2010 Mazdaspeed 3: Nighttime Mood

Nice picture.

Notice the resemblance:
http://materix01.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/shinjuku_at_night_tokyo_japan.jpg

The interior of this car is gorgeous. I wish I could get it in the exterior of the last generation Mazdaspeed3.

I really like what Mazda has done to the interior as the design and choice of materials is excellent for a car in this price range. The only downfall is that it feels tight and small in comparison to the much more airy and open Honda Civic.

Wow that's way too busy. Too blue, too red, too much.

For some reason I really dislike faux-silver in any car. There are some good applications, but for the most part I hate it. The Camry is the worst offender I think. Heck, my 2007 Lexus is guilty of it. I'll be glad when we move past it.
As for this interior, I like the lighting. It may look like too much, but you can dim it down and im sure it looks nice in person. And i'll admit, i'm a sucker for ambient lighting. I also like the little navigation system, its pretty cool.

If this was all blue or all red (Preferably red) then I could actually like it but the mixed colors just don't do well together.

Does the lighting turn off when you're driving? I was in a Chevy Malibu rental that had some really annoying aqua blue lighting that stayed on while driving on the door handles, center console, etc. And I couldn't figure out how to )#&$@&$&@&@!!!$@)$ turn it off! Annoyed the hell out of me!

I agree with GT5000. This is a gorgeous and very photogenic interior....give me this and the last gen's exterior, please!
I test drove one of these the other day and the switchgear quality and materials were easily above that of both my girlfriend's Subaru, my mom's Toyota, and my dad's $35k Honda.

I don't like front end of this car, but Mazda is really kicking out some nice interiors these days. Mazda, GM, and Ford all continue to impress me in this regard (the interior of the new LaCrosse is top notch), while Honda and Toyota seem to be suddenly lagging in this category.

@ spdracenut: The blue lighting in the foot wells and door panels automatically shuts off when you start the engine -- which is just as should be. -- Erin Riches

I like it a lot. Audiesque red with a pleasing splash of blue to break up the monotony.

I like it a lot. Audiesque red with a pleasing splash of blue to break up the monotony.

Glad the blue in the footwells and such shuts off when the car is started. Now if the stupid blue on the instrument dials can be forever purged to the history book of fads we'll be all set.

The blue on the gauges adds a really nice contrast like it does for the rest of the interior backlighting. I wouldn't change that at all.

That picture just makes me want this car even more. I do however like the centerstack of my 08 GT with Nav at night. Mazda used that same blue backlight for the area around the ashtray in 08 and it's a really a nice touch. Not overwhelming at all.

Only thing I don't really like is the tiny nav screen. All these bells and whistles are distracting enough, and to have to focus on something so small after you take your eyes off the road seems like a terrible idea to me. It would be better if they put it in the middle of the gauges, since it clearly is not meant for the passenger's benefit, and it looks like it could easily be obscured by the wheel.

Reminds me alot of a 2006-2009 VW GTI interior, except slightly less refined in the clarity of the lighting and overall use. Not bad though, better than I would've expected.

One of my hates is when car interiors use too much of one color. If you use one color, you need to dial it down.

nealibob, what good is a navi screen pointed at a passenger? One thing that infuriates me about current car designs - they act like the passenger matters. The dash, the center console - everything should be directed to the driver. The passenger is inconsequential in the car.

@blueguydotcom:
I am going to respectfully disagree with that. It is a debatable point whether or not the driver should operate anything not directly related to safely controlling the vehicle's motion while moving forward, but it is not debatable that delegating the operation of a navigation system to a passenger improves safety by eliminating a distraction. Unless, of course, your passenger is clueless or it starts a fight, but that is a separate issue. :)

I did not say the nav should be pointed at the passenger, but if it is not in a position where the passenger can reasonably use it, then it should be in the safest possible position for the driver's use. I have not been in any MS3 with nav, so I cannot really comment about this setup first hand, but from the pictures it looks like the position and size leave much to be desired.

I agree that cars should be designed with the assumption that everything must be operated by the driver from the driver's seat, but that does not mean that passengers should be ignored.

nealibob, different views. The passenger in my view does not touch anything, does not operate anything and certainly never goes near the HVAC/radio/navi.

To paraphrase Arrested Development: "Passengers, like children, should be neither seen nor heard."