Mazda 3 Skyactiv-x AWD
The 3 gets a third opinion, bringing yet more mixed reactions
THE MAZDA’S STYLING CONTINUES TO divide opinion. I liked it the moment I first saw it. Fresh from the local hand car wash it looked superb, its gloss black wheels gleaming and its optional (£670) Machine Grey metallic paint accentuating its pebble-smooth flanks. Clean and distinctive from any angle, to me it exudes a cool confidence, and the interior is even better.
The cabin combines style with superb function, from the clear, simple dials to the HMI switchgear that will be familiar to anyone who remembers how good Audi’s MMI used to be. Access to features such as navigation and entertainment is via the large, round, multifunction central knob and its four surrounding switches on the centre console, and the results are displayed on the dashtop ‘tablet’. There’s a small volume knob too. It all works so well you wonder why intuitive switchgear you can use by touch alone has been abandoned in favour of grease-marked touchscreens you have to look at.
In top-level GT Sport Tech trim, our Mazda 3 is generously specced too, with a colour headup display, a rich and clear Bose sound system, heated and powered leather seats and leather dash trim, the upgrade from black to burgundy leather being £200 well spent. Mind you, the GT Sport Tech does cost just north of £30k, which gets you the pick of our favourite fast hatches, be that Civic Type R, Mégane RS or i30 N Hyundai, though as my learned colleague Jordan Katsianis explained in our first report, what we’re hoping for here is a sweethandling, willing car that delivers frugal fun.
The Mazda is seriously outgunned by them all, boasting just 178bhp from an innovative engine that promises petrol performance and diesel-like economy with the help of a teeny supercharger and a mild hybrid system. It also features all-wheel drive, which brings independent rear suspension as opposed to the torsion beam of lesser models.
The efficiency promised is fully realised. With no conscious effort, my first tankful yielded over 45mpg in mixed driving, exactly what the trip computer had indicated. On the downside, the performance doesn’t feel nearly 180bhp strong. There’s so little torque that even when you pin the throttle not much happens until the revs are well into the mid-range, and then it’s merely adequate. Only if you make the engine go all the way to the red line does it feel anything like the quoted horsepower.
It might get away with this if the slickshifting six-speed manual had a sporty set of ratios, but third gear goes to almost 90mph, and besides, the engine doesn’t sound like it enjoys revving out anyhow. Our hopes that it might loosen up with miles have not come to fruition, and I’ve worked it very hard on some great roads, succeeding only in getting the mpg to dip fleetingly below 30.
The saving grace would be if this clearly efficient powertrain was installed in a car with sweet dynamics. Next time I’ll let you know how that’s working out.
Date acquired March 2020 Total Mileage 4132 Mileage this month 1351 Costs this month £0 mpg this month 40.5
‘Clean and distinctive from any angle, to me it exudes a cool confidence’