DisneyDestroyer
07-14-2003, 07:05 PM
OK, I've decided to take a quick break and type up some comments on the car. For reference, I got a 6MT Green Touring package, no other options. Only Nordic Green in San Diego county, and I believe the only one that has been delivered so far. Let's see...
Manual Transmission - about 9/10. It's not quite as effortlessly smooth as a Honda, but easier than most I've driven. t's wierd, I'm not that concerned about changing gears in most traffic scenarios because 2nd gear is so huge (about 15mph to 50mph easily) that I can stay there pretty much whenever I need to. I do agree that the 6th gear probably won't be used most of the time, it's pretty close to 5th until you get over ~70mph. But I'm glad to have it, it provides much better gas mileage on long trips. I could comfortably do most of my driving in 2nd and 3rd gears, although I don't think I would want to go on a long trip at that. Considering how close 4->5 and 5-> 6 are, they probably could have cut out 4th gear, it seems most useless - I can easily jump 3 -> 5 without missing too much vs 3->4->5.
Engine - I think that the 0-60 numbers are actually a bit misleading. Most of the time the car drives like it should get a FASTER rating. I say most of the time because under ~15mph, it drives like my old Pontiac 6000 with only two cylinders firing (AKA like cr@p). I bet if you drew a graph of the acceleration at each speed you'd see significantly less at the very bottom end compared with almost all other cars. It's almost like 1st gear's ratio is too low. That's why the 5-60 time was so bad, because at 5mph the engine's speed is actually BELOW IDLE. Idle is around 1000 rpm, 5mph was around 700 or so. BUT, if you get it up around 2500 (yeah, only 2500) it drives like a champ. I put it in 6th gear going 45mph UP A HILL and was able to accelerate slowly, shifted to 3rd and took off. There's no apparent huge jump in power at the 3rd port opening, it's a steady increase all the way. My wife will appreciate that, the VTEC popping open on the Lude always drove her crazy. It's a paradox, because the engine feels like it winds up so quickly, but at the same time feels like you can keep going forever because it goes up so high in the RPMs. Finally, in reference to whoever took a test drive and hit 100 before they realized what's what - I'm right there with ya. I wanted to pass a Lexus on the onramp, and before I realized it I was about 1/4 mile away before she had even hit the freeway, and I was at 80 in 3rd gear.
Ride - Smooth. I drove over a variety of pavements and most things felt like a hum instead of a rattle. Corners like it's on rails.
Seats - I have the standard seats (touring package, cloth) and they are great. They're really comfortable, sticky at the thighs to prevent sliding. There's plenty of support at the lumbar, and the side bolsters are like walls. Any firmer they would be painful if you accidentally sit on them, but as is they're just right. Good range of heights.
Radio - easy to use. Great sound quality to me - bass reproduces without adding any mud at high volumes, high end is aimed right at my head.
View of the road - eeks, problem here. Definite blind spots that you just can't get rid of because of the huge C pillar and the angle of the outside mirrors - they just don't cover enough of the road to get all of the area that the pillar blocks. I'm going to have to be careful here...
Moonroof - Works with switches to automatically tilt or open. It's funny, at one position with it partially opened I really feel wind directed DOWNWARD, it adds a nice extra breeze if I'm looking for that. The glass seems slightly shaped to conform to the roofline, which is a nice touch to maintain the shape of the car.
Dealership - John Hine Mazda. They were all friendly, easy process because of the pre-agreed-upon price. Ted Gawle (the internet manager) kept a close eye on the car to make sure nobody drove it, he showed me the invoice from the truck to prove that it was driven less than 0.2 miles for them to wash it down and do PDI. They were able to give me the front two teeth instead of mounting the bracket after signing a waiver, and told me they would install it for free after my fix-it ticket. They also gave me the first oil change for free (upped it to three years if you get the extended service contract). Ted told me that he had to remind Mr. Hine himself that this was a customer's car and not to drive it, and based on the reaction from everybody at the dealership I believe it. More on that in a second.
Item most likely to break first - the rear seat cupholder. I leaned on the center console to get something from the footwell on the other side and I could swear I felt that cheap plastic bend before it started swinging down. It seems to be one of the few really cheap pieces in the car.
Public - awesome reaction. If you remember the car commercial from a few years back when the people in the car say "lots of traffic today" and it cuts the freeway and it's empty except for other motorists surrounding that car to get a better view, that's what it was like. I drove past someone driving a 2nd gen RX-7 and they honked and waved. I could see other drivers on the freeway jockeying to get behind or beside me to check out the car (almost made me miss my exit from the person on my right looking at it). It seems like every person at the dealership came out to congratulate me when I walked over to it (and ask to sit in it) and they all came up to me again to ask how it was after the test drive. Be prepared to get some attention. Maybe not as much as the first MINI owners, but enough.
Whoops, my wife is home, time to show off the car. Later dudes!
Edit: I was showing my wife the engine (not that she really cares, but at least she humors me) and I noticed a little sticker in the Engine compartment on the top right corner of the hood. It says "port campaign" and has three fields: Rework #, Port Code, and Date. I don't suppose any of the super-sleuths with inside info would care to investigate whether this was from installing the port-side options, or whether it was related to the port-side delay?
Manual Transmission - about 9/10. It's not quite as effortlessly smooth as a Honda, but easier than most I've driven. t's wierd, I'm not that concerned about changing gears in most traffic scenarios because 2nd gear is so huge (about 15mph to 50mph easily) that I can stay there pretty much whenever I need to. I do agree that the 6th gear probably won't be used most of the time, it's pretty close to 5th until you get over ~70mph. But I'm glad to have it, it provides much better gas mileage on long trips. I could comfortably do most of my driving in 2nd and 3rd gears, although I don't think I would want to go on a long trip at that. Considering how close 4->5 and 5-> 6 are, they probably could have cut out 4th gear, it seems most useless - I can easily jump 3 -> 5 without missing too much vs 3->4->5.
Engine - I think that the 0-60 numbers are actually a bit misleading. Most of the time the car drives like it should get a FASTER rating. I say most of the time because under ~15mph, it drives like my old Pontiac 6000 with only two cylinders firing (AKA like cr@p). I bet if you drew a graph of the acceleration at each speed you'd see significantly less at the very bottom end compared with almost all other cars. It's almost like 1st gear's ratio is too low. That's why the 5-60 time was so bad, because at 5mph the engine's speed is actually BELOW IDLE. Idle is around 1000 rpm, 5mph was around 700 or so. BUT, if you get it up around 2500 (yeah, only 2500) it drives like a champ. I put it in 6th gear going 45mph UP A HILL and was able to accelerate slowly, shifted to 3rd and took off. There's no apparent huge jump in power at the 3rd port opening, it's a steady increase all the way. My wife will appreciate that, the VTEC popping open on the Lude always drove her crazy. It's a paradox, because the engine feels like it winds up so quickly, but at the same time feels like you can keep going forever because it goes up so high in the RPMs. Finally, in reference to whoever took a test drive and hit 100 before they realized what's what - I'm right there with ya. I wanted to pass a Lexus on the onramp, and before I realized it I was about 1/4 mile away before she had even hit the freeway, and I was at 80 in 3rd gear.
Ride - Smooth. I drove over a variety of pavements and most things felt like a hum instead of a rattle. Corners like it's on rails.
Seats - I have the standard seats (touring package, cloth) and they are great. They're really comfortable, sticky at the thighs to prevent sliding. There's plenty of support at the lumbar, and the side bolsters are like walls. Any firmer they would be painful if you accidentally sit on them, but as is they're just right. Good range of heights.
Radio - easy to use. Great sound quality to me - bass reproduces without adding any mud at high volumes, high end is aimed right at my head.
View of the road - eeks, problem here. Definite blind spots that you just can't get rid of because of the huge C pillar and the angle of the outside mirrors - they just don't cover enough of the road to get all of the area that the pillar blocks. I'm going to have to be careful here...
Moonroof - Works with switches to automatically tilt or open. It's funny, at one position with it partially opened I really feel wind directed DOWNWARD, it adds a nice extra breeze if I'm looking for that. The glass seems slightly shaped to conform to the roofline, which is a nice touch to maintain the shape of the car.
Dealership - John Hine Mazda. They were all friendly, easy process because of the pre-agreed-upon price. Ted Gawle (the internet manager) kept a close eye on the car to make sure nobody drove it, he showed me the invoice from the truck to prove that it was driven less than 0.2 miles for them to wash it down and do PDI. They were able to give me the front two teeth instead of mounting the bracket after signing a waiver, and told me they would install it for free after my fix-it ticket. They also gave me the first oil change for free (upped it to three years if you get the extended service contract). Ted told me that he had to remind Mr. Hine himself that this was a customer's car and not to drive it, and based on the reaction from everybody at the dealership I believe it. More on that in a second.
Item most likely to break first - the rear seat cupholder. I leaned on the center console to get something from the footwell on the other side and I could swear I felt that cheap plastic bend before it started swinging down. It seems to be one of the few really cheap pieces in the car.
Public - awesome reaction. If you remember the car commercial from a few years back when the people in the car say "lots of traffic today" and it cuts the freeway and it's empty except for other motorists surrounding that car to get a better view, that's what it was like. I drove past someone driving a 2nd gen RX-7 and they honked and waved. I could see other drivers on the freeway jockeying to get behind or beside me to check out the car (almost made me miss my exit from the person on my right looking at it). It seems like every person at the dealership came out to congratulate me when I walked over to it (and ask to sit in it) and they all came up to me again to ask how it was after the test drive. Be prepared to get some attention. Maybe not as much as the first MINI owners, but enough.
Whoops, my wife is home, time to show off the car. Later dudes!
Edit: I was showing my wife the engine (not that she really cares, but at least she humors me) and I noticed a little sticker in the Engine compartment on the top right corner of the hood. It says "port campaign" and has three fields: Rework #, Port Code, and Date. I don't suppose any of the super-sleuths with inside info would care to investigate whether this was from installing the port-side options, or whether it was related to the port-side delay?