headlights turn with a turn. Handling, good road feel and hold the lane nicely. Looking the car over, I was amazed with the fit and finish.

I didn't notice much difference between the 2.5 and the 2.0. Radio controls and way too many buttons. We like a portable satellite radio we can use in other cars and the house, portable satellite radio setup for this car is ackward and almost has to be in the console.

We have the 3 with the 2.5 engine, heated leather,and all options, but not the satellite radio or navigation.

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Hyundai elantra,Tried a Honda Civic, but the seats were terrible.

acceleration, economy, styling, handling, build quality, price, options.

choice of interior colors, no factory window tint option, sound system has no USB.

This has been an awesome car so far. I have been driving it for 4 months and have not experienced any problems yet. The build is excellent and the performance and fuel economy are pretty amazing too. It's 2.0 twin overhead cam motor with the 5 speed stick has very strong acceleration and easly outperforms the civics and corollas.

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honda accord, honda civic, toyota camery, nissan sentra, audi a4.

*Fun to drive
*Excellent value for the price
*5 Speed manual shifts excellently

*This isn't a weakness for me, but some might not like it's sport tuned suspension.
*MPG isn't the greatest, but it is still very good.

We purchased this car in January, brand new for only $14,000. We got the black exterior with the sports wheels. It runs great, no reliability issues, and is FUN to drive. The MPG is not the best in it's class, but if your looking for bang for the buck, this is it.

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Mazda Protege, Honda Accord

Nice sleek design, comfortable seats, radio controls on stearing wheel, peppy engine, good gas mileage.

Easy to dent, after a few years doesnt sound or feel the same driving, electrical problems, interior started to come apart, had to replace rotors and brakes (with labor cost over a grand), speakers could not handle sound.

I traded in my 2002 Jetta for a Mazda 3 in 2004. The car started out great and had almost everything that was needed in a small cheaper car. It was perfect for my age and driving to and from school.

price, performance, build quality

wimpy horn, 5th gear ratio is a little low with the 5 speed stick

by far the best value in its class. Awesome styling, performance, build quality, economy. great engineering and comfort features make this a great car. On par with the BMW 3 series at less than half the price.

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honda civic, accord, mazda millenia

I will keep the list just to the best items, if it were up to me the entire care is a strenght. I will list in point form to make it easy. Great price, great gas mileage, amazing steering around corners, I'm a very tall man and don't fix many vehicles, I'm 6' 5" and I fit in the Mazda 3 without a problem. The car is actually fun to drive, it's very peppy with great handling, I find the gas very responsive to the driver. The interior of the vehicle is very sleek, and looks similiar to a high end vehicle, it's easy on the eyes with it's black and silver interior with great black seats that are comfortable on long trips and also hug you for those quick turns. Another great thing about the vehicle is the fact that the Mazda is so quiete you can't even tell if the car is running, it's literially silent. I absolutely love this aspect of the car. All around I could list everything but I would be here forever, all around just a great vehicle.

There are not many weaknesses to this vehicle. One that most people list but it's really not a big deal is with the GS model you get keyless entry, but they left out the trunk, so to open the trunk you have to use the key instead of a trunk release on the keyless entry remote, little of a pain in the butt, but really not that much of a big deal. And that is the only thing that I can say negative about the vehicle.

The Mazda 3 is the best vehicle by far, and I have owned many differnet types of vehicles, I even had a BMW 318i. Starting at the very reasonable pricing on the vehicle right to the great gas mileage.

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None, but other cars that I have owned were Chevy Z24 1996, Chevy El Camino 1975, 2000 BMW 318i, Ford Tuarus 1991 those were my past vehicels and nothing can even come close to the Mazda even the BMW which is a nice car but I still like the Mazda better.... There really isnt any better vehicle for the price out there, I absolutly love the car!!!

Love the electronic, wiper , day light sensor,cruse controle ont the steering and volume controle. the engine is great (love to go in Hight rpm ) transmission fell smooth.

interior get dirty easly.
weapers make weird nose but i can live with that.
waht else.....not much.

I both this car at 155k and its doing well.I love every thing frome that car.

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Corola ce 2003

Handling, seating comfort, braking. Interior styling, exterior styling.

None, except I don't own 2 of them!!!

Well I tried out the Corolla, Civic and the Sentra. They can't even begin to compare. While the others would have been good reliable cars. My wife and I both took turns driving the Mazda3 and within 10 miles we turned around and went back and bought it!

The 3 is in a class above compared to the other cars in it's class. The driving experience is just awesome.

Anyone looking for a compact car, you really owe it to yourself to try it out.

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We tried out the 09 Corolla, 08 Civic, Sentra 08. No comparison.

handling,looks,sound system,interior,and price.

really to be fair none

I'm a bus driver and i have noticed this little car for awhile now. My wife kept bugging me about a new car that she was tire of putting 65 bucks in the tank of our ls lexus. She was actually asking for a Corolla. I decided to surprise her with this brand new Mazda3 5 door loaded GPS Sirus radio the works. Wanted the turbo but not the price of using premium fuel plus its for my wife not me but boy i should have gotten it for myself i love this little car. The engine and tranny is in perfect sync together, very smooth.Its not Porche fast or anything like that but it has plenty of punch and is heck of fun on the turns. who needs to go 0-60 in 5secs 9.5 secs is fine with me and it will smoke alot of those cars that are much faster on turns which is alot more fun anyway. I got the automatic because of my wife. I did my research on this car and it is a great buy and design. The body was designed by Volvo giving it a european feel & safety the suspension was designed by Ford giving it the American sports car handling and the engine was designed by Mazda giving it the Japanese reliability.

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corolla,camry,civic,accord,

Nice looking interior, great sounding radio, engine is quiet, and the manual shift function works well (even if you forget you are in that mode)

Tranny ALWAYS wants to stay in 4th gear unless you really mash the gas. Although it has a stiff suspension, i feel the center of gravity is off in the car and high speed turning (on ramps to a freeway for example) the car really leans on that front tire. The dealer had to install all the options i wanted, i.e. Fog lamps, daytime running lights, rain sensors, spoiler, ect. Which required another trip to the dealership a week after i bought it.

Overall a nice car. I drove the '08 Jetta, '08 Impreza, and '07 Camry before deciding on the Mazda. My old car was an '05 Corolla XRS. Although this car is a bit slower and not as great in the handling, it drives so much better in the winter than the XRS. Interior is nice, a little too much red though (lights). Nice instrument cluster and the stock 6 speaker stereo system sounds great with the iPod adapter. If you live in the snowy states, spring for the traction control and/or stability control system. The rear end tends to whip out when making sharp turns. But its not essential.

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2005 Corolla XRS, 2008 Jetta and Impreza, Camry.