| Figured I would share what I have found so far in comparing the two (still a year away from a purchase).
MS3 Good
Interior is "nicer" feeling.
Wheel radio buttons are better.
Steering wheel telescopes (great for getting it into just the right position).
Seemed to have a fairly quiet cabin, on the freeway.
MS3 Bad
Requires Super unleaded (40 cents more a gal, that is about 6 bucks per fill)
Looks almost like any other Mazda3, no cool factor compared to other MS3s.
EVERYONE has an Mazda3, the MS3 looks just like them.
CSRT4 Good
Allows regular unleaded (saves money, about $40 a month for me)
Styling is distinctive compared to the regular Calibers.
Comes with lots of stuff you would normally upgrade (big brakes, big exhaust, etc.)
If you are like me, with a baby, you play hockey, have a life, the extra SUV type space will come in REAL handy.
I THINK they come with RunFlat tires, nice.
CSRT4 Bad
Cheap feeling interior (shares this with a lot of the GM cars nowa days).
Steering wheel radio controls are not as nice.
I am not really enthused about the placement of the gear shift, seems a little awkward to me (though others may like it).
A little heavy on the road noise when on the freeway, imo.
CSRT4 vs MS3 (ROUGHLY equal points)
Upgradability, no question that both models will have some good upgrades available for them. You can hash out the specifics if you want but both will have LOTS of things for you to spend your money on.
Performance, you can crunch the numbers all you want but for most of us that use these vehicles as a daily drivers both have more than enough performance to satisfy our lead foots ("that's lead feet!!!").
Reliability, Mazda has a bit better rep but I suspect when all is said and done both these vehicles will end up with a good record. |