Car Review: The Mazda 3 is made by petrol heads for petrol heads (and diesel heads too)
Mazda’s image as a rather staid, conservative sort of outfit, a typical Japanese corporate, is way off the mark, as its unfashionably brilliant new offering demonstrates
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Your support makes all the difference.This week, I’m testing a fairly unfashionable motor car, the Mazda 3. Through no fault of its own, you understand. It’s a conventional five-door hatch, for one thing. It thus conforms to the template set down by the 1974 Volkswagen Golf, as the default “family car” setting. This type of vehicle, the family hatch, became the wheels of choice for the aspirant young execs and the perfect complement to a baby and a “starter home”, when such a thing was still “a thing”. For about four decades, that is, until the SUV craze.
Ironically, the “compact” SUVs that are the rage right now are more expensive to buy, lease and run than their hatchback equivalents, which means less money available to put aside for a deposit or to pay the mortgage, but there we are. Nowadays no one without a private account at the Bank of Mum and Dad can get onto the property ladder, so maybe it makes no difference anyway.
Back to the car, then, the unfashionable diesel hatch. Unfashionable, but brilliant I have to say. The Mazda 3 I tried was fitted with a 1.8 diesel engine, which is about as evil as you can get without actually shooting the last Sumatran tiger or buying shares in BP. Or so some would have us believe. In reality, the most modern diesel engines, such as this one, help push CO2 emissions down and have managed to control their NOx emissions (ie carcinogenic soot) to levels unthinkable a generation or two ago.
The spec
Mazda3 1.8D GT Sport
Price: £26,945 (as tested, range starts at £21,385)
Engine capacity: 1.8 diesel, 4-cyl, 6-sp manual
Power output (PS @ rpm): 116@4,000
Top speed (mph): 121
0-60mph (seconds): 10.3
Fuel economy (mpg): 56.5
CO2 emissions (g/km): 109
I’d thoroughly agree that a pure-battery electric alternative is preferable to anything powered by fossil fuels, but, realistically, it has to be said that diesel has had enough punishment. The Mazda’s diesel is Euro 6d-Temp standard, which means it is probably one of the cleanest of its type.
Like all diesels, the Mazda’s has plenty of “torque”, which means that it will pull the car at lower speeds even when it is in a high gear, because the power is available without having to rev it too hard. On the other hand, being a Mazda, that engine will rev impressively, and is one of the quietest diesel applications I’ve come across – including those from the prestige German marques.
Mazda has, I think, an image as a rather staid, conservative sort of outfit, a typical Japanese corporate; but in reality it is run by some right petrol heads, the people who singlehandedly revived the small sports car with the 1989 MX-5, and persevered with the unusual rotary engine (no pistons, just a revolving triangular turbine thingy, quite the thing). They even fitted pop-up headlamps to the first-gen Mazda 3, decades ago. Anyway, they like making their cars good to drive, and this the Mazda 3 diesel certainly is, a remarkable blend of willing performance, comfort, excellent fuel economy and sharp handling.
It looks the part too. I loved the scarab-beetle looks, with the pinched-in, high-waisted effect at the back and the assertive front grille in piano black at the front. My example was finished in a bluey-grey shade with understated gunmetal coloured alloy wheels, and it looks as dynamic as a car constrained by having to have room for five passengers and their clobber can be. It is easily the freshest, best looker in its class. It is like what Jaguar would do if they had to style a medium-sized hatchback.
The interior is conventional, dull even, but they’ve made an extra special effort with the materials to give it a classy air – nice soft leathers, squidgy plastics and some restrained use of chrome make all the difference when you have to count not just Vauxhall, VW and Ford among your rivals but Audi, VW and Mercedes-Benz as well, such is the invasion by the “premium” brands into every niche of the car scene.
The adaptive cruise control was easy to use, but the automatic braking took a little too long to kick in for my liking. I also found the stop-start feature a bit problematic – you do have to shove the clutch right to the floor to get the engine to restart at the lights, say. Just as well that the Mazda is otherwise fairly quick off the mark and the gear change is nice and light. You should also throw in the Mazda’s fairly good reputation for reliability among its attractions, though it’s still behind the likes of Toyota and Honda, broadly speaking.
I can truly recommend the Mazda 3 for your consideration and, via the various car price comparison sites and by shopping around, you may be able to find some bargains for new and nearly new diesel models out there. Alternatively you can opt for the excellent petrol version or, if you’re really a herd animal, you can go for the Mazda CX-3, its SUV sibling – a Mazda 3 on stilts. I’d take the hatch, but then again I’m deeply unfashionable myself.
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