[nanxun]

Here's the first installment:

2015 Mazda 3 2.5L Manual Long-Term Test ? Review ? Car and Driver

For those short on time, they still love the car, but found the infotainment system, well, .... less than ideal.

 

[PuMoDi]

I'm glad they reported on the infotainment issues in the first installment. I love the car but my biggest fear is the long-term durability/usability of the infotainment system. I've had to perform two hard resets while driving (thanks to knowing the procedure) for lockup and Bluetooth issues. And my experience compared to some is fairly mild.

Maybe Mazda seeing this as an issue in one of the buff books that's somewhat influential in purchase decisions will light a bit of a fire under their ass to address concerns and get it ironed out a bit more. It's not just a few issues brought up by enthusiast boards.

System stability needs enhancement. I'm willing to be patient, it is a complex computer now and not just a radio so I expect glitches. But I don't want complete system failure the day the car is out of warranty. Some computers with heavy use can die in 3-4 years.

They got a pretty crappy starting 0-60 time out of it considering the power-weight but a somewhat better 5-60 and 1/4-mile time. Tight motor obviously since their car is brand new. But this is definitely a car that doesn't launch well from a dead stop. Heavy wheels, really bad factory tires (I loathe them) and a slightly dead initial throttle response probably don't help. But once it's under way the car definitely moves.

I hope it gives them 40,000 miles of awesomeness.

 

[nanxun]

Yeah, my 2014 has the "audio A" set-up (no touchscreen or commander knob), which was pretty much what I wanted. The idea was to avoid the new infotainment tech glitches, especially since the unit would be exposed to extreme temps and my radios and clocks in earlier cars always died on me.

Waiting to replace my oem steelies and tires with something better....

Will be curious to see how the rest of the C/D long-term review goes.

 

[Kevin_G]

I haven't had any issues with the Infotainment system yet (Sep '14) but I also worry about the long-term reliability. The car would definitely be a less happy place without the gadgets. But my data requirements are minimal ... blue tooth connection to iPhone/Pandora, NAV, and the mpg app. Don't use much anything else. I'd be interested to see some sort of reliability rating for the Infotainment system from actual data. I think folks who don't have issues are less likely to chime in so it may appear that the problems with Infotainment are more widespread.

 

[nanxun]

Good point about over-reporting by folks with infotainment issues.

Anyone out there finding the infotainment unit (Audio B set-up) to be working fine?

My "Audio A" set-up has really given me no problems.

 

[Jon_s]

I was pleased to see that the long-term vehicle had a reasonably short stopping distance compared to those in past reviews. I wonder what changed (weather? factory brake pads?). Seems like upgraded wheels, tires, and brake pads might make for a significant difference. Add in sway bars and engine/transmission mounts, and this could be a really tight car. (Maybe C&D is listening and will try all of the above).

 

[Squisher]

I've had zero issues with my infotainment system so far 2015sGT. Only had the car for three months though.

 

[chombiekay]

i would generally consider myself pretty tech savvy when it comes to most entertainment electronics, mobile devices, entertainment devices/centers so when i use a system, i try to really get the most out of it.

so far, even having the car for a week, i noticed it had serious issues with iPhones (i understand this is known) and reading songs and playing them from usb/bluetooth. there are many hang ups and delays. sounds like a system memory issue.

i sort of wish the unit would cache the last time i loaded everything on it so it would be much smoother.

overall it feels buggy and laggy.

i also know mazda will probably address this but just saying. :X

 

[nanxun]

I was pleased to see that the long-term vehicle had a reasonably short stopping distance compared to those in past reviews. I wonder what changed (weather? factory brake pads?). Seems like upgraded wheels, tires, and brake pads might make for a significant difference. Add in sway bars and engine/transmission mounts, and this could be a really tight car. (Maybe C&D is listening and will try all of the above).

Yeah, interesting to look at the differences in the two c/d test results.

braking distance 70-0 mph goes from 182 ft (earlier test) down to 165 ft (latest).


EARLIER TEST
DIMENSIONS:
Curb weight: 3003 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 7.3 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 19.0 sec
Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 8.0 sec
Top gear, 30-50 mph: 12.4 sec
Top gear, 50-70 mph: 12.6 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 15.6 sec @ 91 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 182 ft

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway: 26/35 mpg
C/D observed: 29 mpg

LATEST TEST
DIMENSIONS:
Curb weight: 3020 lb

PERFORMANCE: NEW
Zero to 60 mph: 7.4 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 19.0 sec
Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 7.5 sec
Top gear, 30-50 mph: 12.1 sec
Top gear, 50-70 mph: 11.4 sec [What's going on here?]
Standing ¼-mile: 15.6 sec @ 91 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 165 ft

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 26/35 mpg
C/D observed: 28 mpg

 

[Drewmtb29]

Yeah, interesting to look at the differences in the two c/d test results.



braking distance 70-0 mph goes from 182 ft (earlier test) down to 165 ft (latest).





EARLIER TEST

DIMENSIONS:

Curb weight: 3003 lb



C/D TEST RESULTS:

Zero to 60 mph: 7.3 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 19.0 sec

Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 8.0 sec

Top gear, 30-50 mph: 12.4 sec

Top gear, 50-70 mph: 12.6 sec

Standing ¼-mile: 15.6 sec @ 91 mph

Braking, 70-0 mph: 182 ft



FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA city/highway: 26/35 mpg

C/D observed: 29 mpg



LATEST TEST

DIMENSIONS:

Curb weight: 3020 lb



PERFORMANCE: NEW

Zero to 60 mph: 7.4 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 19.0 sec

Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 7.5 sec

Top gear, 30-50 mph: 12.1 sec

Top gear, 50-70 mph: 11.4 sec [What's going on here?]

Standing ¼-mile: 15.6 sec @ 91 mph

Braking, 70-0 mph: 165 ft



FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA city/highway driving: 26/35 mpg

C/D observed: 28 mpg

I believe the earlier test was with a 2.5 and automatic. That would explain the slight differences.. The manual has a shorter final drive.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

[greg42]

Good point about over-reporting by folks with infotainment issues.

Anyone out there finding the infotainment unit (Audio B set-up) to be working fine?

My "Audio A" set-up has really given me no problems.

I find the infotainment to be "working fine" really. Which doesn't mean zero issue, I've seen it reboot in the middle of a drive maybe twice in over 5 months, which obviously isn't ideal. But it isn't giving off any sort of "OMG I wish I didn't have it" sort of problems in my use. I definitely wouldn't have wanted to go into a new car with the old style system. We considered it, as I could have bought a leftover 2014 i Touring. But wow I'd really miss the commander control.

I wonder if the biggest problems are with Android or with USB stick use, neither of which I do? We have iPhones and an old iPod and do streaming or audiobooks. Or FM. Heh.

Oh, well, I did turn off HD radio early on because the reception was worse. But AFAIK that is typical of HD radio on the fringes. It cuts off sooner than the standard signal.

Basically nothing happens on such a regular basis that I would deem it a pain or not worth having.

 

[chombiekay]

the comments on the C/D page were fun to read.

 

[nanxun]

the comments on the C/D page were fun to read.

Didn't stop to read the comments; will have to check them out later. Thx for mentioning that, though!

EDIT: Here's one featured comment from the article that touches upon the top-of-the-line M3's competition in the segment....

"It's [2.5L sGT hatch] a cool car for $20k and change; at $28k it's a joke. You could own a faster, nicer, 4-door GTI for that money, or get a seriously fast WRX. [...] Gotta have a hatch? How about 250+ hp, sharp handling, Focus ST with kick ass Recaro seats; same price. Before signing the $28,500 check, please, stop and think this through."

http://mazda3revolution.com/forums/other-cars/87729-here-s-msp3-mazdaspeed3-s-competition.html

 

[chombiekay]

here's a gizmodo article on car entertainment.

Please, Apple--Anyone--Fix My Shitty "Smart" Car*

 

[oshalygin]

Still happy with my iGT. The infotainment system can be buggy at times but have you guys seen other cars infotainment systems? lol, we have it good.

 

[nanxun]

Still happy with my iGT. The infotainment system can be buggy at times but have you guys seen other cars infotainment systems? lol, we have it good.

My wife drives a 2013 Prius, the infotainment system of which works well and is (I'm guessing) an outlier (Prius is all about the new tech).

But my last car was an '02 Camry (lol), so I'm sorta out of touch with what's been happening over the past decade or so.....

 

[GirchyGirchy]

I believe the earlier test was with a 2.5 and automatic. That would explain the slight differences.. The manual has a shorter final drive.

No, they were both manuals. Here are the results from a 2.5 Auto....note that an automatic will always be faster on the top-gear acceleration readings because it downshifts.


Curb weight: 3094 lb

C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 7.2 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 19.9 sec
Zero to 120 mph: 34.6 sec
Rolling start, 5-60 mph: 7.6 sec
Top gear, 30-50 mph: 3.7 sec
Top gear, 50-70 mph: 4.8 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 15.6 sec @ 91 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 132 mph
Braking, 70-0 mph: 179 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.82 g

 

[nanxun]

here's a gizmodo article on car entertainment.

Please, Apple--Anyone--Fix My Shitty "Smart" Car*

Thx so much for sharing this. Love the pics of the McClaren and Ferrari units. Lol! In recent years, so many car ads on TV boast about the integrated infotainment syst w/out ever showing the actual car, as if it were just some big charger/docking bay for one's handheld device Lol.

Makes me even more appreciative that I went with fewer bells and whistles on my mz3 while the mfrs figure it all out and iron out the kinks. For now, the "audio A" set-up and basic Bluetooth both work well and serve all my needs. I use my iPhone for nav utilities.

Will be interesting to see what Apple and smaller start ups can do in the next couple of yrs....

 

[parkinskin]

Yeah, my 2014 has the "audio A" set-up (no touchscreen or commander knob), which was pretty much what I wanted.

I specifically went with Audio A, too, because I like simplicity. There is only one thing I don't like about it. Actually two things. If you add music to a USB drive, the system will not play the new music alphabetically; it plays it in the order you added it. So if you want your music alphabetized, you have to erase the entire drive and then re-add all your music that you pre-alphabetize on your computer. The other thing that is annoying is that if you have the system on shuffle, if you press "next track," it will go to a new random track as expected, but if you long-press "next track" to fast-forward within a song, it automatically turns off shuffle, and you have to turn it back on each time you fast forward.

I can deal with these problems; I still like the simplicity.

And I like having my Rubik's cube holder. People with the touch screen have to use a cup holder to store their Rubik's cubes, and well, you know what they say about people who try to put square pegs in round holes. Yep, they're Rubes.