More is more: all-new Mazda3

Though it shares the nameplate of its predecessor, the all-new Mazda3 is instantly recognizable as a step up in design and build quality

An affordable compact car with the style and driving dynamics of a premium car is the automotive equivalent of a unicorn. You have a bigger chance of seeing one of the horned creatures turn up in your garage—unless you happen to be Mazda. The latest product of their effort to spice up the genre is the all-new Mazda3.

Though it shares the nameplate of its predecessor, the all-new Mazda3 is instantly recognizable as a step up in design and build quality. First: the shape. The Mazda3 takes the company’s Kodo-Soul of Motion design theme—the impression of motion even when the car is standing still—to a higher level. Mazda imbues the new 3 with flourishes previously seen only in the company’s concept cars.

Take the pronounced curve in the 3’s side panels. Starting from the front door, you see the panels bend in sensuously as your eyes sweep toward the rear. We’ve seen it before in the sleek RX Vision show car. At first, you might do a double-take and think that the car suffered a huge dent. But this is no accident. It’s a sculptural form rendered in steel. Mazda3’s project manager Ken Tashima demonstrated the flawless stamping and assembly by waving his hand in front the panels. The reflection was perfectly straight across the front and rear doors.

Another distinctive trait is the 3 hatchback’s enormous C-panel structure. It gives a feeling that’s the car’s always urging itself forward. One consequence of the design and the correspondingly smaller rear door, is slightly compromised entry and exit, so you should be in a coupe frame of mind if you choose the hatch. It’s no problem for younger and nimbler folks, but those with a bit of stiffness will need to bend and fold, slowly. One point that Mr. Tashima made is that despite the thick pillar, the driver’s visibility was still a prime consideration. An average driver will still spot a 1.2-meter tall child in the far side mirror. This, together with the cross-traffic alert sensors at the rear corners, enhances safety when backing up.

No longer a boxed version of the hatch, the sedan follows a more formal line. The theme is “sleek and elegant,” versus the hatch’s “excitement and freedom.” The eye-catching part of the sedan is again the rear pillar, where it meets the rising line from the door to the trunk in an interesting interplay of light and shadow. Indeed, the objective of Mazda’s designers was indeed to give the car a morphing look in different lighting conditions, and when gazing at the car from different vantage points.

Instead of bombarding the driver with more information displays, Mazda limits these to three

Exterior lighting units are LED throughout. The taillights feature red rings with individual LEDs for the turn and brake signals. Speaking of lights, you may notice that both models, regardless of trim level, no longer have fog lights at the front. The fog light functions have been incorporated into the main lighting units, allowing the designers to give the bumpers a cleaner design, with a nod to the aerodynamic function of directing air away from the front wheels. This is part of the “less is more” aesthetic of Mazda.

“Less is more” is also the theme for the cockpit. Instead of bombarding the driver with more information displays, Mazda limits these to three (similar to premium German marques). The primary information, including speed and trip info, is on the head-up
display. Below that, with the driver needing only to glance down, are the main gauges: tach, fuel and range display. Mazda has apparently deemed the central tachometer of previous Mazdas as a distracting affectation, so the tach is now beside the identically-sized speedometer. The third information zone is on an 8.8-inch widescreen display popping out of the center console. This contains secondary information like the infotainment, settings, and car status. Notably, it’s no longer a touchscreen as Mazda has deemed the central rotary knob as the least distracting method of input, a la BMW iDrive.

Materials have been upgraded throughout the interior, with soft touch surfaces in nearly all areas. The seats were molded to maintain the spine’s natural curve and to support the pelvis. Even the seat height’s pivot point, is the foot positioned at the pedals—meaning if you adjust the seat height, there’s less or no need to move the seat forward or backward.

The Mazda3’s design and interior feel, you can enjoy even if the car is sitting still in your driveway. The true revelation of the 3 is how it delivers on the driving dynamics promised by the styling. Mazda has two engine options, the Skyactiv-G gasoline engine, in 1.5 liter (119 ps/153 Nm) or 2.0 guise (164ps/213Nm), is mated to a snappy six-speed automatic. The auto is excellent at figuring out the best gear. Even on the Sepang Formula One track’s 15 turns, the tranny (in Sport mode, of course) was so intuitive that we didn’t have to use the paddle shifter.

Handling is a good balance of suppleness and control. Body roll is predictable and not excessive, allowing good placement of the car even in abrupt transitions. The benign weight transfer under braking and smoothness in settling into the driver’s chosen line were a pleasant surprise.

Mazda has installed its G-Vectoring Control Plus (GVR Plus) torque-vectoring system in the new 3. This dishes out torque individually to either front wheel to help quell oversteer, and more importantly, understeeer. Mazda’s brand of torque vectoring also modulates engine output to match the handling requirements. At speeds that would have the usual mass-market compact sedan squirming and squirelling, the Mazda3 remained composed and obedient. Even at full throttle on Sepang’s sweeping turn 5, the Mazda3 is a delight to drive. It’s a performance that belies the 3’s relatively modest price point.

And what price point would that be? Like the next episode of your erstwhile favorite HBO series, you’d have to tune in again—or stream—in August to find out. Suffice it to say that Mazda won’t stray from its value proposition. Design, attention to detail, and driving performance are premium, but the price is not expected to be much above its more mundane competition. The Mazda3 wouldn’t be a unicorn without that element.