Quote Originally Posted by Poultrygeist View Post
I have 60,000 trouble free miles on my Mazda3 5 dr hatchback ( 5 sp and 2.3 engine ). It is a joy to drive on twisty mountain roads and my only complaint has been the fact that it's expensive 17 inch performance tires only last around 25K miles.
Yeah, that's the same complaint my mom had about her Mazda3, when she had to swap out the tires at 25k miles. That and the gas mileage (she averages around 22 MPG with mostly city driving and the AC on most of the time) are her only gripes about the car. Strange that our Mazda5, which shares the same platform except with a larger and heavier body, has higher fuel mileage (about 25 MPG in mixed driving) and the OEM tires lasted about 50k miles, although they were noisy with not the best roadholding.

The 3's a lot of fun to drive, and very responsive with go-cart-like reflexes. Our 5 is not quite as sporty, but still more maneuverable and tossable than any minivan out there. And the Ford Focus, which shares the same platform, continues to get rave reviews for how it drives. My test drives will begin soon.