2014 Mazda3

SPECIFICATIONS

1. Pricing starts at $19,740. Our “Touring” five-door model costs $25,890. 2. Officially rated at 27 mpg city and 37 mpg highway, we achieved a wintery average 28.7 mpg. 3. A 2.5L four-cylinder makes 184 hp and is mated to a six-speed automatic.

PREVIEW

As someone who makes a living reviewing cars, I like to think I can influence my wife’s car purchasing decisions. But that isn’t the case.

Amanda is a car person through and through, most likely a by-product of listening to me ramble about all things automotive for the past 10 years.

Although a bit of power under the hood is appreciated, it’s the comfort, usability, easiness to drive and overall value that interest her more.

INTERIOR

Inside, initial impressions were much the same. She found the center stack to be laid out in an easy-to-use design and the steering wheel mounted buttons were simple enough to operate. The rest of the interior finishes and dashboard were alright as, in her words, “nothing wowed me, but nothing offended me either.” The placement of the cup holders and the staggered height of them were an issue though.  Being 5’2”, her seat was set too far forward to make proper use of the cup holders. She had to continuously reach back to grab her coffee mug and found two didn’t fit that well because of the offset height difference between the cup holders. 

The far forward position of the front seat also rendered the center armrest unusable as it was located too far back. In addition, the center console doesn’t have much space, which meant the passenger seat soon became her mobile storage unit since the center console and doors also lack any real capacity.

And that brings us to the seats. In short, she didn’t like them due to her stature. The concave nature of the seat arched her back uncomfortably. No matter how she adjusted it, she couldn’t find a comfortable position.

But there were some redeeming qualities inside. The GPS system received a lot of praise. Being a self-proclaimed “directionally challenged” individual, she appreciated the straightforward and advanced notice during route guidance. Entering a destination was equally effortless and the large display screen meant much of the map could be shown at once. There were two instances, though, where we had issues with the GPS system. At one point, the screen froze completely while the voice continued giving verbal directions and another time the entire system shut down and rebooted itself. 

The quick defrosting front and rear windows were useful during cold mornings and the hatch of the Mazda3 easily carried a week’s worth of groceries easily. The rotating dial between the front seats that controls most of the 3’s functions was easy enough to operate, but slower to respond than similar systems found in MINIs and Audis.

UNDER THE HOOD

The power and composure of the Mazda3 on city streets and highways was appreciated, but Amanda found the gas and brake pedals to be a little too sensitive. The new Mazda3 is designed to be efficient and even during a week of near-wintery weather that included a lot of “warming the car up,” she still returned a fuel economy average of 28.7 mpg.

The specific model in question would be the Mazda3 S Touring five-door that lists for $25,890 after destination charges. That may seem like quite a bump from the base hatchback’s price of $19,740, but our test car did come with navigation, leatherette seats, a sunroof, 18-inch alloy wheels and the larger 2.5-liter 184 hp four-cylinder engine.

Like pretty much everyone else who has laid eyes on this car, Amanda loves how the new Mazda3 looks. In fact, she claims it is the nicest looking compact hatchback currently on the market and I can’t argue with her.