THE NEW CAR (2017 Mazda3)

The actual model name is:

2017 Mazda Mazda3 S Touring 5-door Hatchback

Yes, The Model name is actually Mazda 3, so its a Mazda Mazda3

Well, here it is ladies and gentlemen. The 2017 Mazda 3. Bought Certified Pre-Owned with 8,423 miles. 2.5 inline 4 with a 6 speed manual. The story goes like this...

I hate buying cars. I never feel like I truly get what I want (I also have what I call Automotive ADD, so that doesn't help). This time I around I decided I would make myself a check list of the bare minimum things I HAD to have. They consisted of the following.

• 2010+
• Manual Transmission
• 4 passenger doors
• Hatchback
• No turbo
• FWD
• Not a Ford
• Under $20,000
• Simple to work on
• If all else fails, look for a Dodge Ram Quad Cab

Secondary check list, but not a necessity  

• Volkswagen
• Multilink/Independant Rear Suspension
• Sporty to Sportyish aka "at least it looks sporty"
• As new as possible
• Decent gas mileage/4 cylinder
• Some sort of pre-established fan base
• Under $15,000

So many a night I set off on an internet journey looking for a vehicle. Many were found, but none felt quite right. I had been wanting a pickup for awhile, but every truck I found was either too expensive, or too worn out. So I crossed trucks off the list quick.

Next I wanted a Volkswagen (we've owned four, and I like them). I found a few manual MK6 TDI Golfs, that were actually quite affordable. I even found a manual B7 TDI Passat! (Thank you dieselgate). However, I had decided I did not want a turbo vehicle. While I personally have had no problem with the TDI I owned, or the Passat my wife has, a turbo is extra care and maintenance and an addition thing to eventually wear out down the road. I did not want this for my personal vehicle. With that decision, Volkswagen was out. Depressed, I searched on.

 

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One day while driving home from work, a current model (3rd Gen) white Mazda3 Hatch pulled up next to me.

I like this.

The lines were clean. It was a hatchback. It was manual. I decided to look it up when I got home.

 

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Patti and I had looked at Mazda 3 hatches before, and after some research, my list of requirements started to be filled. I ended up picking mine out of a narrowed down list of three. This was the one I wanted, and I am glad I got it.

The checklists

• 2010+ - Indeed!
• Manual Transmission - 6 forward gears!
• 4 passenger doors - YES!
• Hatchback - That's a big 10-4
• No turbo - Slow!
• FWD - Sure!
• Not a Ford - Thank you!
• Under $20,000 - Barely... but YES!
• Simple to work on - I've already pulled half the car apart and put it back together!
• If all else fails, look for a Dodge Ram Quad Cab - No dice this go around.
• Volkswagen - Nope :( (VW where is your manual VR6 Passat Wagon!)
• Multilink/Independant Rear Suspension - Check!
• Sporty to Sportyish aka "at least it looks sporty" - SPORTY SPICE!
• As new as possible - Made May of 2017!
• Decent gas mileage/4 cylinder - Not sure, but already better than my Rabbit!
• Some sort of pre-established fan base - No where near as big as VW, but their is one, and Mazda itself seems to be the biggest fan of itself. Also no Vapping.
• Under $15,000 - Nope (although you can get close with a 2015ish 2.0)

The 3rd generation Mazda 3 comes with two engines, a 2.0 and a 2.5, both naturally aspirated, and backed by either a 6 speed manual or 6 speed automatic.

I originally was going for a 2.0, but decided to go with the bigger engine as I did not have much plans on adding more power down the road. The two engines are completely different according to Mazda, sharing no parts. The 2.0 is very rev happy (I believe it's the same engine that's in the current Miata), but the larger amount of torque in the 2.5 appealed to me more in the end though. Stock redline is the same for both engines.

What really got me is that the 3rd generation Mazda 3 is brand new, from the ground up. 100% new (not shared) engine, transmission, and chassis. They no longer share a platform with Ford/Volvo. Some early Gen 3 Mazda 3s are actually 100% built in Japan, although later Mazdas (like mine) are assembled in Mexico. To be fair, so was my Rabbit and our Passat was made in Tennessee.

Mazda's "Skyactiv" is more than a blanket term. It is comprised of many unique/interesting things.
You can read about it here: Mazda's Skyactiv

In short, this is part of it

• Highest Compression Ratio of any massproduction car - 14.0:1 (US gets 13:1)
• Factory 4-2-1 Exhaust Header/Manifold (it looks bizzare)
• Increased Factory Caster Angle

If you have made it this far, thanks. Thats a lot of reading.

So here we are, one week in with the Mazda, and so far things are great. It rides very nice, and the suspension is very tight. Power wise, it is on par with the Rabbit, though I think the Rabbits 2.5 put down a little more grunt. I have yet to really put the car through it's paces. The chassis feels very solid, and it is extremely fun to drive. I do have a few plans for the car, but nothing to drastic.

At some point in the future, I'll go over the MY actual car in the future. The ins and outs, my likes and dislikes. For now, Ill leave you with this, and call it a day.

The 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport

Mitsu-byebye

 

 

After the wreck of the Rabbit, I was given an allowance towards a rental car. I was given the choice between a Toyota Camry or this, a 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. Being as how I do not think I have every driven a Mitsubishi in my life (strike that, an ex-girlfriend did have a sweet 5 speed 2 door Mirage that was lowered and had a super loud exhaust), I decided to take the new one for a ride.

Initial Impressions.

The 2018 Outlander Sport, at face value is a fairly nice ride. It is a compact crossover powered by Mitsubishis' 4B11 2.0 attached to a CVT transmission. The 4B11 makes 155HP and 146 lb ft of torque. Not thank much. This particular model had "4WD", but I never used it.

Exterior

I'm not a huge fan of colors on cars. White, Silver/Grey, and Black are what I prefer (in that order). However, the blue of this Outlander really grew on me. So much so, that I started looking for blue cars in my search for a new vehicle. The exterior looked every bit the part of "Sporty". It was edgy and aggressive so you wouldn't think it was just another dull cross over, at least at first glance. It had LED running lights, as well as fogs lights and rear amber turn signals (a favorite of mine). Over all, the outside of the Outlander impressed me, but it kind of felt like a consolation prize over all, a shiny wrapper on something absolutely average.

Interior

The interior, like the exterior, was decent. One could say adequate. Nothing to right home about, but nothing to complain about as well. Everything was laid out where you would expect it would be, and all you HVAC and Radio controls where in hands reach. Steering wheel controls covered pretty much everything you would need to touch, so you generally did not have to take your eyes off the road.

Room was good. Both car seats fit, without compromising driver or front passenger room. Still not as much room as our 2015 VW Passat, which has an uncomfortably large amount of rear leg room (seriously, 3 years later and it still blows my mind how much there is). The seats were supportive and nicely bolstered, and I liked the red stitching. The cargo area was large enough for a weeks worth of groceries, or a trip to the pool bringing all your floaties and toys.

Drivability

For what I take the Outlander Sport to be, it is perfect. a simple commuter car. The 2.0 is nothing special, but it is adequate. You put your foot on the gas pedal, and it goes. Not overly slow or overly fast, but at a "I'll get you there but I'm not in a hurry." pace. One thing the car has that took some getting use to was the CVT transmission. For those that do not know, a CVT is a type of automatic transmission that does not shift. It is a Continuously Variable Transmission aka single speed transmission. From a "Racecar guy" standpoint it is horrible, but for a simple commuter vehicle I think its great, even more so than the standard automatic transmission. There is no shifting, so there is no jerks or bumps or surging. You put your foot on the gas, and it ramps up to 5-6k RPM and stays there until you level off. It's very strange at first, but I adapted quickly.

Again, there was a "4WD" system offered, but I never used it. It offered two 4WD modes. A full time, and a locked center differential mode. The set up appeared to be a Haldex type set up, so I would imagine it to be more street/light rain and snow oriented. More "AWD" than "4WD"

Summary

That's pretty much it for the review. The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is a perfect rental car. Take that how you will. Would I personally buy one? Probably not, but I would consider it with the manual 5 speed. While driving the Mitsubishi, I could see why they are failing while simultaneously seeing how they are trying to fix them selves.

I have an affinity for Mitsubishi, as well as most Japanese auto makers, that spawns from their glory years in the early 90's. They have seem to have lost their way for the most part, and have all become dull point A to B cars, no pizazz. There is the saying, "A rose by any other name, is still a rose.", and with that mentality I think you could also say, "A turd by any other name, is still a turd."

What I mean is, you can add all the Bluetooth, Infotainment, and flashy garbage you want, but at the end of the day, if it's all wrapped around a hunk of junk, I don't want it. Maybe that's the problem, maybe I am one of a dying breed. One who views cars as more than an appliance. I don't need to drive around in my cell phone. I need a reliable, peppy, fun to drive car. One that lets me know what the road is saying. So many cars today are built and sold on the premise that they will isolate you from the outside world. I don't want that. I want to hear the engine. The real one, note fake engine noise pumped through a speaker. I want to feel the road and hear the tires. I want to shift my own gears, and be allowed to make mistakes without electronic nannies cutting in.

I think that is the biggest down fall of many auto makers right now, that they are building cookie cutter vehicles, that are no longer viewed as "part of the family". There are some that still have that passion for a fun, connected vehicle, but they are slowly disappearing. On the flip side of that coin, I think the amount of people who want that type of vehicle are disappearing as well.

OK, I went a little off topic.

Sorry.


That's it for now... more latter. :)

She's dead, Jim.

Well. If you haven't heard, the Rabbit is dead. 

Sad Face.

That intake manifold though...

I decided to tap a guardrail at 55 miles per hour. Best decision ever.

Jake and I were on the way back from camp Friday night, when a possum* ran out infront of us. I decided not to hit it, and that action, plus other factors (rain and such) lead to a dead Rabbit. Now let me set something straight. I am full aware that the life of a possum is not as significant as the life of myself or child. Had the possum had been in the middle of the road, the possum would have died. I've hit other animals and not of thought twice about dodging them. This was not the case.

We were traveling up US 19, just south of Palatka, and it was around 9:30PM. Jake and I counted around 15-20 deer on our way home. These deer were getting progressively closer and closer to the road, some where in the road. We had successfully navigated through one herd of deer, and drove around another possum previously. With the mind set of deer jumping out in front of me, I guess I kind of started becoming paranoid.

Enter the Possum

This is not the possum, but I'm sure it reacted the same.

Little joker was waiting, hiding behind a guardrail. I'm sure he was sent by that Geico squirrel to wreck me. He popped out about 20 - 30 feet in front of me, and my mind said deer. Thats all it took.
I jerked left, car drifted left. Got it back in my lane, then momentum took over and we started toward the right guard rail. Over corrected and ended up facing back to the left and straight into the left side guard rail. It was awesome :(. We bounced of and spun. Jake asked me if I died.

We are both OK. No other cars were involved, and no injuries to either of us. Even the possum survived. So now I'm on the hunt for another car, and that's probably the worst part of this whole ordeal.

I got a boring but neat rental car, and I'll do a little review on that later.

Ok, that's it for now.










*yes I am aware it is called an Opossum. I am not going to call it that.