Haven't driven the Mazdasped all that much at night. Turns out, it's quite nice inside, especially for a $25K car. The red glow of the instrument cluster and it accompanying controls reminded me of our S5, which is not a bad comparison given that the Audi is over double the price.
At first, the blue contrast seemed a bit gimmicky, like the Mazda designers were trying to channel their inner Scion or something. But after driving it for awhile I found that the added contrast actually makes the gauges that much more readable.
Not a big deal really, all cars should be so thoughtfully designed. Performance cars like the Mazdaspeed 3 should be held to a slightly higher standard, however, and in this case it passed the test.
Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line @ 5,040 miles
bc1960 says:
07:55 PM, 12/29/09
Aside from the 'Speed label, the tach redline, and the speedometer range, are these gauges different in appearance from the Mazda3 s and the Mazda6, which start out costing even less?
roadburner says:
08:42 PM, 12/29/09
I tend to think that the gauges in my 2007 MS3 come perilously close to appearing gaudy, but they are easy to read. The only glaring omission-the lack of a boost gauge-was remedied in the 2010 edition. It's a nice setup for a hot-rodded econobox.
blueguydotcom says:
10:27 PM, 12/29/09
These are the same gauges in the 23k MSRP Mazda3 Grand Touring hatch.
chavis10 says:
03:35 AM, 12/30/09
"Not a big deal really, all cars should be so thoughtfully designed."
Most are.
"Performance cars like the Mazdaspeed 3 should be held to a slightly higher standard, however, and in this case it passed the test."
Why should performance be held to a higher standard? Good design is good design whether it's a sports car, SUV or luxury car. Why do auto writers insist on creating double standards? The Speed3 is an economy car with a powerful engine/hard suspension and nothing more. Let's stop pretending this is some purpose built sports car or something.
ahightower says:
06:27 AM, 12/30/09
Not a fan of the digital fuel gauge. Not because I'm hung up on analog only, but the dot matrix design there is a little cheap looking. The digital boost gauge is also a little cheesy, but it is cool to have one, and I would probably have a lot of fun with it. Overall, a nice design.
bodyblue says:
08:48 AM, 12/30/09
Good thing it has a 180 MPH speedo.......god forbid you would be going 172 and not know how fast you were really going....I mean there you are on a crowded freeway going 125, putting innocent lives in danger because you have a fast car and have the right to go as fast as you want.....and your speedo could not indicate that you were going 135...how horrible for you.
Stop the speedo insanity!!!!!! :) There is no reason to have a speedo read any higher than the speed limiter will let you go. (OK maybe round it up to the nearest even number) And only an idiot would try for that on a public road, so what is the point even in that? :)
matt310 says:
09:14 AM, 12/30/09
That 180mph speedometer is 180% ridiculous.
hybris says:
09:15 AM, 12/30/09
@bodyblue
The speedo goes to 180 so when some kid pumps up the nitrous he will know how hard he's going to hit the car in front of him.
huyracing says:
10:34 AM, 12/30/09
looks like everyone is copying VW these days...
charlesb says:
12:26 PM, 12/30/09
I don't find that cluster particularly attractive. Mazda's tend to be kind of gaudy.
fundango says:
12:46 PM, 12/30/09
@bodyblue
Haha, agreed.
Back on point, I normally like Mazda interior designs, but the red/blue lighting in the 3 is a bit over the top. I can see how the blue adds contrast, but is it really that necessary to have (as the British might say) loud and shouty gauges? Eh, maybe I'm getting old.
scorp76 says:
12:59 PM, 12/30/09
"looks like everyone is copying VW these days..."
I knew I wouldnt have to scroll too far down before some d.... uh, person claimed they were 'copying' someone.
Check your facts: I dont even LIKE vw, and I know that their illegible-at-night guages are BLUE, with red needles. So, though 'everyone' else is, clearly Mazda didnt copy.
scorp76 says:
01:04 PM, 12/30/09
For the price point, and intended buyer, these gauges look great. And at least it all matches, red gauges/red lighting throughout, unlike SOME companies, with their green lighting/blue or red gauges.
bodyblue says:
02:01 PM, 12/30/09
OK on point....The blue looks glitzy and silly..what is the point? (ok I guess glitz is the point but just looks silly) Just plain red looks nice and clear and is the best color at nite. It seems like Mazda is straining just a bit to be different or "exciting". Ambient lighting is all the rage and it does look cool but the point is to see OUT of the car safely at nite and to be able to see the interior switches easily without glaring. Make it easy to see and easy to use.......God I cant believe I am going to say this......Like BMW does their gauges. (slaps forehead in disgust at self)...no glitz...just functional.
blueguydotcom says:
06:24 PM, 12/30/09
BMW has a little light that shines on the shifter with a warm orange glow (nice touch on their cars). Mazda copied that with a blue-tinged light.
adamb1 says:
06:25 AM, 12/31/09
My current gripe with speedos is that they are marked off in 10's. The major numbers should be 5's. With my Mazda 6s GT, it takes some study to find 45, 55, 75 on the speedo which is similar to the MS3. The 6 has 3 hash marks between the major numbers which makes it harder to read.
blueguydotcom says:
04:21 PM, 12/31/09
What difference does 5 mph make? 70-75, etc it's essentially the same.
bc1960 says:
05:01 PM, 12/31/09
This particular speedo is incremented in 5 mph hashmarks, with longer ones at 10 and 20 mph intervals. The 2009 Mazda6 shown in another recent post has increments of 2.5 mph, with longer marks at 5, 10, and 20 mph. One side effect of the 180mph speedometer here is that the typically-used portion is crammed into approximately a 60-degree arc on the left. But it shouldn't be difficult to pick a 5 mph mark on either.