.
I'll start off by saying that all of the cars we tested had good brakes.
2013 Elantra - We both liked the interior and exterior styling. Nothing really stood out as exceptional in the short drive that we took. Ride quality and chassis dynamics were good. Sadly, I couldn't really get comfortable in the seats, the angle of the headrest just dug into the back of my head. We also didn't like visibility out the rear. You could only see from the windshield wipers up of cars 5-6 carlengths back. A backup camera would be a must for this car.
2013 Mazda 3 - This was also a short test drive. This particular example had a black interior that was a deal breaker. The rest of the interior felt like it came from 2006 or so. The chassis dynamics were excellent as expected, and the Skyactiv engine makes great power. We decided not to seek out a used one and went on to drive a new one.
2015 Mazda 3 i Touring - We drove a 5 door and a 4 door. This car clearly has the best tech. I know people on the internet don't like the "tablet docked on the dash" display, but actually using it sold me. You can adjust just about everything on the car, review fuel economy history, etc. I liked a lot of the little touches like the cruise control indicator displayed the speed that it was set to. I thought the wind noise at 70mph on the highway was a bit much in the 5 door, the 4 door was a little quieter at speed. The 4 door was a manual, so I got to drive it as a treat. The pedal spacing left a lot to be desired, it was very difficult to heel & toe because the gas pedal was so much lower than the brake. I loved the clutch though, it was a treat to use. The shifter was clearly trying to emulate the Miata. The 2L makes pretty decent power, but I think the GRM set will prefer the 2.5. The chassis dynamics are excellent, and it'd be a lot of fun to take the back roads to work in the 3. I look forward to the ND Miata having some of the same features.
2015 Corolla - This car is clearly destined to be a rental car. The hard plastic touch surfaces made the car feel really cheap - I compared it to the feel of an early Dodge Caliber. I thought the interior door handle would break off! I didn't like the chassis dynamics, the beam axle made its presence known. The one thing that I liked was the dashboard styling, it's vertical and I commented that it resembled a '50s car or something.
2012 Jetta TDI DSG - We drove this as a "see if you want to wait and save up for a few more months" comparison. I had never driven a VW, a TDI or a DSG car, and was really impressed with all three. Coming from the low-rent Corolla, all of the soft plastics and leather were a treat. The low end torque was really impressive, as was the DSG banging through the gears like a GT-R. For only 140 horses, they were really big ones! You could tell it was the heaviest car in the comparison, but it rode and handled great. It also has a cavernous trunk. We decided against driving the regular Jetta, as it wouldn't hope to compete with the other favorites in terms of fuel economy or features, and the new TDI was out of our price range. I will seriously consider a DSG GTi for myself in the future though!
2013-2014 Civic - I won't name & shame here, but we had to go to a second Honda dealer to get anything resembling a deal. All of the 4 that we drove were quiet, comfortable, and well equipped. The HF and LX had better ride quality than the EX, which I felt had too much high speed damping in an effort to be sporty. I felt like it had the right blend of handling and comfort, the chassis is almost as competent as the 3. The standard backup camera was nice to have. As far as appliance cars go, this was the Goldilocks "just right" choice and the one she ended up selecting.
