Never a big fan of plastic engine covers. They usually look so out of place, mostly because they're tacked on as an afterthought.
Now, I'm not saying that the Mazda 3's engine cover is a work of art, but at least it looks as though someone took more than a few minutes to design it. The fact that it's blue is part of the Skyactiv theme, so it has nothing to do with the exterior color. A lid to cover the crankcase cap and dipstick would have been a nice touch, but on a car in this price range that's probably too much to ask.
Ed Hellwig, Editor, Inside Line
mrhp says:
06:49 PM, 02/29/12
With DI engines being so clattery, plastic engine covers are more about keeping the noise down than making anything look pretty. The Skyactiv blue is a nice touch though.
I'd bet if you took the cover off and peeked below it, you'd find a big ol hunk of sound absorbing foam.
woochifer says:
11:43 PM, 02/29/12
I kinda miss the days when the engine itself was more of a focal point in how things look under the hood. If designers wanted to get fancy, they could also embellish the manifolds or the air filter. The plastic engine covers seem more like afterthoughts, a lazy approach. Yeah, the Mazda Skyactiv cover looks like at least some thought went into it, but the engine underneath looks downright ugly and patched together.
@mrhp "With DI engines being so clattery, plastic engine covers are more about keeping the noise down than making anything look pretty. The Skyactiv blue is a nice touch though.
I'd bet if you took the cover off and peeked below it, you'd find a big ol hunk of sound absorbing foam."
I hadn't thought about that, but you're totally right about the foam underneath the engine cover. Good to know that it serves a function other than visually covering up the engine underneath. Having seen how ugly the Skyactiv engine looks without the cover, it is actually a function well served.
lostboyz says:
04:06 AM, 03/ 1/12
They should have just left it un painted, now it looks like it came off of a different car.
ptcdawg says:
07:25 AM, 03/ 1/12
I see no real purpose for this cover. IF the engine is too loud, that's an engineering problem. IMHO.
mbm112 says:
07:56 AM, 03/ 1/12
It's not that the engine is too loud. It's that it's not quiet enough.
firstwagon says:
08:22 AM, 03/ 1/12
Should be easy to check. Take it off and drive around for a while. Put it back on and see if there is a noticable difference.
legacygt says:
08:26 AM, 03/ 1/12
Oh. I thought those were cupholders
bankerdanny says:
08:35 AM, 03/ 1/12
See, now I don't think a lid for the dip sticks would be agood idea at all. It would just accumulate underhood grime and become one more thing to get your hands dirty when you are checking the oil level at the gas station.
stovt001 says:
08:35 AM, 03/ 1/12
I've done a before/after test removing a Chevy Cobalt's engine cover, which had significant sound-deadening foam. The engine was not DI, but either way I did not notice much of a difference.
duck87 says:
08:45 AM, 03/ 1/12
BMW's N20 engine has an ENORMOUS wad of foam underneath the cover.
I was able to pull a similar Skyactiv engine cover off the Mazda CX-5 (like most engine covers, you can just pop it off) when I visited the Canadian International Auto Show, but if I recall there actually isn't any foam underneath there. The cover itself is fairly substantial and Mazda made it pretty easy to pull off and put back on.
texases says:
08:56 AM, 03/ 1/12
Lots of countries have noise regs in addition to pollution and saftety regs, so makers have to quiet things down every chance they get.
ctpaul says:
09:49 AM, 03/ 1/12
How about a picture without the cover to see what it is covering up?
elkriso says:
10:28 AM, 03/ 1/12
Hells yeahs! All day gots to do now is throw some blue LED underglows on dis engine! Dope.
eidolways says:
11:24 AM, 03/ 1/12
Any sound deadening foam is likely less about calming the noise in the cabin, and more about calming the owner should they open the hood.
"Hello, City Mazda? Yeah, the engine sounds *really* clattery when I open the hood. Think that's a problem?"
evdmav says:
02:46 PM, 03/ 1/12
I really like the new mazda3 with the skyactiv, but I've read in the customer reviews that the engine is really noisie when cold start, is this true I live in new jersey we've been having pretty nice weather but we also have really cold winter and I don't want this to be an issue, also How is the wind noise and road noise, I currently have 4cyl 05 accord coupe, and it has plenty road noise and engine noise as well. I need some answers please.....
mr_charrington says:
03:12 PM, 03/ 1/12
@evdmav
It's a good bit loud on a cold start, but it's really only harsh for a minute or so until the motor warms up. I've had the car since early December and I live in Reading (southeast PA), and I've had plenty of starts below freezing. It's nothing to worry about though, it's not awful, and certainly not a deal breaker (at least for me). Wind noise is fairly subdued with most of it coming from the side mirrors. Engine noise is not that bad either. I can almost guarantee that engine/road/wind noise will be better than your Accord. My prior was a 2000 Civic with the dinky ~100 hp motor. To call it thrashy would be an understatement.
dougnuts2 says:
05:26 PM, 03/ 1/12
Guys (and gals), it's not that then engine is too loud, it's that the fuel injection is loud. Direct injection is even more noisy than normal port fuel injectors. Cars have become so quiet that the automakers have to isolate the sound so customers don't complain about how noisy it is. I drove a new CX-5 the other day and when sitting at idle, I could hear the injectors tapping away. To someone who doesn't know what they are listening to, that could be considered a defect.
evdmav says:
07:32 PM, 03/ 1/12
What about the cloth seats are they confortable?
I heard they need a little more cushion.
mr_charrington says:
05:54 PM, 03/ 2/12
I have the leather seats and they are pretty comfortable. My commute is about an hour and I never really get uncomfortable. I only sat in the cloth seats on the test drive, but I imagine they would be the same.