Mazda3 Spy-Photo
 

Hope this works! What do you guys think?

http://members.optushome.com.au/pjc0...azda3proto.jpg

i seriously hope that is not what makes the production line. IMO it is a crx on super crack. The rear window looks dumb as a$$, visibility in that car will suck royally. The front from what I can tell looks like it has some potential, but the rear is a sad sight.

well who knows...under all that "armor" it could be just about anything......

I do have this bad feeling that I am not going to be impressed with the looks of the new 3......just a gut feeling.....and although the Protege is a great car....if it still handled as well as it does but was ugly....I wouldn't be driving one. I need the total package.

Back of Spy-Shot
 

How can you even tell what the back looks like? It is extremely disguised, that weird flip up at the end is not really the actual car. The only thing you can really make out in the back is the tail-lights.

Can you say Precidia? :D

Re: Back of Spy-Shot
 

my bad most spy photos i have seen like this, have the shape of the car covered in the armor, not just some huge section on the back that isn't part of it.

I'm not 100% sure but that plastic seems to be hiding a regular sloping hatchback, not the flat-back CRX type thing. Look at the pillars.

I would say it looks a lot like this car:
http://www.autotriti.gr/PAGES/44_200...katask.01b.jpg
Just take all that cladding off, and that looks like a Protege5 replacement. Depending by how really big the driver is, it looks as though the rumors of Protege5 becoming larger are true. Mazda, I guess wants a share of the market that PT Cruiser, Matrix, Vibe, and others are sharing. This cross-over vehicle trend is almost as big these days, just like SUVs were a couple of years ago. Every one is jumping on the wagon.

I don't think they are finished with that rear, I hope not at least. It doesn't look like the hatch could open all the way from what I can make out. I hope the front end has the V on the hood like the new 6 does.

Those brakes look really big ! Have they gone back to some 15" wheels on it? Or made the brakes a lot bigger....

If that infact is the Mazda 3 then im going to buy a 12 gauge shot gun and proceed to put the barrel in my mouth and pull the trigger.


No kidding...

Anyway, i wonder what it really looks like. I read somewhere that the front is going to look like the MP3.

The 3 isnt going to be just a wagon is it? Will they have a regular sedan model like out Pros or just the silly wagon?

I also read that they are going for more of a vibe or matrix look *shudders*

that will bring me to tears.

I agree. The sexy, shapley protege5 right now is probably tje best design for a new car I've seen! Anything bigger and less-sharpe, I don't think I will like.

p.s. me drunk, it's new years.

mazda is just getting there sences back and buildering more powerfull cars, i hope they dont do like honda and go ugly. if they build a bigger Pro5 then they obviously havent been reading reviews. every1 knows the styling of the current p5 kicks every other wagon's ass.

should we all write to them???? please let me know, given the chance i'll fly there personaly and beg.

...will be praying...

-Jason

Well, if you take away that rear green goblin attachment then I think it looks like a maxima/altima. It has a rounded off top. I really wanna see the final pics though.

You can't tell anything from these photos. All I can really make out of it is part of the front, which looks like kind of a mix between the current Protege 5 and the 6. I'm sure we'll be getting better viwes of it soon enough.

i wish i could take credit, but my friend Vlad noticed this
read the caption


MaDza's upcoming 3???????
whats that about.

I think it wil just look like the blue car as turbonium 959 said. The mirrors and door handles and the shape and placement of the side blinker are all identical in the two photos.

that one looks good. i like that.

AWD please!!!

it doesnt have enough power behind it for AWD, make it rear wheel and it'll kick some ass. give it 215 horses and then we'll talk about AWD.

-Jason

if subaru can have AWD cars with 165hp (and much less than that in the old days), so can mazda.

yes, i've got wood for subaru right now.

Kind of makes you wonder. It ain't no Porsche.

2.3 l engine (Duratec HE) in current Mazda6 can be rather easliy bumped to 175hp with out going to turbos etc.
175 hp AWD Mazda 3 would be realistic car and a blast to drive!!!
Than add on some aftermarket intake/exhaust and gain another 5-10 hp and we have 185 hp in a MAZDA 3 AWD all for .....
hopefully no more than $20K.
Can it happen?

the 2.3l is not a duratec

mazda 6
 

that is just the european mazda 6 wagon.

It's the same as Euro-Ford Mondeo 2.3 l DuratecHE, at least it comes out of the same program as Ford/Mazda new global 4-cylinder group of engines which Ford calls DuratecHE and if Mazda calls it differently so what it's the same thing anyway.
Ford for some reason did not what to use VVT technology on their US version (2003 Focus/2002 Ranger), only Ford knows how to treat North American car market as a third category one.
Mazda6 gets it along with some improvements around engine mounts to smooth it out even more (I've heard a few people complaining about engine noise on the M6!!!???)

call it a "Duratec" (in quotes)... because this engine is 100% mazda designed and Ford has nothing to do with it

there is no engine noise with the Mazda6... just the exhaust noise which was done on purpose to be "sporty"

Re: mazda 6
 

nope. different front end and it's way shorter than a 6.

That is not correct. The engine WAS designed by Ford many years ago. This engine has it roots in Fords involvement in Formula 1. Mazda was tasked to refine the old design and help with the HUGE job of making the launch of this engine a success.... Things such as making sure many of the parts on the various sized engines are interchangeable and stay that way, to keep cost down. Like heads, rods, pistons, bearings, etc.

Mazda did however design the variable cam timing system in use on the Mazda6 2.3L engine which they call SV-T (Sequential Valve Timing). Under their agreement with Ford, Mazda has the rights to this technology.

On another note, I am part owner of Duratec Performance... as our name implies, we specialize in performance parts for the Duratec line of engines. We will be ramping up on parts for the 2.3L engine here in the next month or so. We just have to wait until we receive our Mazda6i 2.3L and Focus PZEV 2.3L By the time the next Protege comes out (Mazda3) we will have a broad range or parts for the engine and a very good understanding of what works and what does not.

Our site is still in development, but come check us out:

www.DuratecPerformance.com


Thanks,


Nikolas

I've driven the Mazda 6s, and there is engine noise and exhaust noise. But the engine was relatively quiet, especially when compared with the Protege. It is still one of the more loud cars in its class. Fortunately for Mazda, the Taurus, Accord, and Camry all pretty much suck when compared with it.

And would someone please tell me where the hell Ford called this a Duratec? Because Duratec was only used, in the US, on the DOHC V6 motors. I would think they would call it a Zetec. Either way the name is a bunch of marketing BS, which I noticed they were not using for the new Ranger. They are are just calling it a DOHC 16-Valve I4.

I driven both the V6 and I4 versions of the Mazda6

the I4 one has NO SOUND AT ALL coming from the engine compartment

the V6 sounds brute force from the front and back... and who the hell cares? you bought a sports sedan, not a boat

The Duratec name has been in use since at least 1996 if not 1995.... First in the Ford Contour/Mondeo on the 2.5L V6 engine all around the world... Then the 3.0L Duratec engine in the Taurus, Lincoln LS, Jaguar X and S-Type, Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute, etc.....

They have been using these new Duratec 4 cylinder engines over in Europe in the newly redesigned Mondeo in a 2.0L version, they also have 1.8L and 1.8L Turbo Diesel engines that are Duratec's.....

I havent seen any ads for any car using a Duratec engine that actually says it is a Duratec engine... They only state the engine size and the number of valves i.e :

Mercury Cougar 2.5L 24v DOHC All Aluminum V6

Granted the Cougar's Plastic engine cover says DURATEC on it....

Nevertheless... the 2.3L engine in the Ranger, Mazda6i, and soon to be Focus and Protege is a Duratec through and through...

Nikolas

"Duratec"

Ford's badge engineering at best... since they didn't do SHIT in the (4 cyl) engine designing process!

Yeah. Duratec and Zetec are just BS trade names for "Hey, we actually put more than one camshaft in here, aren't we frickin special".

Its a motor through and through. It is only a Duratec if Ford actually decides to call it that. There is no specific Duratec or Zetec technology that is any different from any other manufacturers DOHC technology.

Duratec && Zetec && VORTEC != variable_valve_timing

variable_valve_timing == VTEC, VTC, S-VT, VANOS, NeoVVL, VVT-i, VVTL-i, VVC, MIVEC

I think the pinto 2.3l engine is the pushrod version like that ised in the Tempo/topaz, and I'm not sure what else. I'd think that at the very least they would have used the sohc 2.3l that they used in the 4cyl MUstang and the Ranger. Which I would assume would be a different block.

nevermind

Ford and its love affair with the 2.3L. Had both the pushrod and SOHC versions, didn't really care for either.

I have a 2.3 SOHC ranger and it is very slow. There are many reasons for this: 1. it is a heavy little truck(3,200 lbs.) 2. it has a final drive ratio of 3.45:1 3. it is built like a brick 4. The head design is very inefficient because it's a dual plug head. I have been very satisfied with the little truck except it needs a little more power. It runs very well though.

later,
james

p.s. the name for the block is referred to as the lima block

Its going to look pretty good, needs bigger wheels though. As long as its got power, sign me up.

I don't know why a year ago, when Mazda6 was not out yet I heard that it will be one of the quietest cars in it's class compared to BMW 3 series due to it's rigid suspension and .....
new family of engines 2.3 liter was called as one of the smoohtest , vibration free , light , economical just one of the best engines in it's class!!!!
Is Mazda 6 really as quiet as a BMW3?
I don't think so.
And is 2.3 ( same family with Ford's Duratec HE used in european Mondeo, but let's not call it names)really a leader in it's class???
I know that it is a sporty sedan and it's engine (exhaust/intake design) was not tuned up to be really quiet, it's not powerful either like it's 6hp more EURO version and 15hp more Japaneese version.
Which way is Mazda really going?
Luxury = (quieter engine) but less power.
Sporty = (louder engine) but more power.
Where is the sence here, several people have complained that M6 2.3 is not really quiet and smooth like Mazda advertized it.
???