Mazda CX-3: another runaway hit for the Hiroshima-based automaker?

MAZDA PH officials and dealers celebrate Mazda’s selection by JD Power as the best car manufacturer to provide after sales customer service for 2016

Mazda is perhaps the country’s most exciting brand at the moment. With a greatly improved, renewed and invigorated stewardship under Berjaya Auto Philippines, the Malaysian-based conglomerate that is also into hospitality, real-estate education and many other industries, Mazda has stepped out of shadows of Ford to be its own true and unique brand.

Berjaya is redoing this formula with the SsangYong brand at the moment. I guess food and drinks from Malaysia, when mixed with Japanese or Korean offerings have a sure-fire recipe for success.

Mazda arguably also has the most exciting product lineup that encompasses a wide array of vehicles slotting into various segments.

Many of their cars have won Car of the Year awards, and it’s not difficult to see why: get inside any Mazda vehicle, and they feel amazing to drive, considering you are paying mass-market money for these cars.

Sure, other brands are sportier but they cost more to buy and maintain. Mazda’s unique Yojin 3 program gives customers peace of mind as it takes care of the servicing and replacement of a variety of parts, hassle-free under the vehicle’s maintenance period.

Mazda’s much anticipated compact crossover, the CX-3 is a perfect example. Based on the Mazda 2 platform, Mazda’s engineers have tweaked, honed, tuned and engineered the CX-3 to feel as sharp and exciting to drive as its subcompact brethren, but also more than capable of covering very long distances.

The bushings are of a firmer durometer (that’s stiffness of the rubber compound used), have firmer springs and dampers, and the steering, while being sharp and incisive, has been slowed down by 7 percent to improve comfort at high speeds over long distances. You know Mazda boffins if they take the time to do small, minute adjustments such as these.

Despite being a crossover, it has the heart and soul of the MX-5 sports car, designed around the Philosophy of Jinba-Ittai or horse and rider as one, promising a cracking and sharp drive.

The exterior sports Mazda’s Kodo: Soul of Motion design theme. It’s one part fluid sculpture, one part complicated yet beautiful origami, and one part Japanese futuristic anime-mecha all fluidly rolled into one cohesive design that looks sharp, unique, handsome and truly outstanding.

The overhangs are short, giving it a dynamic nature; the hood is long, which gives it a sporting stance (and also improves crash impact safety and pedestrian impact safety); and the sloping rear roof line towards the D-pillar has an almost coupe-like, fast-back profile, again enhancing the image of sportiness and dynamism.

AT THE recent media preview of the Mazda CX-3 are, from left, Minoru Fujihashi, general manager of ASEAN Business Unit; Mazda PH president Steven Tan; Ben Yeoh, CEO Bermaz Auto (Mazda Malaysia); Michio Tomiyama, CX3 Program Manager and Tan Eng Hwa, CFO of Berjaya Auto PH Photos by Eugene Araneta

The interior is clean, classy and sophisticated. The seats are supportive, and the 3-point steering wheel has excellent adjustability, thanks to reach and rake movement, allowing a wide variety of drivers to feel comfortable inside the CX-3 for long distances.

Additionally, the CX-3’s steering column places your arms and shoulders in perfect alignment, making driving a more relaxed and yet more responsive experience.

Auxiliary controls for the infotainment system and in-car computer are on the left spoke of the steering wheel. You also get a large 7-inch LCD screen that forms the heart of the system, which is also GPS/Navi-ready.

LUGGAGE space out back is decent.

The instrument cluster sports two smaller LCD displays on either side, and the large tachometer sits in the middle, just like in most proper sportscars. A smaller LCD display indicates your speed, making fast but legal progress on the highway a breeze.

On the center console, you find the rotary dial and quick-access keys to control the various functions of the infotainment system, much like how the Germans treat their own systems. Overall, the system is intuitive, easy to use and crucially, on a long drive, the CX-3 plays great tunes even from MP3 music files.

Luggage space out back is decent: you can’t fit a golf bag due to the narrow width of the CX-3, but you can pile things up and remove the tonneau cover to increase cargo space, or drop down the second row seats as well to further increase capacity.

Though riding on the same wheelbase as the Mazda 2, it has bigger legroom up front by 20 millimeters and 30 mm at the back due to the higher hip points versus the subcompact hatch.

Mazda’s SkyActive technology is, of course, present: the 2.0-liter SkyActiv G petrol engine mated to the 6-speed automatic transmission provides brisk performance to this compact crossover. The front is suspended by a Macpherson strut design, while the rear has a surprisingly simple twist-beam axle. Surprising because despite the crude rear end, the CX-3 feels planted, composed and confident on the highway at high speeds.

The CX-3 in top-spec variant also rides on large, low-profile 18-inch wheels shod with 215/50R18 rubber. Again, the large wheels provide the CX-3 with impressive highway stability. But all this dynamism comes with one caveat: the 155-mm ground clearance means it’s not much higher than a regular sedan so go easy on flood fording and light off-roading then.

MAZDA PH president Steven Tan

Aside from the ride height, there are some other foibles: the rear seat space has somewhat limited headroom thanks to the stylish but low rear roofline, the front seats are a bit tight for anyone with a 38-inch or bigger waistline, and it’s impossible to seat three people in the second row.

THE 2.0-LITER SkyActiv G petrol engine mated to the 6-speed automatic transmission provides brisk performance.

But otherwise, visibility in and out is good, and the high beltline, particularly in the rear doors and smallish windows, gives a reassuring feeling of security without impinging on visibility.

Admittedly, the CX-3 is a bit expensive compared to key rivals from Honda (HR-V), Subaru (XV), Kia (Soul), Ford (EcoSport) and Nissan (Juke).

THE INTERIOR is clean, classy and sophisticated.

But the spec sheet is much better. It comes with the added panache of being a CBU model from Japan, is newest in this lot, and has loads of standard safety gear (six airbags, a rear-facing camera, parking sensors, ABS-EBD brakes, traction/stability control and more).

Top-spec models also get the combination leather and Alcantara trim, which just gives the CX-3 a very high-end, luxurious feel versus its competitors.

Impressive spec sheet, engineering and build quality matched with the Mazda promise of a truly first-rate driving experience, this Mazda looks like another best-in-segment vehicle.

The Mazda CX-3 will be unveiled at the PIMS 2016 at the World Trade Center.