quote Mazda even took a special approach to painting their latest compact car. Normally, this is done by computer-controlled robots in the most time-and-material-efficient manner possible, but that wasn’t good enough for the redesigned [2019 Mazda3] model. “Again, it didn’t feel right,” said [Julien Montousse, director of design at Mazda North American Operations.] So, they did a 3D scan of the master painter that works in the design shop, in order to precisely capture his gestures, which were then programmed into the robots, so they could duplicate his slight imperfections on thousands of cars. “Because he was doing it humanly with his eyes to bring gesture, to bring emotion to the painting. That’s why the car feels very human and doesn’t have this mass-manufactured feel,” explained Montousse. “This is inefficient, but this is core to who we are and we’re not going to give it up.”

That is Copy and Paste from one of the automobile trade magazines. Or "rag-azines."

"8 Design Secrets of the New 2020 Mazda3"
Craig Cole for AutoGuide(.com); December 10, 2018.
https://www.autoguide.com/a...the-2020-mazda3.html


I hope there aren't any auto dealership sales associates that are lurking here, that would come after me on this, but I have some liking for the 2019 model year Mazda3, in the category of "daily driver."

quote "I'm not going to deny it."

At the time that the AutoGuide column was published, it was still (officially) the 2020 model year Mazda3--or maybe Mr Cole just got that wrong. I also take issue with another statement:

quote Another hard-to-believe aspect of the new Mazda3’s design is that the sedan and hatchback models are completely different. “The only thing that is the same is the grille… even though it is a different finish, one is black and the other one is the bright chrome,” Montousse said. But, “Everything [else] is different, 100 percent,” from the doors and hood to the body’s lower elements; it’s all unique, something unheard of in the automotive industry.

If I'm not mistaken, based on other content that I have seen, the sedan and hatchback versions also share perfectly interchangeable and identically styled hoods.


I know that some of the regulars here are (or have been) seriously "hands on" with the vehicle finishing processes... exterior painting and repainting and everything that goes along with that kind of work. Not me. The only thing I have ever done with auto paint is to gaze upon it in its finished state.


I shared those painting-related paragraphs with someone, and [someone] came back with this:

quote Well ….. me thinks the describing of the painting is just a means to cover up a poorly done job…. A paint job that has slight imperfections in the paint …. So make it something special…

That was an email exchange. So [someone] was saying, in so many words, "Yeah, that's just some 'jive' that Mazda is putting out, as a way to gloss over what they are actually seeing as a certain imperfection or unwanted variability in the work of their Mazda3 factory painting process."


This is of no practical concern to me whatsoever, but I want to see what kind of conversation this might bring on here. Just for sh*ts, as [another someone] was prone to saying. So there's no Mission Statement for this New Topic. No particular wants or expectations. Address the topic head-on, or go off on just about any tangent that takes your fancy.


You may want to see that entire column in AutoGuide(.com). It's not a long one.
https://www.autoguide.com/a...the-2020-mazda3.html

[This message has been edited by rinselberg (edited 07-04-2019).]

I just corrected the http links.

And in the end......it's still a little tin can Mazda. But hey, it's shiny

They wanted to bring in a human approach by using robots?

Seriously people, be smarter than what you are working with.

"We can save $0.12 per vehicle in materials by not properly painting them. But how can we get away with it? Hmm..."

quote Originally posted by IMSA GT: And in the end......it's still a little tin can Mazda. But hey, it's shiny

...and it looks like its been hit in the rear end and the side doors...



Maybe the "Kodo" comes from letting these guys beat the sh*t out of it:

[This message has been edited by randye (edited 07-04-2019).]

quote Originally posted by randye: ...and it looks like its been hit in the rear end and the side doors...

Thats looks horrible.

quote Originally posted by IMSA GT: Thats looks horrible.

It does have that cheap "crumpled beer can" look to it, doesn't it.

quote When we painted it on the body at the beginning, we realized the car was not as alive as the prototypes,” said Montousse. “And what we realized is that through the stamping process the engineers were doing the normal masters,” polishing the dies to a mirror-like finish. But in this pursuit of perfection, something was missing. Montousse elaborated, “So engineers and designers met together and basically realized and understood that they had to sand and follow the movement of the reflection that was intended by design and sand every [stamping die] exactly the same way as the designers intended.” This was required to create the proper micro finish on completed parts, which in turn allows the paint to flow just right and ultimately the car to come alive

Very interesting article! This paragraph caught my eye. I'm curious what level of finish they are saying directs paint flow. So the dies would have some 'level' of finish that is only partially reproduced (I would imagine) in the stamped part. Paint experts, would this maybe be comparable to an 800-grit sand paper finish? I've never really considered that the microscratches left behind a sanding can 'direct' paint flow. Is this just hype or is there something to this?

The new ones drive really nice - I would say they fall under "great daily", or even "best-case scenario rental car", as in, they're fun to drive if I had to be placed into a small 4 cylinder automatic.

I *really* liked the look of the prior generation, it kinda reminds me of an old british sportscar like a modern interpretation of a jensen interceptor - and I have a thing for "weird" cars (though, don't all of us I suppose?)

prior gen mazda hatchback (2016?) - I think this generation had some absolutely delightful lines.


The front grill has authority, the side profile is great, the shape of the c pillar is awesome. The c pillar on the newest gen hatchback is huge, distractingly so. I also think in the prior generation mazda did an amazing job of color selection. I still firmly believe that mazda makes some of the most fun to drive "economy" cars. The mazda 6 is great to drive for what it is, the mazda 3 is *fantastic* to drive, and even the mazda cx5 mini SUV drives way better than it should (though its absurdly, dangerously slow). Because of some industry friends, I used to go to all sorts of manufacturer provided "autocross" days (the SRT one where we got to drive all the SRT vehicles was a hoot. I wound up buying an SRT4 - trying to autocross in the SRT10 truck was hilarious). The mazda autocross day was an absolute blast, because we got to autocross a mazda 3, a mazda 6, a mazda rx8, an NC miata, an NC mazdaspeed miata, and a MAZDA MINIVAN. Other than the minivan (with ebrake turns) the mazda 3 was the most fun at the mazda even, it was.... cheerful and eager, if that makes sense.

[This message has been edited by FieroSTETZ (edited 07-10-2019).]