vw rabbit vs. mazda3 vs. imprezza

[Yuk]

FWIW, the air conditioning in my Mazda 6 is no worse than the VW Passat.

Be that as it may, they both are barely good enough for a Canadian summer, which rarely exceeds 30˚C.

 

[FowVay]

Am I too late to vote for the Volkswagen? I'd opt for a 4 door hatch, add a 2.0 liter turbo engine, and a nice 6 speed manual transmission... I guess that makes it a GTI here in North America. Oh well,,, I'm voting for the VW. What do you expect from someone with a screen name of Fow Vay (phonetic pronunciation of VW in German)

 

[rationull]

The GTI does make sense from a power and possibly (ironically) fuel economy standpoint, but in terms of value for the money I think the Rabbit has it beat.

 

[televascular]

If the GTI is being thrown into the ring, may I reiterate...

Originally Posted By: televascular
If you're willing to spend 22k and drive a manual transmission, you can buy a 200hp Honda that returns ~32mpg in town driving.

The Honda Civic Si sedan.

 

[rationull]

The Civic Si won't work -- he said he wants a hatch. (Assuming we're talking new cars only).

 

[ourfamo4]

I feel better knowing I'm not the only crazy VW guy around here.

 

[BTLew81]

Without a doubt, Mazda3. I have a 2007 5 Door GT auto and LOVE it. 21k miles and not even a hiccup. Handles great, good MPG, and peppy with the 2.3. Throw the YB at it every 4-5k miles and enjoy.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: televascular
If the GTI is being thrown into the ring, may I reiterate...

Originally Posted By: televascular
If you're willing to spend 22k and drive a manual transmission, you can buy a 200hp Honda that returns ~32mpg in town driving.

The Honda Civic Si sedan.

But in all honsty, what's the point of buying a relatively powerful (and light) car if all you're going to do is baby it to obtain this high mpg figure? And if you do want to exercise that power, you're going to have to revv that Honda engine pretty high, and that throws that mpg figure out the window. Same for the GTI - you've got to pay to play.

 

[meep]

don't know about the newest ones, but a buddy's got the Si hatch...what..an 04 maybe? ...5spd and it's an absolute hoot to drive, regardless of rpm. that vvt-i actually makes it feel like the torque curve of a six, no bull... it's wild. Sweet car, tho the "modern" dash... well, makes it feel more appliance than sports car.

M

 

[televascular]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
But in all honsty, what's the point of buying a relatively powerful (and light) car if all you're going to do is baby it to obtain this high mpg figure? And if you do want to exercise that power, you're going to have to revv that Honda engine pretty high, and that throws that mpg figure out the window. Same for the GTI - you've got to pay to play.

Why is it that so many Americans buy SUVs when they don't need the space or the offroad capacity? Why is it that people buy cars with V6s when under normal driving only about 100hp is utilized? So why doesn't everyone buy Honda Fits and Toyota Yari?

I own a Civic Si and I'm a dedicated hypermiler. But I also flog my car pretty heavily from time to time, and I'm planning to take it to the track in July. There's nothing in the rulebook that says you can't drive for fuel mileage and drive for fun using the same car, especially when you can't afford two.

 

[Norm Olt]

If you want a VW be sure to buy a used one because their value drops like a lead baloon the moment it leaves the dealership lot.

Reliability has no "V" nor a "W" in it.

The Mazda3 is a nice-driving econobox, but you'll be paying extra $ for more motor + a/c.

You only realy need the Subaru's AWD if you happen to live somewhere where it ever rains, snows or has any hills...

7 years from now the Subaru will just about be fully broken-in.

Cheers!

 

[VK56VD]

What happened to the days when you were able to buy a Civic Wagon and Corolla Wagon in the US?

 

[lovcom]

Using the sound of a car as a metric for it's worth is perhaps the most idiotic thing I have ever read on this site.

VW's are for people that don't read the facts. They suck in reliability, gas milage, and are inferior to the top Japanese makes, and by far.

 

[Jeffdc5]

if you want a nice cheap solid car you should only consider honda or toyota say whatever you want but the worst car those two make outshines most cars on the road

 

[Tornado Red]

The 2.5-liter engine in the Rabbit is not the engine I would prefer, I'd rather have the 2.0T in the GTI. Fuel mileage would be about the same with either, in the 25-28 mpg range. But the Rabbit is very cheap for all the features you get in a solidly-built and very safe hatch. They should hold resale value.

Don't forget the 12-year corrosion warranty either.

The Mazda 3 is, by all accounts, a very pleasant car to drive.

Only if you drive above 5000' MSL, or live in an area with lake-effect snow, do you need the AWD features of the Suburu.

 

[tripleM]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
I rented a Mazda 3 and the A/C barely cooled, the car only had 1300 miles on it.

Is this common on the Mazda 3 ??

Yes. Horrible AC on the Mazda3. Otherwise, the car is outstanding.

 

[firemachine69]

Originally Posted By: Tornado Red
The 2.5-liter engine in the Rabbit is not the engine I would prefer, I'd rather have the 2.0T in the GTI. Fuel mileage would be about the same with either, in the 25-28 mpg range. But the Rabbit is very cheap for all the features you get in a solidly-built and very safe hatch. They should hold resale value.

Don't forget the 12-year corrosion warranty either.

The Mazda 3 is, by all accounts, a very pleasant car to drive.

Only if you drive above 5000' MSL, or live in an area with lake-effect snow, do you need the AWD features of the Suburu.




The rust warranty is perforation only. Check into it.

Seriously, can we stop putting "well-built" in the same sentence as Volkswagen?

 

[oilnoob425]

Why buy lame FWD car when you can have AWD car for the same ammount of money? Subaru Impreza is no brainer here. Looks good, more power than the other two. Great suspension and handling. AWD!!! Subaru really improved interior for this new model plus you can get such useful features as optional GPS and stability control. Subaru always give some kind of rebate and their reliability is good. Put some winter tires on this baby and you got yourself a tank!!!

Rabbit is nice but VW reliability issues.

Mazda 3 is ok in S model, i model is underpowered. Also bad interior and horrible, immposible to adjust seats.

All rest aside I'd go with Impreza as obviously superior car of the three.

 

[rationull]

Originally Posted By: oilnoob425

Mazda 3 is ok in S model, i model is underpowered.


Well, since the OP is in the US and wants a hatch the S is the only Mazda3 that would fit the bill. But seriously, calling an economy car with almost 150 hp underpowered? 0-60 in probably under 8 seconds? It's an economy car!

In that vein, unless AWD is a "necessity" for weather related reasons I'd say weight/FE benefits would be a good reason to choose one of the FWD options instead of the Subaru. Nothing against AWD or Subaru from me but every tool has its purpose and AWD seems like kind of a waste for an around town/freeway cruiser IMO.

 

[Tornado Red]

Originally Posted By: oilnoob425
Why buy lame FWD car when you can have AWD car for the same ammount of money? Subaru Impreza is no brainer here. Looks good, more power than the other two. Great suspension and handling. AWD!!! Subaru really improved interior for this new model plus you can get such useful features as optional GPS and stability control. Subaru always give some kind of rebate and their reliability is good. Put some winter tires on this baby and you got yourself a tank!!!

Rabbit is nice but VW reliability issues.

Mazda 3 is ok in S model, i model is underpowered. Also bad interior and horrible, immposible to adjust seats.

All rest aside I'd go with Impreza as obviously superior car of the three.

There are strengths and weakness to each, but any of the three would be a good choice. My only complaint about the list is that none is exceptionally fuel efficient. The Suburu is probably worst, simply because of AWD; if you need AWD then a slight penalty is worth it.

As for VW's, I am biased but then again I've never owned a gas-engine VW and I can't defend what I know so little about. If VW was selling Rabbit TDIs, then you would all get very tired of hearing my praises. I still think it's a lot of car for the money, that will have very strong resale value.

firemachine69 wrote: "Seriously, can we stop putting "well-built" in the same sentence as Volkswagen?" What I actually said was "solidly built and very safe."

The Mazda is, by all accounts, a fun car to drive. At one time I was very interested in getting a Mazda Protege hatchback, the predecessor to the Mazda 3.