Mazda 3 2014 Review

Picture this. A deserted canyon road on the edges of the desert in California. A lone eagle wheels high overhead, a squirrel bounds crazily across the road as the sound of a car approaches.

It comes roaring around the corner, engine revving, tyres squealing, the driver struggling to maintain contact with the road, travelling much too fast for comfort. No. It's not a Corvette, nor a Porsche nor for that matter any of the likely European candidates - just a humble Japanese hatch.

But humble is perhaps not the right word because this the latest Mazda3 has what it takes to mix it with the best, certainly better than anything else from the Japanese and at least the equal of the ubiquitous Golf. Impressive. That's the word that springs to mind.

New from the ground up, the third generation Mazda3 lobs here late January at the earliest and for Mazda it probably won't come a moment too soon as it struggles to hang on to the 3's crown as Australia's best-selling car.

It's too early to hit the panic button yet but the figures show Toyota's evergreen Corolla outsold Mazda3 for the first time in many months in June, with the excellent Hyundai i30 so close behind it must feel the Korean's breath on the back of its neck.

VALUE

No word on the price of the new Mazda3 yet, apart from the fact it will not be $19,990, the run-out price for the current model. Mazda reckons it's better than that, a “game changer” and new benchmark for the small car segment, it says.

But take a look at the opposition and you can bet your bottom dollar the figure won't to be too far from any of them, with Pulsar priced from $18,990, Corolla and Lancer from $19,990, Civic from $20,490 and the i30 from $20,990 - with the base model Golf kicking off from $21,490.

We're tipping Mazda3 will be priced from $20,990, with at least three grades from which to choose - although prices, grades and equipment levels are all still to be finalised. Set the price too high in this segment, no matter how good the car might be, and it would be tantamount to shooting yourself in the foot.

TECHNOLOGY

Mazda has resisted the trend to smaller, force-fed engines. It believes it can achieve the same if not better results using existing engines, which avoids the weight and complexity issues added by turbos. The car will be offered with a choice of two engine at launch, the Skyactiv G 2.0-litre petrol engine and the new Skyactiv G 2.5-litre petrol engine. The chassis, body and indeed every part of the car have been engineered to work in harmony, with the overall weight reduced by 70kg.

The 2.0-litre option produces 114kW of power and 200Nm of torque while the larger 2.5-litre power plant has an output of 138kW and 250Nm. They are the same engines that can be found in the CX-5 and larger Mazda6 models and will be paired with either a six-speed manual or optional six-speed automatic transmission.

A diesel model will follow later, but there's no word on when and the jury is still out on the MPS performance model - we're told it's way down the list of priorities. Fuel consumption for the 2.0-litre engine is estimated at 5.7 litres/100km and for the larger 2.5 engine, 6.1 litres/100km. These figures have been achieved without the i-ELOOP system fitted to cars in the States, deemed too costly for our market. This means no brake energy regeneration and no front air intakes that open and close automatically to improve air flow. We will however get automatic engine stop/start that cuts fuel consumption.

DESIGN

It was penned by the same Japanese bloke who gave us the CX-7. The all-new Mazda3 is a totally new design, from the ground-up , with an emphasis on Mazda's flowing KODO `Soul of Motion' design theme and a suite of Skyactiv fuel saving technologies.

With its long bonnet and upright radiator grille the hatch looks for the all the world like a lowered, scaled down version of the CX-5 or the Mazda6 in the case of the sedan which will be launched at the same time. The low nose is said to express a sense of forward motion while the headlights resemble the sharp eyes of a predator. A sense of speed is also conveyed by the roof spoiler at the rear along with the sleek, compact shape of the tail lights.

The long bonnet that dominates the design was in fact necessary to accommodate the new exhaust manifold, an integral part of the Skyactiv improvements. The car's wheelbase is 60mm longer and it is 40mm wider and 15mm lower than its predecessor. But the hatch is the same length and the sedan just 10mm longer. The tradeoff is less luggage space in the boot, both in the sedan and hatch.

SAFETY

We'd be surprised if it didn't get five stars, but Mazda is still to confirm how many of its new safety systems will be offered with the car. Smart city braking and blind spot awareness have been confirmed, but things like lane departure warning and radar cruise control are still up in the air. Likewise we don't know yet whether all grades will get a reversing camera or even whether the entry level model will get alloy wheels (we predict not).

DRIVING

We drove all three variants of the hatch this week in California: manual and automatic versions of the 2.0-litre petrol model as well as the larger 2.5-litre model that comes only as an automatic. Unfortunately, the cars were all pre-production models and the much hyped multimedia system with its tablet-like touchscreen interface was not enabled in any of them. Maybe they'll have a separate launch for it?

The heads up display was working however and displays a digital version of the car's speed along with other information on a plastic screen that sits above the dash, much like the system pioneered by Peugeot. The car displayed an amazing amount of grip on the winding canyon roads that we encountered and remained controlled and composed at all times even when pushed very hard.

The manual is light and easy to use and the auto transmission is quick, but perhaps not as quick as VW's dual clutch box, as claimed. It is however smoother and more refined, a feature that most drivers will probably value more.

The electric steering system is another highlight of the car, light but communicative, with good turn into corners. The 2.0-litre model with the manual change is fun to drive, the 2.0-litre with auto less so - but the 2.5 with its extra torque stands out, with gear change paddles and a sport button offered for the first time. We got tired of chasing the change paddles around the wheel on the seemingly endless canyon roads, but the sport button with a more aggressive gear change pattern performs exceptionally well.

VERDICT

A worthy successor to the current Mazda3. It's styling is different but just as distinctive. This is an extremely important model for Mazda as it represents up to 50 per cent of all sales. Ride and handling is impressive, but we'll have to wait and see how it fares on Aussie roads with different tyres before passing final judgment.

Mazda3
On sale: Late January 2014
Price: From $20,500 plus on-road costs (estimated)
Engines: 2.0-litre and 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engines
Power: 114kW and 200Nm (2.0) and 138kW ad 250Nm (2.5)
Transmission: Six-speed automatic and six-speed manual
Consumption: 5.7L/100km (2.0), 6.1L/100km (2.5)
Service intervals: 10,000km, six months
Warranty: Three years/unlimited kilometres
Full-size spare: No
Safety: Six airbags, stability control. ANCAP safety rating TBA