Mazda on a mission
We travel 1300km over 19 hours in the new Mazda3 hatch
Flying Auckland to Wellington takes just over an hour. Crying babies and gusty landings are potential drawbacks. But driving from Auckland to Wellington raises a longer list of theoretical disasters. And that list doubles if you intend to drive back.
It was a Tuesday when I found a pair of model cars for sale online. Most would’ve scoffed at the “pick-up only, Wellington” requirement, but as a diecast addict my mind spun into overdrive.
Sitting in the driveway was my enabler; the new Mazda3 Limited hatch.
At the 3’s national launch, Mazda NZ managing director David Hodge labelled it “Mazda’s best car yet”. It’s not hard to see what fuels his comment. This is
Mazda’s bold attempt to push its brand further upmarket — specifically into the realm of cars such as the VW Golf.
To do this, Mazda has focused on revolutionary engine tech, cabin quality and style.
The design bends the laws of light. A subtle curve that forms the car’s key character arc eases from the front wheel to the back door. Light cascades off the rear quarter like a waterfall, giving the illusion of muscular rear haunches. A pinched, tucked front end and arched back add to the streamlined form. Plenty of Mazda RX-Vision concept cues can be be seen here.
Ironically while so much attention has been focused on the SkyActiv-X engines coming down the pipe, the balance of the Mazda3 engine lineup are carry-overs. This means entrylevel cars get a familiar 2-litre that makes 114kW/200Nm, while the GTX and our top-spec Limited get a slightly revised naturally aspirated SkyActivG 2.5-litre four-cylinder that makes 139kW/252Nm.
That’s a mild bump in output compared to the last 2.5-litre models supported with the addition of cylinder deactivation — helping the engine switch to three cylinders during low-stress driving.
Indeed, fuel saving was one of the biggest considerations for the trip. The fewer stops we had to make, the more likely we’d get home on the same day we started.
Kick-off was at 3.30am, with my Dad and 12 hours of podcast as company. Rough maths placed us at our Lower Hutt destination by noon. All going well, we’d be rugged up at home by 10pm.
Shoe-horning a big 2.5-litre engine into a small hatch may seem counterintuitive, but it doesn’t take long for the point to become apparent. It’s a strong engine when you need it to be; confidently revving out to redline when summoned. Having ample power helped for occasional overtakes and rocketing onto onramps. The 2.5-litre even sounds nice at idle and when pushed.
We averaged 6.5L/100km during the motorway-heavy drive — a figure usurping Mazda’s claimed 6.6L/100km average. We later achieved 7.5L/100km in more balanced urban and motorway driving.
But the engine is a proven quantity. More telling is how the Mazda drove.
Everything about the way the Mazda3 drives feels like it’s engineered for bigness. This hatch feels like something a segment larger when lobbed into a corner. Steering is firm, but not necessarily because it’s trying to be like a sports car. Bodyroll is dealt with, in a manner that doesn’t shatter teeth and spines.
It drives, genuinely, like an executive car. And the glass ceiling continues to shatter with the cabin. Scratchy plastics are replaced by soft leathers and metals. Features such as radar cruise control and an 8.8in touchscreen are standard, while the Limited gets heated seats, driver monitoring, and a heads-up display — although there’s no wireless charging or active lane-keeping.
Space in the front feels ample, thanks to the 1795mm track. Rear leg and headroom is acceptable, but less accommodating than a Focus. Boot space shrinks from 308 litres to 295.
It’s the most impressive small-car cabin I’ve sat in since the A-Class. and undoubtedly one of the most comfortable interiors in any small car. The proof? Returning home at 10.30pm after some 1332km of solo driving and operating on five hours of sleep, I remained awake for another three hours. I wasn’t tired.
It all comes at a literal price. The Mazda3 has long been a bit more expensive than its key Japanese and Korean rivals. But this has been ramped up. Base price now sits at $36,595 for the GSX and $48,795 for our Limited tester — a price jump of $3800 and $1300 respectively. The one metric that’s become cheaper is the accessibility of the 2.5-litre engine, now available in the $40,795 GTX.
All of that makes it pricey when compared to the $38,990 Toyota Corolla ZR Hybrid and $41,990 Honda Civic Sport Sensing. But that’s not the comparison to make. Mazda’s goal was to go upmarket with its new compact car. Subsequently it has produced something that’s capable of going toe-to-toe with Europe’s best.