I love my 3, but for the redesigned 2009 model coming out, I would like to see some minimal changes, while still keeping the price low.

1) The Engine start key slot to be located on the panel instead of on the steering wheel; similar to other high quality cars like the altima. This would be a nice, sporty touch to the 3 without raising costs.

2) Automatic lights standard. Its not that big of a problem, but on my i touring, it gets annoying to remember to turn off the lights each time i get out of the car.

3) Better sounding horn. No, not that crazy train horn, just a more deep and mature sounding horn on the car would make yelling F yous out of the window while blowing my horn even more gratifying.

4) Better tires. This may raise costs, but with a lot of people doing this afterwards anyway, it may be worth it to look into getting better quality tires standard.

5) Better fuel economy. I know that the 3 sacrifices fuel economy for power, but the bottom line is if the 3 got 27/36 mpg, it would blow away the compettion even more. It would be like brining a gun to a knife fight.

6) Less Trims. My God, theres the I Sport, I Touring, S Sport, S Touring, and Grand Touring and the all are available in Manual or Automatic. That's wayyy too many options. In my opinion, the I Sport should be discontinued in 2009. There is no reason to have roll down windows and no A/C in '09. There should only be 3 models:

I Touring

S Touring

Grand Touring

The S Sport isn't really necessary and the I sport is just out dated now. With the money they save from producing less cars, they can put into making more improvements to the 09 3. Especially ths badly needed one:

7) Remote trunk open on the key fob. We all know its needed, but once you get used to opening it by using the lever in the car, or sticking your key in the slot, its not that bad. But again, in 2009, there is no reason to not have it.

8) New Key Fob. The key fob for the 3 is very simple and pratical, but it would be nice to have a cool, stylish one that matches the cars personality. A new, sleek design for they key fob would be a nice touch.

9) More colors available. Does anyone know someone that has the 3 in Icy Blue, phantom blue mica,or Shimmering sand? They don't look bad, but I would much rather see the burnt orange, yellow, and dark red be brought back. These colors truly match the 3's awesome personality.

10) Ipod charging station. The aux input is nice, but it would be cool if you could charge and listen to it at the same time. Also, my sisters pontiac Torrent displays the song title and artist on the on the LED Display. This would be an awesome feature on the 3 for regular AM/FM radio.

11) Racing stripes available. I just think it would look bad ***!

Feel free to add some more changes you would like to see on the 09 3

 

I don't think Mazda would drop the base model, that would be like Ford not selling a XL pick up, it is the biggest seller because of the price, not the luxury.
Although Ford did do away with the crank windows and manual door locks on the Explorer, it shouldn't be a hard thing to do on the 3.

 

I would like to seeMazda reduce the size of the outside badging of the car... particularly the front grille badge. It's too big and gaudy looking, imo andsimply looks bigger than the front end can visually support.My biggest peeve of the newer models. The badges that were on my '04 were big enough... perhaps too big and already bigger than previous models.

Since I personally don't like leather interior and have little use for auto wipers/headlights/climate control, Bose stereo, etc, I would also like to see Mazda offer the LED tails as a separate option from the GT.

And I agree w/Siber. The i model is bread and butter to Mazda. I see more of them around here than any other models of the 3. But, they could improve it.

I agree w/your take too Kevin, that they offer too many confusing models.
It would be simpler (for the customer, certainly) if they offered 2 basic models of each body style and allowed for individual options on them. Eliminate some of the so-called "packages" and make them separates. They would never do that though as that is the business as it stands today. Plus they can make more $$$ selling a customer a package when they onlywant one thingbut is willing totakeanother other just to get... a moon roof for example.

And better/more colors, and not limited to certain models either, such as Rally white became limited only to the i. Or Shimmering Sand Metallic/Mica. To answer your question, I don;t personally know anyone w/an Ice Blue 3 (i model only,) but I have seen a few running around here, as well as one CX-7 too.

Racing stripes??'Don't know 'bout that one...? I'm sure most dealers would do that for a customer should they want them. My windows were tinted from e dealer. A time saver for me, but the rears were much darker than I would've originally gone with.

 

Since the car is made in Japan and shipped world wide making theM3 in 3 trim levels per engine makes it a lot easier for a customer to be able to come off the street and leave in a new car that day.
From what I understand if one is special ordered, the only thing is the trim level, sound system and sunroof added at the factory, the rest is added at thedealer. They also hope they can find one in transit that is not spoken forto save time.

 

Yeah, I know it's a dream and more practical for them to do it that way, but still....
I have high expectations. What can I say?

 

you can just buy a new horn yourself and install it in under an hour if you know what your doing, it really isnt that hard.
ive had no problem with mine....altho i know alot of ppl hate the Goodyear RSA's that come with the 17" rims.
i find my car gets ok fuel economy in the city, and great fuel economy on the highway. im not really complaining about it.
have you seen the mercedes benz lineup???? sheesh!!
agreed. but then again, i know of a few ppl who have rigged up there own trunk popper.
meh. you can get flip keys. and i dont know about you, but flip keys are the shizz

i just want to be able to have any colour on any model mazda3.
ie, electric blue is only available on the GT models.
get out. have you ever seen the cavaliers that came with racing stripes?? ick![:'(]

 

Agreed. Actually our Elantra has this and I never knew how nice it was to be able to see the ignition... especially if it's lit and it's dark outside.

Not even auto lights are needed. Again, the way our Elantra works is you can leave the lights on and when you turn the ignition off the headlights turn off and the parkings lights stay on. When you open the door the parking lights turn off. That way you can never accidentally leave the headlights on.

+1, you can easily replace the stock horn (or supplement it) with an aftermarket horn for as little as $15.

While I agree in theory this is actually a change Mazda made. They used to have fewer trim lines with lots of extra packages you could add. They lumped them together into a larger amount of trim lines (but actually fewer options). That saved them money and made sure that if someone wanted leather that they had to buy all the other extra stuff. It also meant that you can't just add the HIDs which are the only thing I wish I had.

Again I agree, however this is one of those features that they sort of use to separate the 3 from the 6.


Can't disagree.... then again I have a flip key.

I'd love to see some other colors come back..... even if it would make my lava orange less rare. Actually Copper Red mica is coming back as of '08.5 MY.

Hey just adding an aux. input was a huge leap for mazda in the past two years. And after all there are about 8 different aftermarket ipod integration modules that you can get. The newest DICE module even displays ID3 tag info on the HU LCD.

Things I'd like to see added...... well of course HIDs standard on more models, integrated bluetooth, heated side mirrors standard (yes I know you can add them) or even as an option, the semi-neoprene seat fabric that volvos have.... it looks like leather from about 10 feet away but doesn't get as cold/hot in the summer/winter and isn't slippery. That's all I've got right now.

 

basically i think this car is perfect... well for me.. it has everything i need and really its an all around great car. so yea. one more thing they should do is for the cd player.. they should make it mp3 cd compatible for the single disc cars.. it would be great and that was what was binding me between the 3 and the civic.. but in the end i made the right choice. the sound system is really good in the car. its just awesome.. hopefully they keep it like this for a while!

 

^^^jaimie,

He's not talking about an engine start button, but rather having the ignition slot on the dash instead of the column.

They've had all of those colors out. In the US lava orange was available on the 3s from '04-05, nordic green was available on the 3i from '04-'06, and Strato blue was available '04-'06.

Starting in the '08.5 MY (in the US anyway) all CD players will be Mp3 compatible.

 

Awesome point on the Midnight Blue Jaime! That would look amazing! I know a lot of the colors were availabe at one time, which is why I said I would like to see the sand, ice blue, and phantom blue gone because no one really even has these cars! I'd like to see them replaced with more sexy ones such as the forest green like jaime said.

Any yes, I was saying that the key slot should be on the dashboard, not next to the steering wheel. Thats different than remote start. That would raise that price of the 3 plus what happens if your battery runs out on the key fob?

Where is everyone getting this flip key key fob from? Can you tell me where to buy it? Is it issued by Mazda?

A cool idea i had for a new key fob is to have a big plastic 3, in the same Mazda font, and in the top curve have the lockand unlock button andin the bottom curve have the trunk and panic button. If i could draw, i would show you guys. but just try to imagine it. It would look bad ***!