Three is the magic number
WALES has some wonderful drives if you’re not in too much of a hurry.
Sweeping roads, beautiful mountains, lovely towns, plenty of places to stop for a coffee or something to eat – all are there for your enjoyment.
I recently went to visit some friends who have managed to opt out of the rat race for life at a more leisurely pace in the countryside.
And I did enjoy myself driving to their bolthole.
I was at the helm of the latest Mazda3 hatch, powered by the company’s truly excellent 2.2-litre diesel, and I think it’s the best in the class – even up against the top cars from VW and Ford.
For the combination of performance and economy, it’s hard to beat, managing the 0-62mph sprint in just eight seconds and giving an official economy figure of 68mpg.
Now obviously, you can’t have both at the same time, but over that cross country trip on open A roads, stuck occasionally behind tractors and driving slowly through a couple of towns, it returned just over 49mpg.
It even has a low emissions figure of 107 grammes of CO2 per kilometre. This is one of the finest four-cylinder diesels on the market giving excellent acceleration from almost any speed.
The engine is very smooth and quiet, and pulls easily from just above tickover in the lower four gears of six.
The five-door hatch I drove had good rear legroom and space for five with the front seat back for my six-foot frame.
Equipment includes alloys, auto folding heated mirrors, good stop-start, stability control, internal headlamp beam adjustment, satnav and a DAB stereo.
It also has an electric parking brake, light clutch, excellent brakes, climate control and a multi-function leather covered steering wheel.
Don’t buy anything else until you’ve driven this one.
The Mazda3 2.2d SE-L Nav I drove costs £22,540.