New Mazda 3 is both stylish and fun to drive
- Details
- Published on Saturday, November 28, 2015
Photo courtesy of Mazda. The Mazda 3 is one of Canada’s best selling compact cars.
By Ben Castle
The Neepawa Banner
The Mazda 3, along with the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla tested in September and October, comprise three out of the four best-selling compacts in Canada.
The other is the soon to be replaced for 2017 Hyundai Elantra (watch this space)! In its first year (2014), the third generation Mazda 3 found over 40,000 Canadian homes. That puts it amongst the 10 best-selling vehicles in Canada. So what does the Mazda 3 offer over its main rivals? Is it the perfect blend of the Civic and Corolla’s strengths?
The test car, supplied by Forman Mazda in Brandon, was the mid-range 2015 GS Sport model (Sport being Mazda for hatchback) with the SKYACTIV-Drive 6-speed automatic transmission and the Convenience Package, comprising heated door mirrors, automatic headlights, rain-sensing windshield wipers, heated front seats and leather-wrapped steering wheel. It features a 2.0 litre 16-valve engine with 155hp and 150 lb ft of torque. Mazda claim fuel economy of 5.9L/100km highway for both automatic and manual transmissions, which is up to 30 per cent more efficient than the previous generation. During my test, I failed to replicate these figures but I did a lot of stop-start urban driving and the car was barely run-in.
Mazda has chosen to increase the efficiency of its latest 3 with new, more efficient engines with SKYACTIV-G technology and a new 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission. What does SKYACTIV-G actually mean? Well, the two available engines (a 2.5 litre engine with 184hp and 185 lb ft of torque features on the top-spec GT model) have an above average compression ratio, which means they use less fuel and have more power for their size. The body also uses ultra-high-tensile steel in key areas, which means the structure is stiffer, stronger, lighter and safer.
The 2.0 litre engine has more power and torque than its key rivals and this is noticeable, as it has more urge at low revs. The automatic transmission is very responsive and also keeps the revs down, but the engine is still smooth and refined at high revs when used with the manual override. What really impressed me about this car was the excellent ride and handling. Thanks in part to its relatively long wheelbase and rear multi-link suspension, the Mazda 3 has one of the smoothest rides that I have experienced in any car at any price, managing to combine the lightness and agility of the Civic at low speed with the high speed stability of the Corolla. The brakes are also powerful and confidence-inspiring and despite the weather being atrocious for the 24 hours that I had the car, the ABS or stability control never had to intervene once.
Mazda has to have one of the best-looking ranges of vehicles around at the moment and the new Mazda 3 is no exception, being both sporty and cohesive from every angle. The hood is long for a compact car, not unlike that of a Ford Mustang, which adds to the feeling that you are driving something a bit special. Mazda also offers a range of very attractive colours including the Snowflake White Pearl of our test model.
The interior is both simple and stylish with high quality plastics. This car only had three buttons on the dashboard (two for the 3-stage heated seats and one for the hazard warning light flashers) and an analogue speedometer and digital tachometer. My only criticism is that the heating and ventilation controls don’t feel quite as substantial and satisfying to use as those in the Civic and Corolla. The glovebox is huge, although storage space in the centre console and door pockets is limited. Perched on top of the dashboard is a 7-inch colour touchscreen, which constitutes the infotainment system. Usefully, all Mazda 3s equipped with this touchscreen are navigation-ready. On GX and GS models, all you require is a $425 SD-card accessory available from the dealership (GT models have standard navigation).
Service intervals are a pretty standard 8,000 km, but all aspects of Mazda’s warranty are now unlimited mileage (the only manufacturer to currently offer an unlimited mileage warranty in Canada). This means that unlike most other manufacturers, if you do over 20,000 km per year, you are still covered for three years and the seven year anti-perforation warranty is also unlimited mileage too.
Thanks to the relatively long wheelbase and the back of the front seats being scalloped, rear legroom is good if not quite as good as the class-leading Toyota Corolla. The rear seat is also sculpted for two, but there is a small hump in the middle of the floor, so your middle rear seat passenger won’t be quite as comfortable as they would be in the Corolla or Civic.
On paper, at 572 litres, the Mazda 3 Sport hatchback offers an impressive 55 per cent more capacity than its sedan competitors but less capacity than any of its hatchback competitors such as the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf. If you opt for the sedan model, trunk space is a Civic-competitive 350 litres but it is slightly narrower and shallower, so not quite so practical.
Which one to buy? There isn’t a bad choice really. Trim levels are G (sedan only), GX, GS and GT. Automatic transmission is $1,300 extra on GX and GS and $2,100 on the GT (as you get steering wheel mounted paddle shifters) and the Sport hatchback is a $1,000 premium over the sedan.
The G model sedan offers a fairly basic spec (six speed manual transmission, push button start, keyless entry, power door locks, windows and mirrors, adjustable steering wheel and the full suite of safety features) for a very competitive subcompact-rivalling price of $15,550 before taxes. If you want the option of an automatic transmission, air, cruise, Bluetooth, backup camera and the navigation-ready touchscreen you will need to pay an extra $2,800 for the GX model.
Next up, for an additional $1,500 ($19,850), the as tested GS model has 16 inch aluminum wheels and the aforementioned Convenience Package as standard. Finally, the $25,350 GT model has the more powerful 2.5 litre engine, 18 inch aluminum wheels, bi-xenon HID headlamps, fog lamps, standard navigation, paddle shifters on the automatic and a nine speaker surround-sound premium Bose audio system and is also available with leather upholstery for an additional $2,100. Whilst the G offers excellent value, the GX has everything you really need, but the GS spec with the now standard Convenience Package is the stand out spec for value and actually works out cheaper for 2016 than 2015! The GT model is quite a big jump in price but this is a driver’s car and the extra power and bigger rims truly make this the best-looking car in its class. Also consider that no other rival but the turbocharged Kia Forte5 offers more power for less money.
So despite having to give second best in terms of space and practicality, what we have here is a car that is class-leading in terms of value, looks, driving experience, efficiency, refinement, warranty and feature content. Next year’s new 2016 Honda Civic and Chevrolet Cruze need to be very good, as we now have a new compact class benchmark!
