2013 Mazda3 SKYACTIV-G: The Amazing Mileage Miser

"Best Buy" - 2013 Mazda3 SKYACTIV-G Sedan with 5-speed shift-selectable 6-speed automatic SkyActiv transmission and Grand Touring trim level appointment package is judged to be an amazing mileage miser that delivers on many surprising levels. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

2013 Mazda3 SKYACTIV-G: The Amazing Mileage Miser

A common problem beginning to present itself to many premium sedan owners in this 21st century America is summed up with this question: What Miles Per Gallon (MPG) car can one buy in order to get through a continuing era of increasing fuel prices, increasing number of EPA regulations, and low economic growth expectations - yet retain some of the advantages found in the decade old premium vehicle that is needing replacement?

The overall age of the personal fleet of automobiles careening around the country's roads is the oldest it has been since records have been kept and is reported to be nearly 11 years old. Many of these cars are a proud-but-aging rolling stock of premium sedans that featured rear wheel drive, leather interior, remote keyless entry, electric everything including fully adjustable seats (with heat) for both front bucket riding positions, named manufacturer audio systems with about as many speakers as room would allow, and power to spare from a stout V6 or better (0-60 in under seven seconds or better), at not much better than 20 mpg average, etc.

When one purchased these cars in pre-2001, the selling prices of a new or slightly used vehicle may have begun at around $25,000 and ranged upwards to $40,000 for the most well equipped standard premium quality vehicle with marques of Lexus, Acura, Infiniti, and the like.

2013 Mazda3 SKYACTIV-G with automatic transmission Grand Touring trim level appointments touchscreen interface.  This 5.8" full color touch-screen controls and informs the driver of navigation w/real time traffic thru Traffic Message Channel, Blind Spot Monitoring System, 265-Watt Bose Centerpoint 10 speaker surround sound audio system, HD Radio, Pandora audio application, audio menu voice-command, E911 automatic emergency notification, Radio Broadcast Data System program information, SMS text message audio delivery and voice reply. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

An owner as described above is faced with a decision. It would be easy to continue investing in the current car especially since a direct replacement would set one back with prices starting at around $35,000 and ranging to $50,000+ for any mid-size or better marques … or better, bite the bullet and decide to invest in the reality of a worsening future picture of fuel prices, regulation, and economic growth opportunities social environment.

With this view in mind, one has several options to consider. First, one has to consider if the path to greater MPG and fuel consumption efficiency will be through the current fuel delivery infrastructure or be aided through the evolving electric-power delivery systems (hybrid or all-electric) which may add cost and disposal issues in maintenance-process of the vehicle.

For buyers seeking to purchase a new car that has as its principle value low fuel consumption and current fuel delivery infrastructure, there appear to be only a couple of options that can promise some of the profile functionality of premium sedans. 

 Rearview - 2013 Mazda3 SKYACTIV-G with automatic transmission and Grand Touring trim level appointments. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

After careful evaluation and test, one car sticks out as the best premium vehicle replacement choice to get through the next four years and beyond. That car is the 2013 Mazda3 SKYACTIV-G with automatic transmission and Grand Touring trim level appointments package.

By opting for the Mazda3 SKYACTIV-G ... what one gives up not investing in a new premium vehicle is spending at least $7,000 more for leather seats, V6 engine, rear wheel drive, 0-60 in under 7 seconds, a little more elbow room, a couple of more speakers, fuel consumption that would never exceed 30 mpg, and possibly a little quieter riding passenger cabin.

S L I D E S H O W

What one gains through a strategy of settling with a scaled back expectation in favor of high MPG, is an average MPG of about 34 miles per gallon combined city/highway, 0-60 at just under 8 seconds ... enough to not be run over by others getting onto the freeway or being a little shy on power once one enters the freeway lanes at speed, leather interior, a Bose 10 speaker sound system (with Bluetooth wireless, USB, and 3.5 connector Auxiliary port connection capability), push-button and remote keyless entry, with electric everything including a fully adjustable seat (driver's side) - with heat for both front bucket riding positions.

More importantly, one gains a driving experience that is very surprising for a car that competes with a mix of "hyper-mile" mavens that put all of the other vehicle choice options to shame - Fiesta, Focus, Fit, Accord, Altima, Leaf, Corolla, Hyundai and Kia. The car carves through corners with strength and anticipated (even expected) ease. The ride is less stiff or "road bed imperfection sensitive" than heavier entry level premium cars of a couple of years ago ... as in the Infiniti G35, for example. Sadly, the roadways in Southern California are not as well maintained, therefore stiffness of ride must be figured into vehicle purchases going forward.

Downtown Los Angeles and the Christmas Tree atop the Capitol Records building in Hollywood can be seen in the background of this Mulholland Drive Hollywood Bowl Overlook view of a 2013 Mazda3 in Velocity Red Mica. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

As tested on Los Angeles area freeways and surrounding hills including the twisty Mulholland Drive during the day and at night (thanks to a loaner arranged through Galpin Motors in Van Nuys, CA), the 2013 Mazda3 SKYACTIV-G Sedan with 5-speed shift-selectable 6-speed automatic SKYACTIV transmission and Grand Touring trim level appointment package is judged to be an amazing mileage miser that delivers on many surprising levels, but mostly it delivers a pleasant driving experience for having a car that is rated at near 40 miles per gallon fuel efficiency (Hwy), especially if one is having to procure new rolling stock, replacing an older premium vehicle that has delivered a long, pleasant, useful ride.

… notes from The EDJE


** Article first published as 2013 Mazda3 SKYACTIV-G: The Amazing Mileage Miser on Technorati **

The Winds Of "Change" Swirl Around NASCAR

View northwest of the snow dusted San Gabriel's from the main straightaway grandstand seats at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana [pitlane and team suite viewing boxes in foreground] - The tallest mountain in the background is Mount Baldy, elevation 10,064 feet, and is part of the San Gabriel Mountain range. The summit can be reached from several different directions, including the Devils Backbone trail. Image Credit: 4D7 (2008)

The Winds Of "Change" Swirl Around NASCAR

Last year's Auto Club 500 at the track was hampered by rain ... but with the economy in a tailspin since the election of Barack Obama (DOW down 3,998 points, or 34%, since November 3, 2008) and the New York Times trying to sell its share in a NASCAR team, the climate that will confront NASCAR may be a little harder to overcome than just a little rain on a normally sunny Southern California afternoon.

The economic crisis could take center stage and adversely affect the attendance at NASCAR's three events of this weekend's Auto Club 500 event in Fontana.

Auto Club 500 event logo - Image Credit: Auto Club Speedway

This excerpted and edited from the Los Angeles Times -

Fontana races to be tested by a different type of climate
By Jim Peltz - LA Times - February 18, 2009

The NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Southern California a year ago was hampered by rain that caused numerous delays and frustrated fans, drivers and track officials.

Now the sport and the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana are about to be tested again, this time by an economic storm -- and a big question is how many stock car racing fans will weather it by showing up.

NASCAR's top-tier series follows its season-opening Daytona 500 with the second race on its 36-race calendar, the Auto Club 500, at the Fontana track Sunday.

The speedway, 50 miles east of Los Angeles, also holds a doubleheader Saturday with races in NASCAR's second-level Nationwide Series and its Camping World Truck Series.

But it's Sunday's race featuring Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth, reigning NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart and the sport's other stars that could be a telling sign of how much the economic recession is affecting NASCAR.
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Ever since NASCAR awarded two Cup races a year to the track in 2004, the 92,000-seat facility has not sold out for either event.

It's a shortfall whose potential causes -- ranging from how the races are marketed to the quality of racing on the wide two-mile oval to bad weather -- have been hotly debated in NASCAR Nation.
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International Speedway Corp., which owns the Fontana track and several others, said Jan. 29 that its combined advance ticket sales at that point were down 17% from a year earlier, although it did not break down sales for each track.

Gillian Zucker, president of Auto Club Speedway, said "it looks like we'll be off about 10% from [the] Labor Day" race last year, which NASCAR said drew an estimated 70,000.
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The 568-acre track she oversees and other speedways have been cutting prices on selected seats and rolling out other promotions to limit the attendance declines.
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Auto Club Speedway cut prices to $35 per ticket from $55 for several thousand seats in the first five rows for Sunday's 250-lap race, which starts at 3 p.m. Its higher grandstand seats, offering a better view of the whole track, range in price up to $105 each.

Zucker said about two-thirds of those purchasing the $35 seats were first-time buyers, and "that's very encouraging about what the future holds when the economy begins to recover."

The track also is bringing Kenseth to Century City for an autograph session Thursday, and it appointed Hugh Laurie, star of the television show "House," as the race's grand marshal. Baseball Hall of Fame member Reggie Jackson will drive the pace car.
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The lifeblood of racing budgets is money provided by corporate sponsors. But total racing sponsorship spending by North American-based companies is expected to drop 6% this year to $3.3 billion, the research publication IEG Sponsorship Report said last week.
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Yet, for all the economic pressures, the turnout for Sunday's race also could partly depend on the weather.

In 2007, the track swung from very cold temperatures for the Auto Club 500 to a sizzling 110 degrees for its second race on Labor Day weekend. (The Labor Day race will be moved to October starting this year.)

Last February, rain caused a two-hour delay in the start of the Auto Club 500 and, after only 87 laps, more rain forced the race to be finished Monday, with Carl Edwards winning.

This Sunday? The National Weather Service is forecasting partly cloudy skies with a high of 68 degrees.
Reference Here>>

Should be another great weekend for the second round of NASCAR Cup racing here in California, there might even be a slight dust of snow on top of the San Gabriel mountains to the north, making this Hollywood set backdrop at the track ... complete.

... notes from The EDJE