Bought new, Owned for 1 Year
Fuel Economy: 15.0 km/litre (6.7 L/100 km), RON97, Mileage: 1,200 km/month
1. Jinba Ittai i.e man and horse as one.
-Being a Mazda, steering is precise and well weighted with good road feedback.
-Predictable body roll and flex, allowing you to make corrections when required.
-Sitting position is great and controls are within shoulder length.
-Facelifted cars will be equipped with the G-Vectoring system which in theory improves ride & handling. So driving purists out there might want to consider getting a pre facelift model.
-Decent driver visibility. Rear windscreen is quite big. Door mounted wing mirrors means reduced blind spots at the A pillar.
-Brakes are actually great. Good initial bite.
2. Engine & Drivetrain
-Same but detuned engine as the 1.5L MX-5.
-Plenty of torque around the low end to go around town.
-Mid end is where the fun begins as max torque comes at about 4000rpm.
-Sports mode = 1.5L MX-5 (wishful thinking)
-Car runs fine on RON 95 despite being high compression, but RON 97 would allow peak performance. I find that it runs even better on V Power Racing(or is just plain placebo).
-The 6 speed torque converter(with lock up clutch) is fast and crisp. Not the smoothest box out there, but definitely feels very sporty.
-Pedal shift is fun and direct.
-Linear acceleration provides the European feel.
-Nice engine roar.
3. Fuel Economy
-Respectable mileage even for a 1.5L naturally aspirated.
-Personal average at around 6.5L/100KM to 7.5L/100KM combined cycle.
-30L of RON 97 can go for about 400KM to 500KM. Not sure about RON 95.
-Maximum tank capacity is fairly huge at 44L.
-Auto start stop can yield extra mileage at night or during cold temperatures.
-Auto start stop is pretty refined. Driver can choose not to activate it by not depressing the brakes fully.
4. Interior & Refinement
-Clicky controls and switches.
-Floor mounted accelerator pedal.
-European inspired minimalist interior design.
-Leather seats provides good positioning and support.
-Leather on most parts of the interior (including the dash)
-Leather knee rest.
-High quality plastics on most parts of the interior.
-Engine noise is kept at a minimum.
5. Infotainment System & Tech
-Mazda Connect is intuitive and easy to operate. I find that it's comparable to the BMW iDrive, MB Comand and Audi MMI (if not better for some).
-Customisable system (with 3rd party software at your own risk.)
-Voice command can be useful for most parts.
-2 USB ports
-Full fledged hands-free function
-Harman's Aha internet radio is full of foreign content.
-Heads Up Display
-Simple and minimalist speedometer.
1.Engine & Drivetrain
-Linear acceleration might not be for everyone.
-Gearbox might tend to downshift from 6th to 5th gear even for small inclines.
-Auto start stop is not practical during hot weather or traffic jams. You need to turn off manually every time you start the car.
2. Comfort
-It's a driver's car so the ride is stiff.
-Communicative bodyroll is good for the driver but not for the passengers.
-Tire roar is obvious at medium to high speeds.
-Wind noise can be prevalent sometimes.
-Air con seems to be less cold when the car is stationery.
3. Interior Space & Practicality
-Overall space is small
-Taller or plus size drivers might not fancy the driver eccentric cockpit.
-Legroom is crammed. (the Almera has 5 times the legroom)
-Center rear seat is pretty much for really small sized adults and kids.
-No cup holders at the back.
-Front door bins are small.
-Boot space is small for this segment.
4. Safety
-Only 2 airbags
-No auto door lock for Malaysia.
-No Blind-Spot Monitoring for Malaysia.
-Poor beam and visibility from the stock halogen bulbs.
5. Misc
-Deep Cycle battery will be very expensive to replace.
-Very rare tire size. Stock Dunlop Enasave EC300+ not entirely confidence inspiring as well.
-CD-Rom is placed at an awkward position.
-No RDS for FM radio.
-No auto-folding wing mirrors.
-Competitors are already offering LED lighting for that price range. LED headlight is a RM5000+ option!
-No auto headlights & wipers.
-No i-ELoop Regenerative Braking for Malaysia.
-HUD is pretty much useless since it only shows vehicle speed for non-navigation cars.
-Fuel economy monitor is pretty much a marketing tool. (Just like BMW's EfficientDynamics display )
-The SD card containing the maps for navigation is RM1200!
-Orange peel effect on some parts of the body paint.
To Improve
-Better NVH
-The RM5000+ option for LED headlights is too much!!!!
-LED DRL as standard.
-Projector headlights as standard.
-More airbags and full safety package.
-Auto door lock
-Official Android Auto/Apple Car Play support
-An actual functioning fuel economy monitor
-Mazda i-DM as standard.
-More info on the HUD, particularly a gearshift indicator.
-Smaller and sportier steering wheel design.
Yes, I would recommend this car