Got my first look at the 3
 

I had my car in for it's service and to have its winter tires put on today. It just happened to be that the 3's had just arrived in the showroom, probably earlier this week.

I must say, it's a fine looking car. From a distance, it seems similar to the new Corolla in terms of styling, but upon closer inspection, it's far more refined. The interior is pretty cool too. It's much higher than the Protege and looks much bigger, although it might just seem that way. It looks like a more compact version of the new 6. No coincidence, I'm sure. There were people test driving and buying it already today.

Some people believe that one ought to wait a model year when it comes to new models, so that they can work the bugs out of it, but I think they'll be big sellers up here in Quebec, where there are already Proteges everywhere you look.

I'm not at all complaining. I'm very happy with my '02 LX.

I also saw the 3 yesterday and it was as cool as I imagined. You are right, it does look like a corolla and sort of a Jetta too. But neither of them have shit on the 3. Yeah, Jettas come in a VR6 but for about 25 grand (U.S.) I didnt get to drive it but I checked everything out, and even the stereo gets props, concidering it is near impossible to replace. Hopefully by the end of the summer I will have one.

i think the sedan looks jetta-ish but i don't see corolla in it at all