Up till now nobody knew Madza was competing with VW/Audi for the “largest grille” award. For those that don’t believe us, take a gander at the schnoz on the new Mazda 3. Mazda reps assure us this mug is the future of the entire brand (God helps us). Despite the fact that the Mazda 3 looks set to devour smaller cars and motorcyclists on the road it does at least promise more Zoom-Zoom with Ford’s corporate 2.5L I4 engine good for 167HP or the time honoured 2.0L I4 good for 148HP. Sadly Ford’s corporate 6 speed tranny isn’t along for the ride, nor are any of the Volvo P1 turbo engines (the 3’s platform mate across the pond) or Ford’s SYNC. Premium features on this new whip include Xenon headlamps, keyless ignition and the requisite bluetooth and iPod integration. The only question: can the features make up for the wacky front end grin and Mistubishi-grade interior? Mazdaspeed 3 anyone?
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Even with the craptastic interior, it’ll sell in droves…
Pancakes!
Do not want!
/FAIL
Sorry, the front end of this thing completely removed my ability to comment intellegently.
I don’t think I’d have called the existing 3’s interior Mitsubishi grade: it’s hard plastic, but it’s well textured, designed and fits nicely. It wears better than VW’s nicer-feeling stuff.
I’m also glad to see they’re not poaching from Volvo or Ford. GM does this, and the end result is the effectively the same car under three to eight brands. To the credit Ford, Mazda and Volvo, the 3, Focus and C30/S40/V50 don’t seem much alike at all.
Peugeot wants its grill back!
That’s not the grill. It was in a collision and lost the whole front clip.
Or maybe Mazda’s stylists suffer from a radiator fetish…
Peugeot wants its grill back!
Come on, you’ve seen the Nagare and Furai. Y’all knew this was coming.
The features won’t. The driving probably will.
Hopefully they can fix the grille on the Mazdaspeed3 to make it mean, not happy.
You seriously think the interior is Mitsubishi grade? It’s stunning! It totally doesn’t look like a cheap car inside (not that the current 3 does).
It also makes me sad that you call it the Ford Corporate 2.5. It’s a Mazda engine, designed by Mazda, produced in Japan. Just because ford also uses it doesn’t make it a ford motor. Ford isn’t that stupid, they know Mazda makes a good 4-cyl and they use it :)
god I love how happy the car looks. I’m sure they will make the Mazdaspeed3 look more menacing, look what they did with the pretty happy Mazda3 hatch and the current speed3. I don’t see anything wrong with making a car look happy. Most Mazdas look very happy, and I love that about them. They make me happy, driving them puts a smile on my face no matter what. Why shouldn’t the cars reflect that?
It looks like a cartoon character.
Take your finger and cover up the view on your computer monitor of black plastic area in the front bumper next to the grille, it looks even happier that way.
If it ain’t broken, break it?
This is over the top goofy ass stupid looking.
Take a good look straight on:
http://www.autoblog.com/photos/la-2008-2010-mazda3/1171048/
Why don’t they just paint on some eyelashes and lipstick to complete the effect.
Is plastic getting scarce? One might think so, looking at the front fascia on this thing.
How high is the central portion of this obviously weak little plastic bit across the bottom? We’re going to see these things missing quite soon– like on Beetles and first-generation Sebring coupes.
Quick question– Is it me, or does turning up the volume on a new car’s stereo system seem more like reaming citrus fruit than turning a knob? It used to be a two finger twist– now it takes all 5.Frankly, it’s starting to piss me off.
From looking at it (via Bytor’s link), a few observations:
Yes, that grille is WAY overdone. But I do like the back end. If you can get over the front end, it’s actually a pretty nice looking car. Profile remains similar to the current 3.
God…that thing is worse than the new Focus…
I like the interior and the features…looks a bit better with tan/black scheme.
Mouth is a bit much but I imagine with a front plate it’ll help a little. I think the plastic bar piece would look good painted the body color or an off-set (like the fog light surround or alloy finish).
iNeon: the volume control is not in the center, it is left of center. The big knob is a tuning knob of some sort…yes it is still rather large.
That front-end must be for Pixar’s next “Cars” film – it’s already smiling.
I want to like the new Mazda 3. I really do.
I’ve owned (and loved) both a Mazda Protege5 and an ’04 Mazda 3 hatchback.
What they’ve done to an excellent car is just criminal…:-(…..
The Honda CR-Z being my next car just became more likely
http://automobiles.honda.com/cr-z/
It could actually look good if they toned it down. Waaaaaay down. I like my ’04 Mazda3 but I wouldn’t buy one if it looked like that.
Holy Geebus. Those headlights are almost anatomically identical to sideways vaginas!!!
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vulva_anatomy.jpg
Holy Geebus. Those headlights are almost anatomically identical to sideways vaginas!!!
Tex– Large doesn’t begin to describe it.
I’ve eaten salads served on smaller plates.
It yawned so hard it couldn’t close its mouth
I’m sold! I’d love to drive a car that does this :D emote all the time. Menacing designs are old and worn out. Bring on “Teh happiez” ™.
if it still drives like the current Mazda3 (which is to say, and this is coming from a MKV Jetta owner, the absolute best for it’s class) but is more refined and more solid-feeling, I don’t care how many gears it has or whether it can read me text messages.
That sort of whining is missing the point. The 3 is one of the few economy cars (not sport compacts) that is rewarding to drive. IMHO.
God…that thing is worse than the new Focus…
You. Are. Crazy.
Is it better/worse looking than the old 3? Debatable. But the NEW Focus?! LOL.
Compared to that thing the new 3 might as well be the Furai or Nagare. At least it doesn’t look like Mazda partnered with Fisher-Price. Which, ostensibly, Ford has with the Focus.
I’m diggin’ it. A lot of Japanese cars are going for this “I AM AN ANGRY GUNDAM ROBOT COMING TO KILL YOU!!!!” look that I normally don’t have a problem with. Yet, its nice to see a change of pace. To me, it has the same demeanor your dog has when he/she sees you for the first time in hours. “HEY! YOU’RE BACK !! WE GET TO DRIVE AGAIN! YIPEEE!!!”
If it drives the as good or better than the previous generation I’ll be making the same face, too. :D
Count me among these people:
http://jalopnik.com/5060127/science-shows-people-prefer-angry-aggressive-cars
I never really thought about it before (because I never saw a real car demonstrate it like this). But Smiley cars are an instant turn off. For me this is styling failure of Aztec proportions. It only makes it worse that it is certainly a very good driving car, in fact this was top spot on my purchase list until I saw the front view. I literally will not buy this car because of the way it looks. Heck I would sooner it actually did look like an Aztec.
This is lamest looking front end on a car since Pixar “Cars”. It might be all right for a 4 year olds pedal car, but for this middle aged adult forget it.
This is not a case of what others think. I owned a Miata (91 SE) and got razzed about having a “chick car” or a “gay car”. I didn’t care. I thought it was beautiful.
This is just a case where I think the styling is downright silly in a really bad way. No wonder the initial images were from the side or back. An almost guaranteed sale lost here Mazda.
Deeply polarizing styling is almost never a good thing and in this case. It seems about 80% hate 10% don’t care and 10% love it. That is an Epic Failure.
In contrast the Mazda 2 looks 10 times more sensible/sporty:
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/mazda2-front1.jpg
The new 3 looks great inside & out, including the front end. I can’t wait for the Mazdaspeed3, but I’d prefer it in sedan form.