Hatch of the day!
The Mazda3 is a whizz around the hills and hairpins of Portugal’s roads
THE highlight of my driving year in 2018 was taking a spin in the Mazda MX-5 two-seater roadster on the precipitous and and stunningly scenic Transfagarasan mountain road in Romania.
Not just because of the scenery, mind you, but also because the MX-5 itself handles so well, so instinctively, it feels like an extension of yourself, more like wearing a suit than driving a car.
Transposing that handling quality into a saloon or hatchback never is going to be easy, but the engineers have come very close indeed with the all-new Mazda3 hatchback, which I drove last week in the area west of Lisbon in advance of its arrival in dealerships here next month.
These are roads I know well (and to be honest am slightly bored with at this stage), as I’ve driven them dozens of times in the 18 years I’ve been writing this column. The area is popular for European car launches in the winter and autumn months, because the weather is reasonably reliable, and over the years I’ve driven models from Peugeot, KIA, BMW, Opel, Renault, Ford and others in this area around Sintra and Cascais, and have stayed in the Penha Longa golf resort more often than I care to remember.
What this also means, though, is that you can make a reliable performance comparison, and the Mazda3 is up there with the very best. There are lots of hills and hairpins, and while you don’t really have to do a lot of work in any new car nowadays, thanks to power steering and stability and traction aids, Mazda still makes you feel somehow more like you’re in control than some of its flabbier rivals.
The big surprise is that the car will not be available here in the former 1.5-litre, 100hp petrol version, which has an impact on the price, of which more later. Instead, we are getting just two engine variants, a 2.0-litre 122hp Sky-Activ-G petrol model and a 1.8litre 116hp Sky-Activ-D diesel, and two bodystyles, hatch and saloon (the latter later this year).
While the saloon is attractive, the hatchback is the star, with more than a hint of the Porsche Panamera in the rear architecture, and a lovely low stance that screams urgency. As always, it looks best in that rich Mazda Soul red Crystal, a colour that sparkles on sunny days but also makes dull days sunny. In the mass market, no carmaker comes close to bringing anything as vibrant to the party.
The car represents the latest evolution of the KODO ‘soul of motion’ design philosophy, eliminating unnecessary lines and concentrating instead on softly rounded curves. There’s a new grille, a low nose, slender LED headlights, reduced wheel arch gaps and a long wheelbase, and the overall effect is of a single block blown like glass. It really is a head-turner.
The interior also has been decluttered, less successfully I would argue, as it now feels overly spartan, and the dark roofliner in my test car made it feel a little enclosed. Rear headroom in the hatch also feels a bit restricted for taller passengers.
The Sky-Activ-G naturally aspirated petrol engine (no turbo probably means fewer problems down the road) now comes with cylinder deactivation and a mild hybrid system that recovers kinetic energy and transmits it to a belt-driven integrated starter generator through a lithium-ion battery that also powers the car’s electrical equipment.
Now we come to price. At an entry-level €26,295 for the petrol and €28,715 for the diesel hatchback, and also €28,715 for the diesel-only (at launch, anyway) saloon, this is not a cheap car, and sales might suffer owing to the lack of a 1.5-litre petrol offering. You also will pay more for the version with automatic transmission.
You do get a lot of spec as standard, though, including an 8.8-inch infotainment screen, seven-inch digital dashboard, LED headlights with high-beam control, radar cruise control, blind spot monitoring with rear traffic alert, lane-keep assist, satnav, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and an eightspeaker audio system.
Fuel consumption is a so-so 6.4 litres per 100km in the new WLTP test, and at 145g/ km carbon emissions, you’ll pay €390 a year motor tax. The car has yet to get an official EuroNCAP rating, but given the safety aids presented as standard, I’d be very surprised if it didn’t get the maximum five.
All in all, it’s a very impressive car. I love Mazdas anyway, and the Mazda3 is a logical evolution of what always has been a good car. My only worry, really, is the price, but for anyone who does take the plunge, a stellar drive in a lovely car awaits.