Mazda 3 2021 review: X20 Astina sedan

The Mazda3 sedan is a stunner in more ways than one, especially in X20 Astina form.

Up front, the ‘3’ sedan is clearly a Mazda, with the brand’s familiar family face proudly on display, as evidenced by the large grille linked to the X20 Astina’s adaptive LED headlights and daytime running lights by thick chrome trim.

This sleek front fascia leads into the Mazda3 sedan’s almost-as-delightful sides, which are a lesson in simplicity. The roofline, especially, looks sporty but doesn’t buy into the fastback fad. The X20 Astina’s 18-inch alloy wheels with 215/45 tyres also look great.

At the rear, the Mazda3 sedan is arguably at its best, once again looking simple but purposeful. The LED tail-lights are alluring, as are the dual exhaust tailpipes. It’s no longer a foregone conclusion which body-style is the most attractive. Be worried, hatchback.

The Mazda3 sedan is a stunner in more ways than one.

That said, it’s inside where the Mazda3 sedan blows the competition away. You could easily mistake it for a Mercedes-Benz C-Class or a BMW 3 Series. Hell, it could even be confused with an E-Class or 5 Series, it’s that premium... no, luxurious.

Supple leather-accented upholstery covers the seats, steering wheel, door inserts, central armrest and middle dashboard in the X20 Astina, while soft-touch plastics are used for its door shoulders and upper dashboard. But all of that’s not even half the story…

For example, all of the switchgear feels superb, and the steering wheel’s stalks are beautifully damped. Then there are the generously padded armrests across both rows.

Yes, we could go on and on about how luxurious – that’s beyond premium – the interior is.

Better yet, the driving position is spot on, and a 7.0-inch multifunction display between the tachometer and speedometer is a welcome inclusion , although its functionality is rather limited when to compared to most digital instrument clusters.

At the rear, the Mazda3 sedan is arguably at its best.

To the left, though, is a ‘floating’ 8.8-inch display, powered by Mazda’s latest multimedia system, complete with a sharp set of graphics but no touch input method.

Yep, Mazda has doubled down on the rotary controller (with shortcut buttons) that it previously exclusively championed. While somewhat controversial, it’s the right move from a safety perspective, so too is the persistence with a row of physical climate controls.

Not as clear-cut, though, is the widescreen format of the central panel it operates, with it looking particularly skinny when using the X20 Astina’s in-built satellite navigation or smartphone mirroring (wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto).

Similarly, the X20 Astina’s windshield-projected head-up display is almost too small to be legible, which is frustrating because it's otherwise well positioned.

Mazda has doubled down on the rotary controller that it previously exclusively championed.

Priced from an eye-watering $41,590 plus on road costs, the automatic X20 Astina is the most expensive Mazda3 sedan money can buy, by some margin.

It commands a $3000 premium over the previous flagship automatic G25 Astina, with its revolutionary petrol engine and 24V mild-hybrid system the reason for the stark price difference, but more on that combination later.

Standard equipment not already mentioned in the X20 Astina includes dusk-sensing lights, rain-sensing wipers, auto-folding side mirrors with heating, a space-saver spare wheel, digital radio, a 12-speaker Bose sound system, a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control and an auto-dimming rearview mirror.

The automatic X20 Astina is the most expensive Mazda3 sedan money can buy, by some margin.

The only option here is paintwork (our test vehicle was finished in no-cost 'Snowflake White'), so you get a comprehensive set of features for your money. That said, a wireless smartphone charger is a notable omission.

Rivals for the Mazda3 X20 Astina sedan include Toyota’s Corolla SX Hybrid sedan ($30,795) and Prius i-Tech ($45,825) as well as the more comparable Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid Premium ($40,390). Mind you, all three are proper series-parallel hybrids, not very mild ones…

Welcome to the revolution. Well, that’s what Mazda would like you to think. In reality, it’s more of an evolution, and arguably, a misguided one at that.

While the aforementioned G25 Astina has a 139kW/250Nm 2.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine, the X20 Astina ‘upgrades’ to a 2.0-litre unit that’s technically supercharged (it acts like more of an air compressor, but more on that in a moment).

All in all, the X20 Astina produces an inferior 132kW of power at 6000rpm and 224Nm of torque at 3000rpm. However, an upcoming update will boost these outputs to 140kW/240Nm, with even existing owners set to be offered the upgrade.

So, what is this Skyactiv-X powertrain all about? Well, it’s a bit technical, but the main thing you need to know is it’s the latest twist on the internal-combustion engine, which will be legislated out of existence in the coming decades.

The X20 Astina ‘upgrades’ to a 2.0-litre unit that’s technically supercharged.

Compared to a traditional petrol unit, the Skyactiv-X powertrain uses compression ignition – or 'Spark Controlled Compression Ignition' (SCCI) in Mazda speak – to deliver diesel levels of efficiency in what is claimed to be a world first for series production.

Specifically, the fuel-air mixture ignites when compressed by the piston at a high ratio – but only if the Skyactiv-X powertrain is basically in its mid-range. At very low speeds, and when under a heavy load, conventional spark plugs do the igniting instead. Half-baked? Perhaps.

As mentioned, the Skyactiv-X is also technically a ‘mild hybrid’, with its 24V electric system (including a lithium-ion battery) powering the X20 Astina’s auxiliaries and starter motor (to make idle-stop almost imperceptible), but not any of its axles. The mildest of mild, then.

While a six-speed manual is standard with the Skyactiv-X powertrain, our test vehicle was fitted with the optional ($1000) six-speed torque-converter automatic (with paddle-shifters). Either way, drive is sent to the front wheels.

The X20 Astina’s fuel consumption on the combined-cycle test (ADR 81/02) is a relatively impressive 5.5L per 100km (so it should be), while its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are 132g per km. Comparatively, the G25 Astina claims 6.5L/100km and 152g/km.

That said, in two weeks of real-world testing with the X20 Astina, we averaged a not so impressive 7.8L/100km over 310km of driving that was skewed towards city roads over highways.

And for what it’s worth, previous experiences show the G25 Astina would’ve only been about 1.0L/100km off that mark, so it would take a very, very long time to make up the cost difference in fuel savings.

For reference, the X20 Astina’s 51L fuel tank takes 95RON petrol at minimum, whereas the G25 Astina is happing taking cheaper 91RON, so it also has that working against it.

As with all Mazda models, the Mazda3 comes with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty with five years of roadside assistance, both of which are average when compared to Kia’s market-leading seven-year terms with ‘no strings attached’.

The X20 Astina’s service intervals are on the short side when it comes to distance, at every year or 10,000km, whichever comes first. That said, capped-price servicing is available for the first five visits, costing $1780 in total, which is more than reasonable.