Overall impression of quality and well designed car. In descending order:
Comfort - Roomier than I thought it would be. I'm 5'7" so head room is no problem. But it's still has a least a couple of inches more than my Toyota Matrix I'm replacing. I'm not tall, but I'm wide and the seats fit nicely. I sat in the rear seats (once and not again) and the doors are smallish but when your in, it's fairly roomy. They have a recessed area in the roof liner that's just where your head is and that adds a couple of inches of head room nicely.
Driving - Quiet, smooth, accelerates much better than my Matrix. No speed demon, but I wasn't looking for that in this car. Controls are nicely placed and I even liked the HUD display. I was anxious about it being a distraction but it sits nicely down along the hood line where you can easily see it, but not block any of view.
Trim - The inside is very well detailed, clean lines and everything is well thought out. Really wrestled with the interior colors. Wasn't comfortable with the mostly white leather interior (worried about upkeep) but it looks great. So went with the black interior - nicely done red detailing and a little more traditional looking.
The compact size - I was looking for a car that drives me around. To and from work and around town. Kids are grown up, my wife has a Ford Escape if we need extra space (and the Matrix moved down to my daughter so it's still around). The CX-3 will rarely , if ever, have anybody in the backseats - doesn't need to fit more than groceries or such in the back (which really is small, but with the seats folded down not bad - Matrix would win hands down there) and seldom have somebody in the passenger seat - it's mine.
If you're looking for a family car - to carry the kids and a dog to go on a family road trip - this isn't the right car. But if you want to drive somewhere in comfort, with good visibility, have AWD, be reliable and maybe take somebody else along - then this is the right car.
Oh - it's looks great too.
