Old vs New: Mazda 626 vs Mazda3 (long and unscientific)

[orly_andico]

After having driven the Mazda3 for a bit, I think I can get the feel of it and how it compares to our old car, a Mazda 626.

What immediately leaps out about the Mazda3 is that the steering is sublime. I am no enthusiast driver, but it's a delight to see the nose leap left or right at a flick of the wheel. The steering is heavy and very precise, with no dead zone. It's heavier in fact than the steering of the 626 (and I thought the 626 had faulty power steering because of a fabricated power steering hose).

The Mazda3 interior is acceptable, but like the Civic FD and Toyota Vios, the roof liner is made of some paper-like substance, not cloth like the 626. The plastics on the 3 are harder. The dash looks better though, the 626 dash is so.. early '90s. Which is completely to be expected.

Both cars have very firm suspensions. Both produce lots of noise over rough pavement. The 3 is better-damped of course, it is fourteen years newer and has had the benefit of better noise suppression technology. But the comparative noise levels surprise. I would have expected a greater disparity. I always thought our 626 was noisy. Yes it is, but turns out that's normal.

Or, nothing short of a BMW or a Camry will satisfy my desire for silence.

The only areas where I think the 3 has better NVH is in engine noise suppression (the 626's firewall insulation is gone, and it has a too-small muffler meant for a 323) and damping over rough surfaces. The ball joints on the 626 are rattling loose. Same story for the bushings. The springs are weak, damping time is quite long.

The 3 has some pretty nifty little touches: the dome light comes on when you get in (even after you shut the doors). When you turn off the engine, the dome light comes on again so you can get out. But it doesn't have courtesy lamps or even map lights (the Civic FD does have map lights). The 626 has all of the above but no timer function on the dome light.

One area where the 626 completely kicks the crap out of the Mazda3 is in performance. The combination of the puny 105-horsepower dinosaur Z6 1.6L engine (from the 323) and the over-eager automatic transmission means lethargic performance. The gas pedal on the 3 feels like it's attached to the throttle plate by a rubber band; press on the gas and snooze for a few seconds while the engine (attempts) to catch up.

The automatic transmission is very eager to upshift, resulting in stupid combinations like 3rd gear while crawling along behind a tricycle at 1000 rpm. It also means that when you boot the gas to overtake that tricycle, there is a very noticeable lag before the transmission kicks down, and the "little engine that couldn't" squeals like a stuck piglet as it revs up and tries its best to propel the 3's sizable bulk forward (the 626 actually weighs less than the Mazda3).

Another funny thing happens when you floor the gas pedal. The revs climb to 3000+, and you actually feel this sort of shudder or vibration through the gas pedal, like the engine is really hating what it's doing and is letting you know.

I've found that keeping the automatic transmission in "manumatic" mode, and up-shifting at 3000 rpm plus, gives back (some) of the immediacy and performance of the manual transmission 626. But not all. And working the manumatic all the time to keep the engine boiling gets old really fast. Also, the Z6 is very undignified when flogged, much like a piglet getting his balls removed. The 626 is noisy too at 3000 rpm, but it's a different kind of noise, a confidence-inspiring sort of noise, like a large hog having his way with the mommy pigs.

The 1.6L engine is purely adequate for city driving, where the automatic transmission and low average speeds don't tax it beyond its rather modest limits. But I don't want to try overtaking a large bus on a provincial highway with the Mazda3. It has no authority.

The 626, meanwhile, in spite of having a sensor problem which effectively limits the engine's performance to 3000 rpm, has lots of authority. The engine is only 118-horsepower, another dinosaur of a Mazda engine, the FS-E. But what a difference that 13 horsepower and 40 N-m maximum torque make.

The engine is a long-stroke design, not square in profile like, say, the 4AGE. It has a lot of torque (compared to the Z6) down low, and can confidently propel the 626 forward even from 1000 rpm when you boot the gas. It's not such a chore to drive, even with the manual transmission, because of the torque.

I notice that my driving style of very gently stepping on the gas pedal, which works fine on the 626, results in a long line of irate drivers behind me when I'm driving the 3. The Mazda3 absolutely requires considerable depression of the throttle pedal (say, 1/3rd to 2/3rd of the way to the floor) to get any sort of scoot out of it.

Which is really funny, because the Mazda3 we got is a Limited Edition hatchback, with 16" rims, fog lights, and a full aero kit. It could actually pass for a Mazdaspeed 3 (which is what I thought it was when I saw it in the showroom). All show and no go.

Makes me wonder if we should've gotten a Hyundai Matrix with its tractor diesel engine. But, Lalai didn't like the Matrix. It's an old (circa-2000) design, and a Hyundai to boot.

The Mazda3 only has an edge over the 626 in stop and go traffic, which really taxes my clutch foot. But on a provincial highway, I would feel much more confident in the 626.

Which is why, wallet willing, I want to fix that sensor problem, replace both the springs and shocks with new ones, and fix the ball joints and whatever other rubber pieces underneath need fixing. Sure the 626's interior is slowly coming loose from age, but it's still comfortable, if somewhat dated.

The Mazda3 is really let down by the engine (which is OK, I knew coming in that the Z6 was a weakling, and Lalai doesn't mind the lethargic acceleration). For city driving to and from the office, the Mazda3 is just fine.

The idea of getting the Mazda3 2.0 R crossed our minds, but it was simply too expensive. The monthly payments on an "R" spec Mazda3 would have put us in compact SUV territory already. But if I had my way and had no regard for practicality, the Mazda6 would surely be a worthy successor to our 626. The 3 is just.. a stop along the way.

[niky]

Good luck getting that Mazda6... I wanted one, too...

The Mazda6 actually feels like it handles a bit better than the Mazda3 (need more seat time in the 6 to verify this), and it has the same space as the 626 (of course, it's nearly the same car).

Hey, when did you guys get a 3? Congrats!

[orly_andico]

.. and the Mazda6 has... drool, drool... leather.

low rent talaga masyado ang interior ng 1.6L to 1.8L cars compared to the mid-size cars of yesterday. but the 6 is really drool-worthy. I like that black leather so much more than its snoozeworthy competition.

All show and no go talaga Mazda locally. I mean the 6 looks mean and fast, and also happens to have the weakest engine of the mid-sized cars.

A 2.0L or 2.3L Mazda3 hatch would be a killer car.. and cost as much as a Mazda6 due to the expensive hatch body. So no luck of having such a combination..

regarding size: actually the Mazda 626 was the smallest mid-size of its generation. It has the same wheelbase as the 3, and weighs less. So strictly speaking, it's in the same size class as the 3.

[McQueen]

Yeah hindi nga masyado updated engines ng Mazda dito sa Phil.
Sa states kasi yung 2.0 nila 150hp and yung 2.3 liters naman 160hp.
Sana mag upgrade naman dito.

[niky]

That's bound to change. The Mazda3 is getting the 150hp version of the 2.0 for the 2007 facelift here.

[mazdamazda]

That is why I prefer the Focus over the Mazda3 since the latter has a very lazy transmission.

Though the new transmission in the Mazda6 is a big improvement over the old ones found in the Mazda3 & the prefacelift Mazda6. Zoom-zoom-zoom!

[McQueen]

That's bound to change. The Mazda3 is getting the 150hp version of the 2.0 for the 2007 facelift here.

Kailan kaya lalabas yan dito sa Phil?

[jamesvhong]

Namiss ko tuloy ung Hatch 626 namin specially on long trips... Though nasa family pa yung car pero nde na kami ni misis gumagamit. Sira na lahat ng pang ilalim maingay na yung cabin, rubber moulding ng 5th door sira, ++180K Km na ang tinakbo, 1 year nang walang service pero ginagamit pa din pang pasok sa school at ngayon malakas pa din makina... Sana nga bumigay para maipasok sa casa ng gumagamit. hehehe!

[IMm29]

Yeah, had some fun times (7 years worth) with my 626 MT, too. It was nowhere as powerful as the Accords, Galants and Cefiros of its time, (not to mention, not as powerful as the VTi Civics), but it was torquey. It was quite small for its class, but it felt great to have a torquey 2.0L with a body a bit bigger than 1.6L cars of its time. Sold mine to a friend 5 years back. I wonder how he's been treating it over that time.

I really don't think the Mazda 3 1.6L is still a match for the aging 626, what with the sensor problem and insulation and the like. It should have some technological advances, being a newer model, but then overall, it still shouldn't be able to trump the older executive cruiser. Perhaps the 3 with a 2.0L engine would've been a better match. Man, that new 2.3L 6 is sweet. Unfortunately, the market it specifically caters to isn't too high volume. The Daddy-types who can afford it go for the more luxurious/less sporty Camrys and Accords. Who knows what'll happen if Mazda takes the plunge and brings in more interesting rides? I wonder if the tide will change in their favor.

[orly_andico]

What other interesting vehicles do they have..

CX-7 definitely
RX-8
Mazdaspeed 3 or even the Grand Touring version (hatch with 2.3L NA engine)

unfortunately all of these are on the expensive side. Maybe if they brought in a 1.6L Mazda3 with a MANUAL transmission, that might incite some racer-boy types.

Incidentally I inquired about replacement suspension parts for the 626. 15,000 for H&R springs, and 45,000 (!) for Bilstein shocks.

The springs are OK. But the shocks are 3X the price of OEM's. Of course they are Bilstein and would probably outlive the 626 by a good margin.

I just don't have the budget to blow that kind of money on the aging 626. Oh well. I would've liked to replace all the underbody stuff, have it reupholstered in leather(ette) to get rid of the musty old car smell... the list goes on.