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

**McQueen** · May 15th, 2007 12:55 AM

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** · May 15th, 2007 12:36 PM

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

**mazdamazda** · May 15th, 2007 12:43 PM

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!

**orly_andico** · May 15th, 2007 01:38 PM

The ironic thing is (see my prior Ford Focus vs Mazda3 thread) was that Ford Global City was willing to give me the Focus 1.6L AT at a whopping 120K less than the Mazda3 "blinged" hatchback.

Considering that the SRP on the Ford is 849K and the Mazda3 is 899K, that was a considerable discount on Ford's part (the Mazda was discounted too). And, the Focus has ABS, which is a very big feature in my book.

But... the fuddy-duddy looks of the Focus didn't go well with my wife, so here we are with the ABS-less Mazda3 hatch. It also occurred to me that for a little more than the Mazda3 (probably in the end, even less monthly) we could've gotten the Focus 1.8. But that doesn't solve the grandpa looks..

**niky** · May 15th, 2007 01:42 PM

Or the fuel economy issue... although word from 1.8 owners is that now that they've gotten past the break in, fuel economy is actually reasonable (reasonable in the heavy car / bigger than 1.6 engine context, not in the small car context).

**orly_andico** · May 15th, 2007 01:56 PM

Crap. I ran my little spreadsheet. Given Ford's more aggressive pricing, we could've gotten the Focus 1.8 for marginally less monthly than the hatch. Two-zone climate control! map lights! front and rear theater lights! it's the 626 come back to life!!!

I never thought of considering the Focus 1.8 because I thought it was out of our price range (and, the kitted-out red hatch looked so desirable... I actually thought, if we got the Focus 1.6, I'd spend every moment driving it, hating it)

BTW first full tank on the 3, 8.34km/L, including 150km of highway running. I figure the city mileage is around 7km/L right now. The 626 is down to 5.8

**lm723** · May 15th, 2007 02:56 PM

Orly, congrats on your new 3. :D

**McQueen** · May 15th, 2007 09:39 PM

Originally Posted by niky

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?

**niky** · May 16th, 2007 01:53 PM

double post.

**niky** · May 16th, 2007 01:54 PM

:lol: at orly... at least you've got better resale value out of the hatch...

8.34 km/l combined isn't so bad. (particularly if you're getting under 6 from the 626 on your route. It'll go up about 1-2 km/l once past break-in.

Time for some juicy ICE mods?

That's what the hatch is for... pimping!

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RE: Mazda3 Facelift: Mid-2007 in the Philippines, according to motioncars.com. Supposedly with the updated S-VT and VICS-equipped engine, but let's just cross our fingers on that.