[dannyhilton]

Picked up a Magnetic Trend loan car yesterday, have to say driving the car truly sheds some light on it. Obviously everyone is different, but my thoughts after a good few hours or so driving:

The good:

The engine has plenty of punch, and hums along
Touch the accelerator and the car just wants to go, pickup is really good, especially in Sport mode
It uses so much less petrol than the Escape, I’m getting 9L per 100km with city driving and hardly any highway use
Placement of the SYNC screen is so much better than the Escape, nice and easy to touch and the system is quicker
The car is like a little go cart on rails, is slips into corners and just weaves its way through
I like the handling, it’s a bit like a rubber band and bounces back
The space inside is massive, especially the back seat, it’s like a class bigger inside compared to an LZ
On the go, the transmission is quick and smooth, only sometimes holding a gear a little too long as opposed to downshifting
The tech inside is all pretty foolproof and well done

Not-so-good:

I still think the build quality inside isn’t befitting of the prices, so feel the car is quite overpriced
Interior design is a bit meh, it’s inoffensive and an improvement but not very interesting
Some specifications are just silly, no front parking sensors on the lower models and the HUD only optional on Titanium (standard on a Mazda 3 on all models)
The back suspension does “skip” over bumps compared to the front suspension, not the end of the world but you can notice it
Engine gets a bit rough in high revs
The transmission is slow to go to P to D or to R, and you can feel with each turn the car switching to the selected gear
Missed some of the luxuries of the Escape, the headrests don’t tilt forward, drivers seat don’t have the front tilt adjustment

All in all I really like it, I love the way it drives so hoping to try out an ST-Line / Titanium. Any major negative can be overcome with software updates or a reduction in price. Hoping to finalize an order for a Magnetic Titanium with all the options over the next few days. Like other have said, just go drive it if you're keen, the reviews seem to focus on a few elements but as an overall car it's brilliant.