2016 Mazda 3 – Test Drive, Review, Ratings, Spec

More Power, Less Gas

The Mazda 3 series is all about more power and less gas. At least that’s the first thing Mazda advertises on their website. And having spent a week long with the Mazda 3, it more or less rings true minus a few quirks.

As a mid-entry car, it fits both the bills and thrills. With adequate cabin space for a small family and enjoyment of smooth handling, there’s much to like in terms of what the Mazda 3 has to offer. And on a positive note, its exterior looks are sharp and modern while its interior is well complimented with an accolade of quality material within. But having said that, the Mazda 3 is not free of competition. The Toyota Corolla, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, and even the lower tier BMW series are all part of the competition pool to win the trophy of a well balanced fun and functional compact sedan. The Mazda 3 is offered in either a sub-compact sedan or a compact SUV (CX3). Minus the fact that one the Mazda 3 is a compact sedan, both share the same design trend, powertrain and tech features.

Looks and Feel

In terms of looks, the exterior is subtle and correlates well with its character. Out front is built up of simple and smooth contours with no sharp protruding lines in its front bumper and hood. Centered is Mazda’s simplistic front grille with its lower counterpart bordered with chrome plating and centered with the Mazda badge. Its side is again, made up of simple panels with a single razor sharp contour spline traversing upwards from its lower side skirt. finally, its rear bumper embodies an integrated faux spoiler and deep encrusted tail light fog lamps. The overall picture establishes the Mazda 3 as a young blood with immatured athletic ability.

The interior is clean and well laid out with perforated black leather, a 6″ infotainment display mounted atop the center console and all the necessary climate controls. Driving ergonomics establishes a sports-like seating with a semi-low seating arrangement, and good lateral support. Room in the driver seat is a bit limited due to its seating layout and the HMI (Human Machine Interface) push knob for infotainment control is a bit finicky at times, but overall; works.

Performance and Specs

Under the hood lies the 2.5 L SKYACTIV-G engine producing 155 horsepower and 115 lb-ft of torque for the GX/GS model while its upper GT model produces a lifted 184 horsepower and 185 ft.lb of torque. All models come with a choice of either a 6 speed automatic. And if you’re the demanding driver, a 6 speed manual transmission is also made available.

Fuel economy is what the Mazda 3 scores best in with EPA ratings of 8.0/5.8 L/100km for its GX/GS model while its more powerful GT sibling gets 9.3/6.4 for the automatic transmission. With that said; yes, you’ll be penalized a bit in opting for the manual transmission and the more powerful GT, but sometimes, the penalty box is worth the thrill factor. The upper GT model also comes equipped with larger 18″ alloy wheels and Bi-Xenon HID headlights as well as voice-activated navigation.

Driving Experience

Driveability stays within its boundary of its class. On city roads, the Mazda 3 is well behaved and easy to manage. Steering is tight and precise with good positive feedback. Acceleration; however, is a bit lazy from standstill and takes a bit of pre-planning to set motion into play. But even so, re-establishment of acceleration upon throttle lift off takes internet years – the automatic transmission is mostly to be blamed. It’s not a complete lost cause though as the Mazda 3 Sport mode can be selected to latch onto lower gears longer periods of time.

Handling feels great. It’s stable around corners – and this is perhaps one of the biggest factors to the driving enjoyment the Mazda 3 has to offer. It’s not a quiet ride; neither is it a smooth sailor though. Quite a bit of road noise leaks into the cabin space and the raw engine tone is not exactly a sweet one. Overall the Mazda 3 is well thought out and plays well within its budget. Its lower GX model can be had for as little as $20,180 with its upper GS and GT model base MSRP priced in at $21,680 and $27,180.