MAZDA 3 IN LOS ANGELES
Game-changing hatch steps up
WHO knew, after all these years, that there was one easy explanation? Mazda just wasn’t trying hard enough. Okay, that’s a slightly simplistic and fairly uncharitable conclusion to draw when it comes to dissecting the NVH afflictions that have marred the company’s small car for three generations. But perhaps there is a kernel of truth there, despite its huge sales success. See, zesty performance and keen dynamics have always pushed the 3 to at least podium positions in our small-car rankings. It’s mostly been raucous road noise and a bit of upperrev uncouthness that have tempered our enthusiasm for the 3, especially against the silken refinement of VW’S evergreen Golf.
But for this fourth generation, due in Australia around May or June, all that has changed. By declaring all-out war on road noise – including the use of a new production process that sees sounddamping ‘nodes’ sandwiched between key sheetmetal sections before spot-welding takes place – Mazda has delivered a small car that not only rides and drives with a maturity that could be from the class above, it also seems likely to challenge the Golf Mk7.5 for refinement honours.
Our drive out of Los Angeles took in suburban streets, slabsection freeways and some enjoyable twisty bits up in the mountainous Angeles National Forest above the glittering metropolis. On just about every level, the new 3 deeply impressed. But it’s the quietness and overall refinement that really seem to have made the biggest leaps.
The all-new platform delivers a slightly larger car, riding on a wheelbase that’s 25mm longer than the outgoing model, but this hasn’t translated into any appreciable gain inside the cabin (see sidebar, right.) Sitting behind the driver’s seat, set for my six-foot frame, rear head- and legroom are adequate, nothing more.
Eyebrows may also spike skyward at the news that Mazda has ditched the independent rear suspension of the outgoing car in favour of a simpler, cheaper, (and also lighter) torsion-beam arrangement. But it’s a more sophisticated take on the basic twistbeam design, and is sufficiently removed from existing hardware to have a patent pending. Chassis engineers insist that, in the real world, it’s not inferior to the multi-link layouts used in this class.
Will you notice the change from the driver’s seat? I’m not so sure. What is instantly evident is the improved shape and adjustability of the front seats in the up-spec cars we drove. The driving position feels spot-on, with the dead-pedal and throttle in auto cars placed shoulder-width apart, and the steering column now provides an extra 20mm (for a total of 70mm) of reach adjustment, allowing taller drivers to pull the wheel in closer.
The instrument panel, HVAC controls and centre console appear far less cluttered, with greater practicality provided in things like the dual cup-holders forward of the shifter, and a generous bin ahead of that for phone or sunnies. The multimedia screen is larger – now 8.8 inches – and positioned slightly further away from the driver to reduce the eye-focusing time from the road ahead to the display. Mazda has also bucked the touch-screen trend, claiming it’s safer for drivers to navigate the improved system via the larger rotary controller. Okay, but we bet any teenagers in the passenger seat using the standard-fit Apple Carplay or Android Auto will poke at the unresponsive screen more than once.
As for on-road dynamics, this is a core zone of excellence that may see the 3 throw down a serious challenge to the segmentleading Ford Focus. It will take a comparo to reveal it as fact, but
IT’S THE QUIETNESS AND OVERALL REFINEMENT THAT REALLY SEEM TO HAVE MADE THE BIGGEST LEAPS
we suspect the 3’s steering is not too far short of the Ford’s brilliant set-up. Mazda has wisely ignored multiple modes, instead providing one fixed setting that begins with a natural, medium weighting at manoeuvring and parking speeds, which doesn’t change dramatically when on the move. It’s gifted with an oily slickness that never feels gluggy or viscous, and has a justright return rate when self-centring out of a roundabout, for example. At freeway speeds it’s relaxed but not aloof, while in the twisty stuff, it never loads up excessively, and almost fades into the background to allow you to fully concentrate on exploring the chassis balance.
Which, we’re happy to say, retains that pointy, engaging quality that Mazda has long had in its DNA. You’ll lap up the precision with which you can place the nose when pushing on, then smile at the progression of both adhesion breakaway and the tail’s keenness to get in on the story arc. Admittedly, the sedan we drove was fitted with 18-inch, all-season Toyo rubber, so the speeds at which this was all happening were not exactly hot-hatch velocity, but still, there’s no denying the 3 has involvement and adjustability oozing from its pores.
In the hatch, which was on regular summer-spec spec 215/45R18 Toyo Proxes A40s (representative of what Oz cars will run), there was more chassis grip and goodness to tap into, even if the Eurospec (read, emission-capped) 2.0-litre engine we drove, with just 90kw/213nm, had a top-end weaker than prison coffee.
The 2.5 litre was obviously zestier and more fun, but the fact is that the two engines currently offered in the outgoing 3 carry over with only a bunch of combustion-efficiency changes, leaving the 2.0 litre with unchanged outputs (114kw/200nm) and miniscule gains for the 2.5 (now 139kw/252nm).
No, those torque figures – both delivered at 4000rpm – aren’t the most muscular numbers being flexed in this class. For an appreciable improvement, you’ll need to wait for the potentially game-changing Skyactiv-x engine, with supercharger and compression-ignition technology, which is not due until Q3 of this year. Some buyers will no doubt be tempted by the gruntier mid-ranges delivered by the turbo-fed Golf or Focus.
But those who do stick with the 3 will be rewarded with crisp, linear throttle response, and superb suppression of unwanted engine noise, so chasing revs is no chore. From inside the cabin, it sounds as though Mazda has doubled the firewall thickness for this generation, only allowing a cultured, distant timbre of mechanical harmony to make it to your ears.
Both transmissions are also excellent. Any 3 buyer seeking extra driver connection and reduced cost of entry will be rewarded with a beautifully slick, precise shift action through the six manual ratios, paired with near-perfect clutch weight and throttle tip-in.
The auto, meanwhile, has had both mechanical upgrades and a raft of software changes to improve both response and refinement. In Sport mode, it manages two seemingly contradicting qualities, being both eager to drop one or more ratios in response to throttle kick-down, yet doing so with a cushioned softness that eliminates any jerkiness or shift shock. The prospect of this transmission, with paddle shifters, paired with the predicted grunt and linearity of the Skyactiv-x engine is properly tantalising.
Which is pretty much the over-arching take-out of the new 3 – a comprehensive ticker of boxes: refinement, dynamics, ride comfort, cabin quality and design are all strong. Only the lack of packaging improvement for larger bodies and the question of engine strength stops it short of a clean sweep, and the latter seems certain to be addressed when the new donk drops around October. Mark your calendar.
SPECS