Car and Driver review of Mazda 3
 

In the January 2004 issue, they write: (my impression)

Superior performance (but also more expensive, bigger, heavier, yet with smaller backseat) over 02-03 MP5, but not nearly as fun.


Anyone else get this?

Yeah I read it as well. It seems that in Mazda's attempt to refine the Protege in the likes of the new "3", they have lost some of the quickness and light steering feel of the Protege 5. There are always trade offs. Unfortunatley, until you buy a BMW, it is going to be hard to create a car that can handle with the best of them and still ride and feel as solid as something more expensive. However, in lue of that, I think Mazda has done a tremendous job of getting as close to that as possible in a sub 20 grand vehicle. Kudos.

Still love my P5 though. :D

The part that baffles me about this review is that the backseat in the 3 is bigger than the P5. 3cm more headroom, 2cm more legroom, and 5cm wider.
So I'm not sure what this guy is talking about.

Yeah I didn't get that either.

Read closely. He did not say the back seat was smaller, he said that the foot room underneat the seats is smaller due to a crossbrace beneath the floor that runs under the seats. So, while there is more room in the back seat, your feet are squished when you sit back there. I noticed it when I went to the dealer and sat in the back seat.
But who cares? Those folks are just weighing down my car back there, and messing up my 0-60 time! They deserve the discomfort!!