Mazda3 hatchback
Price £17,995 – £24,695
reviewed by Carbuyer
- Fantastic joy to drive
- Inexpensive to run
- Excellent to look at
- Entry-level models are slow
- Some rivals are more practical
- Not the cheapest car in the class
At a glance
"The Mazda three is a fine family hatchback to drive and own, has style and poise, and is keenly priced"
The Mazda3 has a rough job. It’s a family hatchback, which means it has some serious rivals to prove itself against. There’s the Volkswagen Golf, SEAT Leon, Ford Concentrate and Vauxhall Astra for starters. Fortunately, the Mazda is a worthy competitor and warrants a closer look.
The three is one of the more stylish offerings out there. It’s certainly one of the better-looking models in the class, with Mazda’s acute styling, narrow headlights and a large front grille. The neat figure lines help the air flow over the three efficiently, which reduces resistance and makes it more efficient.
Once you’ve finished admiring the exterior and are seated behind the steering wheel, you’ll find one of the best driving practices in the class. On the road, the steering is direct, if a little light, but the chassis feels very taut and the assets remains composed when you’re blasting down a B-road.
Both the diesel and petrol engines are available with an automatic gearbox, but the manual is a gem, with a slick and brief activity. However, if an automatic is the one for you this isn’t a bad transmission, with reasonably quick, fuss-free switches. It does thrust up running costs, however.
The rail quality is a little on the hard side, and isn’t the most comfy in the class, but the suspension deals with most bumps fairly well and most passengers shouldn’t have reason to complain.
The Mazda3 has a low-slung appearance, but space for passengers and their luggage is pretty good; four adults will be glad with the room on suggest, or you could manage with two adults up front and three children in the rear seats. The boot isn’t class-leading, but there are several storage options in the cabin that help make up for this.
The dashboard is well designed, with controls that feel good to use and materials that, while not fairly up to Volkswagen’s or Audi’s standard, are a big step up from Mazdas of old.
All Mazda3s send power to their front wheels and you can choose inbetween two petrol engines and two diesels. The petrol comprises a Two.0-litre engine with either one hundred eighteen or 163bhp. The less powerful version has average fuel economy of 55mpg and emits 119g/km of CO2 – outstanding for a large petrol engine. The 163bhp model can manage up to 48.7mpg combined, with emissions of 135g/km, but it’s available in the top Sport Nav trim only and strangely, the most powerful diesel is quicker.
If outright economy is what you’re after, the greenest Mazda3 is the 1.5-litre diesel, capable of up to 74.3mpg, while the Two.2-litre diesel can still comeback 68.9mpg. These emit a respective one hundred nine and 107g/km in manual guise.
There are three trim levels to choose from: SE, SE-L and Sport Nav, albeit SE and SE-L can also be had in ‘Nav’ guise. Whichever one you go for, you’ll get alloy wheels, air-conditioning, Bluetooth and a DAB digital radio as standard. The Mazda3 also comes with an infotainment system that puts a seven-inch touchscreen on top of the dashboard. Fortunately, you also have the option of using a dial inbetween the front seats to operate it, which makes it lighter to use on the stir.
Families will be reassured to know that the Mazda3 has a five-star rating from the crash safety experts at Euro NCAP. It gets a total complement of airbags, as well as ISOFIX child-seat mounts and autonomous emergency braking, which operates from 3-18mph to help avoid crashes altogether or at least lessen their influence in town.
The Mazda3 finished 31st out of the seventy five cars ranked in our two thousand seventeen Driver Power holder satisfaction survey of cars presently on sale in the UK.
