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The Mazda3 range, launched earlier
this year, continues the well integrated Mazda styling found throughout their
current range of vehicles. The Mazda3 comes in a variety of models available in
both a 5 door hatch and a sedan to replace the ageing 323 badge.
The small car class in Australia is
very competitive. It is pretty hard to find any major faults in this part of the
market and we were keen to look at how the Mazda3 range compared to its rivals.
After a week of driving in an urban environment we came away impressed
with the car and found no major issues. It is a competent car, well styled and
practical, and contains enough of Mazda's 'zoom zoom' marketing feel to make it
an enjoyable drive and a desirable car to own.
Firstly, the SP23 hatch on test is the
'hot' model with a 2.3L engine advantage over the other cooking model's 2L
engines. The “Sequential Valve Timing” technology engine pushes out 115kw (at
6500rpm) smoothly and tractably and can squirt from 0 – 100km/h in around 8.5
seconds. We hand timed around flat 9 seconds which makes this car fairly spritely from
the traffic lights and quick enough to satisfy those of us who like a little
'zip' in their driving. Torque is a healthy 203Nm at 4500rpm and seemingly isn't
strong at low RPM until you look at the speedo and realise that the car is
deceptively quick. The engine revs well to provide good performance but gets a
little loud at high rpm. Throttle control was sometimes a little jerky and
sensitive but this could have been an issue with the vehicle on test.
To get you where you need to go, the
Mazda3 range has comfortable seating and allows you to easily find a good
driving position. The driver's seat has 4 adjustments and the steering wheel is
height and reach adjustable. The wheel itself is comfortable to use and
befittingly sporty in design. Headroom is very good, even for people over 6 feet
tall. Switchgear is close to hand and easy to use. Some minor annoyances we
found were the blue and red lighting of the dials which could be hard to read
quickly in some conditions. This was made worse by the tight spacing between
speed increments on the speedometer.
All cars in the Mazda3 range come
standard with CD player, air bags (all models have 6, excluding the base model
Neo with dual front airbags as standard), and air conditioning. The SP23 comes
with a 6 stacker CD player (of reasonable quality) and climate control. All
models except the base Neo have ABS and Electronic Brake Force Distribution
(EBD). We must admit that we found some of the controls for the climate and
audio system confusing and not altogether intuitive. The larger dials for
temperature and fan speed had a strange, indirect feel to them when used which
is uncharacteristic of Japanese made cars that usually controls withexcellent tactility.
Rear passengers can smile too thanks
to a generous amount of room. The rear seats may lack some of the support that
the front have but adults will be able to get comfy for at least short trips.
Shoulder and head room is good and leg room is ok provided the front seats aren't
positioned too far back. Rear seats fold down 60/40 to provide cavernous boot
space. Rear accessibility through the hatch is easy with a large opening. A
temporary spare tyre is found under the rear floor which doubles as a plastic
tray with storage compartments - a practical feature.
It is no good having a stylish solidly
built car with it doesn't handle appreciably well also and the mazda SP23
doesn't disappoint. Ride and handling was impressive, with good feel from the
sporty mazda steering wheel. The car's suspension feels taut, and turn-in to
corners was sharp and precise. The SP23 had solid balance and never felt nervous
in corners and chassis rigidity seemed very good.
This is the kind of car that hustles
without you knowing it. Whilst you may not think you are taking a corner at much
speed one glance at the speedo may leave you surprised.
There was a little bit of torque steer
when accelerating hard, but nothing to be concerned about. Note there is no
traction control so wheelspin is not too difficult to achieve in lower gears on
wet surfaces.
The Mazda SP23 competes with other 5
door hatches like the Ford Focus Zetec at $28,560, the Toyota Corolla Sportivo
at $28,395 and Volkswagen Golf Sport at $30,490. Overall, the Mazda SP23 at
$29,990 delivers solid performance and a good list of features. In a competitive
area of the new car market the SP23 is not a standout in any particular area but
instead performs rock solidly across the board.
It is a good performer, handles
well, has a strong list of features including curtain airbags and it is well built and stylish to boot. On a negative note some slightly high noise, vibration and harshness
levels are found on rougher roads and at higher RPM but this doesn't detract heavily
from a well built, stylish and livable small car.
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The Mazda3 SP23 was provided for this test by Mazda Australia.
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