Toyota Corolla vs Mazda 3 vs Hyundai i30 2019 comparison review

The Hyundai is the plainest in terms of its cabin design - but it’s also the most practical.

There is more loose-item storage throughout the cabin of the i30 than the others offer, and while it doesn’t have the greatest appeal in terms of aesthetics, there are no gripes with the usability of the space.

Much like the exterior, the interior of the Hyundai is inoffensive, but it’s also bland as far as presentation goes. The Hyundai’s tablet-style screen wins the infotainment challenge, because it has the latest smartphone integration and is the quickest to load.

The interior of the Hyundai is inoffensive, but its tablet-style screen wins the infotainment challenge.

The Mazda3 steps things up for cockpit style - it’s classy, but not as contemporary today as it was when this generation model launched back in 2013. Items like push-button start, dual-zone climate control and an auto-dimming rear-view mirror are all nice, and the materials are mostly good, too. The screen looks smaller than Mazda’s claim of it being a 7.0-inch unit, but that could be an illusion because it’s tucked into the dash a little more.

The Mazda3 is the only one with a rotary dial to control the screen (which can also be operated by touch at a standstill), which is super handy - even if the system can be slow to load, and a bit glitchy.

The 3 is classy, but not as contemporary today as it was when this generation model launched back in 2013.

The Corolla’s interior is a real ‘wow’ moment. When you sit inside, you feel as though you’re in something more expensive than its rivals - and that’s in spite of the fact this car doesn’t have a leather-lined steering wheel, while the others do.

The dash is eye-catching - but one of the most impressive elements of the new Corolla is its seats: they’re comfortable and offer the best support here.

When you sit inside the Corolla, you feel as though you’re in something more expensive.

The Toyota’s media system can be sluggish between screens, too, and it won’t let you use input destinations or connect to Bluetooth while you’re moving - which is annoying, because your passenger (if you have one) could do that, and the other cars in this test trust you, the driver, to make your own decisions. At least its huge looking screen is more impressive than its competitors, and its reversing camera display is the clearest, too.
 
Storage for all three models is decent up front, with bottle holders in the doors and cup holders between the seats. The Mazda scores a nice roller cover for its cup stowage, but lacks a few of the smart options of the others. The Hyundai’s door pockets are the biggest, if that matters to you.

Now, what about the back seats? All three have central arm rests with cupholders, and there are bottle holders in all of their doors (the Hyundai’s fit more than just bottles) and only the i30 has dual map pockets.

As for human space, I’m six feet tall, or 182cm in the new money, and the driver’s seat was set for me in each of these cars.

The Hyundai has the least legroom, but decent headroom and it’s the only one with rear-seat air vents - a great bonus on hot or cold days. It’s only because our car has the safety pack, though - more on that soon.

The Mazda’s back seat is marginally the most comfortable for three adults across (none of them are genuinely comfortable in that configuration!) but it offers decent room in the back. Sadly, the seat recline is a bit too sloped, the seat base is pretty short, and the transmission tunnel intrudes a lot. That said, overall it has the best back-seat comfort.

The leg and toe room in the Toyota is the best here, but headroom is really tight, with the dark headlining and oversculpted ceiling making it feel a bit claustrophobic. A light headliner would change this massively, but Toyota doesn’t currently offer that on any grade of Corolla hatch. Plus it’s small door openings make me think this is more of a couple’s car than a real family hatch.

As for boot-space dimensions and luggage capacity? That’s where the Toyota really drops its bundle.

You can check out our loaded-up photos to see for yourself - we attempted to put our three suitcases and the CarsGuide pram in the back of each of these hatches and the pictures tell the story.

The boot size of the Corolla Ascent Sport model is tiny, at just 217 litres - its high boot floor eats into the cargo area, to the point that the boot space is shallower than a lot of micro cars. In the Corolla we only managed to slot two suitcases, where the other two managed all three. The pram fit in, but you’d probably struggle to fit all the other stuff kids need.

Hey, you could always fit some roof racks/roof rails and a cargo box if the storage space isn’t big enough for you. That’d look really cool, actually… But we can understand why the size of the boot could be a barrier to some buyers, but I genuinely think the Corolla is aimed more at couples than families (there’s a Camry or RAV4 if you fall into the latter category).

The Toyota and Hyundai both get full-size alloy spares, but the Mazda makes do with a space-saver.

The Mazda 3 has a still-small-for-the-class 308L cargo capacity, but fit all three bags in (just), and the pram was an easier fit, too. But the 3’s cargo liner - the bit that covers the spare wheel - is really flimsy. Rather than being made of wood/particle board or heavy-duty hard plastic, it’s made of a corrugated plastic.

The Hyundai i30 has the biggest boot of these three with a massive 395L of cargo room. The boot floor is a lot lower, making for a deep cavernous space. It literally swallowed the pram, and did the same with all three suitcases with a lot of room to spare.

Speaking of spares, this trio all have one under their boot floor - the Toyota and Hyundai both get full-size alloy spares in the spec you see here, but the Mazda makes do with a space-saver spare tyre.

Now, let’s talk drivetrains, and while no model here has a turbo, there’s one that’s punching a little bit above its weight in terms of power specifications - it’s the Toyota.

All three of these models have the same engine size - each motor is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol, but engine specs differ.

The Corolla’s horsepower output is the highest here: 125kW of power. The Mazda has 114kW, and the i30 has 120kW.

As for torque, the i30 has the edge, with 203Nm putting it ahead of the Corolla and Mazda3 (both 200Nm).

The Mazda and Hyundai both have a six-speed automatic transmission, but the Toyota gets a 10-speed continuously variable transmission (CVT) with a launch gear function, which essentially means it has a torque-converter first gear then switches to CVT mode from second onwards. It’s clever tech, and very, very well executed.

All three of these variants come with a choice of a six-speed manual gearbox with a clutch, and you’ll save some money if you choose the stick shift, too.

Fuel-tank size is almost identical between this trio.

All three are front wheel drive, and there’s no 4x4/AWD or rear-wheel-drive version of any of these vehicles on sale in Australia at this stage.

Fuel-tank size is almost identical between this trio: the capacity of the Mazda3 is 51 litres, while the others have 50L tanks.

It wouldn’t be my suggestion that you fit a towbar to your small hatch, but if towing capacity matters to you, here’s the breakdown. The Toyota has a 450-kilogram limit for an unbraked trailer (600kg for the others). If you tow a trailer with brakes, you’re limited to 1200kg in the Mazda (1300kg for the others).

You can spec the i30 with a diesel, but not in the Corolla or Mazda3.

On the topic of weight, it’s somewhat surprising to us that the Mazda3 Maxx Sport has the lowest kerb weight (1296kg) because it didn’t feel lightest - not by a long shot. The kerb weight of the i30 Active is 1382kg, and the Corolla Ascent Sport tips the scales at a porky 1420kg.

What about petrol vs diesel? You can get a turbo diesel i30 Active (manual: $23,950; auto: $26,090) but there is no diesel Corolla but it has a hybrid version (not a plug in hybrid). There is no diesel Mazda3 anymore.

If you’re considering one of these cars - new or used, in the specs seen here, or not - you may want to check out our dedicated and detailed Toyota Corolla problems page, Hyundai i30 problems page and Mazda 3 problems page. There you’ll find reference to any potential automatic gearbox problems, auto transmission problems, suspension, turbo, clutch, diesel engine, cruise control or gearbox issues.

These aren’t the sort of cars where 0-100km/h acceleration and top-speed blasts are decision makers, so we didn’t measure performance figures. But there was a standout in terms of drivetrain performance and outright handling from this trio - and it could come as a surprise.

I’ll run through them, one by one.

As with all Hyundai passenger models, the i30 has been tuned to suit Australian tastes, with a local steering and suspension tune.

And it’s decent, for the most part. But against these competitors, it falls a little short. It’s a bit pitter-pattery in terms of ride comfort, with its less-sophisticated torsion beam rear suspension unable to match the independent set-ups of the other two hatches for cornering stability.

The steering is pretty good, but it can be inconsistent with its weighting and twitchy at the front, too - especially if you hit a mid-corner bump.

If you’re driving it hard, you’ll find the limits of enjoyment because of the Kumho tyres on the 16-inch wheels - they’re not terrific. And look, if driving enjoyment really matters to you, take the sportier i30 SR for a spin. It’s much more enjoyable.

But the i30 offers pretty decent refinement, and the engine has good mid-range pulling power. The transmission is smart when you’re driving it hard, but eager to upshift in normal driving.

The i30 has the smallest turning circle of these three, at 10.3m (Mazda: 10.6m; Toyota: 11.0m).

And while it stops decently, the brake pedal feel is very squishy.

On the plus side for urban dwellers, it has the smallest turning circle of these three, at 10.3m (Mazda: 10.6m; Toyota: 11.0m).

Next, the Mazda3.

Zoom, zoom? Not so much with this engine, which is a bit of a dullard in comparison to the other cars here.

The Mazda's transmission is pretty smart in the way it tries to deal with things, particularly if you flick it to Sport mode.

It’s slower, and feels it even more when you put a few adults on board. The transmission is pretty smart in the way it tries to deal with things, particularly if you flick it to Sport mode.

But it’s a buzzy engine, and I’m not the only tester at CarsGuide who found this a pretty uninspiring drivetrain. At least it has stop-start?

The ride is firm and easily upset by sharp edges, and while the steering offers lots of feel - which could be great if you live near a section of smooth corners, but the wheel can jostle a lot in your hand over bumpy bits.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the road noise in this car was worst of this trio. The Hyundai wasn’t terrific, either, and the Toyota offered the most hushed overall experience.

It can be fun on the right road, but it’s not the best of this trio.

Overall, the Mazda is mostly fine to drive, and can be fun on the right road. But it’s not the best of this trio, and the ride can be frustrating on broken-surfaced city streets.  

The best car to drive out of this mix is the Toyota. Yes, you heard me correctly, and let me tell you - it’s by a decent margin.

The new Corolla’s chassis setup is on another level when compared with the other two cars. In fact, it was so different, fellow tester James Cleary said “it feels like a different road” when we did back-to-back three-up testing on a challenging twisty section.

The Corolla's suspension comfort and compliance is excellent - the ride is mostly very supple.

The suspension comfort and compliance is excellent, the ride is mostly very supple, and while the steering is pretty light, it’s the most agile and dynamic feeling to drive.

Some of that comes down to the Dunlop tyres, which are nicely grippy - but Toyota’s engineers deserve the biggest pat on the back. It’s the lowest in terms of ground clearance, with 135mm under the car (Hyundai: 140mm; Mazda: 155mm).

Let’s be clear - we’re not just talking about it being good to drive on 'fun' roads - this is a general rule: over speed humps, in traffic, through roundabouts, this car is better. Over road joins it can jolt a tad at the rear, but it’s certainly not hard to live with.

The drivetrain wins out, too - the engine has the most get up and go, and the CVT auto with Toyota’s clever launch gear makes stop-start traffic a cinch - you notice it if you pay attention, but the most rewarding thing about it is that you don’t get that whining at low speeds that most CVTs exhibit.

The Toyota has the best brakes of this trio in terms of response and pedal feel.

Plus the Toyota has the best brakes of this trio in terms of response and pedal feel.

Overall, the Corolla gives you a really positive drive experience. And that’s something we’re not used to from this brand.

We can understand if you’d turn up your nose at the Toyota for being the only one here without a five-year warranty. The Japanese brand’s local arm reckons it’s not a decision-making factor for customers - but we heartily disagree.

The Mazda and Hyundai both have warranty plans spanning 60 months/unlimited kilometres, but Toyota persists with its three-year warranty capped at 100,000km.

And at odds with Toyota’s now-short-by-industry-standards warranty is a five-year capped-price-servicing plan. It sees the Corolla require maintenance every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first, and service costs are capped at $175 per visit. That’s very, very good.

Unlike its rivals, the Hyundai is covered for ‘lifetime capped price servicing’, and includes free roadside assistance for up to 10 years.

The Hyundai i30 also requires maintenance every 12 months/15,000km, and its prices average out at $279 per visit over the first 60 months/75,000km.

But unlike its rivals, the Hyundai is covered for ‘lifetime capped price servicing’, and includes free roadside assistance for up to 10 years if you maintain your car at a Hyundai dealer. You have to pay for roadside assistance from Toyota and Mazda.

The Mazda 3 is a bit more needy in terms of servicing: maintenance is due every 12 months/10,000km, and it’s more expensive than its two rivals in this instance, with the average annual cost over five years working out at $314.

Plus you’ll need to get it serviced at least two more times over a five-year period if you do the predicted 15,000 kilometres per annum - which potentially makes it a lot more expensive to own.

You might want to check our problems pages to find out common faults. We’ll add to each of the car's problems pages as we learn of concerns.

Resale value is a crystal-ball topic, and we can’t vouch for these figures - but we checked with industry experts Glass’s Guide, and the projected retained values were as follows after three years or 50,000km: Mazda 3 Maxx Sport - 48 per cent; Toyota Corolla Ascent Sport - 48 per cent; Hyundai i30 Active SmartSense - 51 per cent.

You might want to check our problems pages to find out common faults, issues, complaints about rust or paint, and form your own reliability rating of each of these cars. We’ll add to the Toyota Corolla problems page, the Mazda 3 problems page, and the Hyundai i30 problems page as we learn of concerns.

The Hyundai wins this section.