Topic: Day-by-Day Review: 2015 Mazda3 Sport GT; Day 1

[EV-Light]

The review seems consistent with others out there. Loud..really loud.

Is this mostly tire roar?  Is this due to the choice of tires or just a consequence of poor sound deadening? I on w my Focus has little wind noise and a fairly muted engine but the Pilot Sport tires roar on some surfaces. Then I hit a fresh paved stretch on the bridge and the car is almost silent. I've driv n similar car with H rated Continental tires that seemed quieter.
The 2013 Mazda 3s I drove were also loud.

Agreed, it is just mostly tire/road noise. The stock tires are rubbish, but even though I took delivery of mine with a set of quieter, summer tires, the road noise just permeates, and will vary on what kind of surface. There just isn't enough sound deadening material on this car, heck, a lot of Mazdas in general. This is just a L O U D car......

My Mazdas are quiet as a tomb compared to the Mini. Just go drive an R56 for a bit and you will feel a lot better about your car.

[Oldsguy]

Surprised to read the comments about excess noise, only because early reviews indicated that had been addressed from the raucous and rough previous edition. Now we hear you need ear plugs. Wow. Mazda seems to still have a long way to go to fix what is surely an easy thing to address.

[dkaz]

Nice try, Oldsguy. My previous edition Mazda 3 is no noisier than the average non-premium compact on the market. I'll take a bit of road noise for reduced weight and better fuel consumption numbers and handling in the process.

[mixmanmash]

Nice try, Oldsguy. My previous edition Mazda 3 is no noisier than the average non-premium compact on the market. I'll take a bit of road noise for reduced weight and better fuel consumption numbers and handling in the process.

This.

[Noto]

My previous edition Mazda 3 is no noisier than the average non-premium compact on the market.

my 2010 Corolla is loud as sh!t.  Not even "in comparison"...it's just loud.  The Mazda3 isn't 'loud' compared to its competition, but compared to the Tiguan James likely came out of the week before ...

[SaskSpecV]

Wing, have you driven the 2.0L Mazda3 with the 16" wheels?  Is it similarly loud, or is the noise exacerbated by the 18" wheels?

[wing]

I only get the loaded models.

[Noto]

Wing, have you driven the 2.0L Mazda3 with the 16" wheels?  Is it similarly loud, or is the noise exacerbated by the 18" wheels?

MIL's 2014 Mazda3 GS 2.0L with 16" wheels is infinitely quieter than my Corolla and my Fozzie XT.  Louder than my Lexus...but whaddayouexpect?

I personally don't think the Mazda3 is loud - and if this example was, it's got to be purely from the tires.

[quadzilla]

I'm sure the type of tires and road materials make the biggest difference for road noise.

If you want loud, drive my GTI where my 3 season tires are now much louder than my winter tires. It horrible between 60-110kph, around 130-150kph its actually much quieter.

[sacrat]

I'm sure the type of tires and road materials make the biggest difference for road noise.

If you want loud, drive my GTI where my 3 season tires are now much louder than my winter tires. It horrible between 60-110kph, around 130-150kph its actually much quieter.

So keeping it over 130kph on residential roads helps then...?

[WRX_Pilot]

How noisy the cabin is, is fairly subjective.  I have a hard time believing its that bad...

That said I'm with the other posters about the bunker windows and iPad on the dash.  However, I do like those wheels.  I wish there was a mazda6 hatch still.

[Slow_lane]

seems a little unfair to comment on road noise when the tires and rims are aftermarket.  road noise can vary substantially between tire models/brands. 

Road noise has been pretty well documented in a number of reviews so I do not think it is related to these tires. This web site shows it to be one of the noisier cars tested.
http://alexonautos.com/cabin-noise/

By the way I really dislike the wheels on this car. I am not a lover of black or dark mags at all. They just strike me as almost as ugly as having steelies with no caps. I just do not get the attraction. Oh I guess it is good that we have different tastes or we would all be driving the same car, with same wheels and same color.

[quadzilla]

WOW! Its quieter than a Mercedes. 

2014   Mazda   Mazda3 5-Door   72dB
2014   Mercedes   CLA 250   73dB
2014   Mercedes   E250 Bluetec 4Matic   73dB

[dirtyjeffer]

I on w my Focus has little wind noise and a fairly muted engine but the Pilot Sport tires roar on some surfaces. Then I hit a fresh paved stretch on the bridge and the car is almost silent.

the tires on my Rio5 are the same way...on older "coarse" pavement, they are quite loud...on "smoother" newer pavement, they are almost silent...i think my car has Hankook tires, and the size is 205/45/17.

[wing]

I think the wheels look good.  They aren't black but dark grey, very dark.

[Oldsguy]

Black wheels should only be made of steel and be fitted with snow tires. Otherwise unacceptable.

[wing]

Really?

[mixmanmash]

Really?

Lol.  My track wheels are black with a polished lip.  I'll have to find a picture but it looks great.

[Solstice2006]

I don't mind black wheels, but prefer gun metal.  I see less dirt on darker rims, always a plus for me.  Since I loathe cleaning them. 

[sacrat]

Olds Guy makes a point.  I have never really come around to the black wheels thing either.

Actually I'm more disturbed by the recent cheap looking "plastic look" rims showing up on Calgary roads. They are usually blue, green, or pink and never really seem to match the car they are on...