With the Los Angeles Auto Show kicking off today, there are some much anticipated car unveils that most are looking forward to, one of which is the new Mazda 3. The completely redesigned Mazda 3 will be brought to global markets in early 2019 with South Africa getting the model in the second half of the year. The new design is nothing short of striking with a mixture of daring, following their Kodo design language quest, the 3 in both sedan and hatch guise sport a very sleek and edgy front end, similar to that of the CX5. Mazda say that the new 3 embodies the essence of Japanses aesthetics while the overall design presents a simple form, with subtle undulations bringing the styling to life.
From the front end the revised grille is large and prominent, with the Mazda badge front and center, the lights extend out from the chamfer of the grille and extend like wings to form the side. It's all very edgy and cool and it's this sort of theme that flows through out the car but on the hatch, the rear smooths out perfectly, very similar to the concept that was shown earlier this year. I got to admit, it is quite an attractive feature of the car, of which we hardly see similar to that on the roads today. Mazda say the design of the hatchback is dynamic and the sedan if aiming at being elegant.
The interior remains minimalistic but retains that classy and elegant look and feel. Everything is leveled relatively close to the height of the driver and almost gives a sports car, low center of gravity feel to it. From the pictures of the sedan's interior, looks like Mazda will be offering some lighter colours for the interior, which blend well with the black.
Engine wise, the Mazda 3 will feature the latest powertrain lineup which compromises of the Skyactiv-X, Skyactiv-G and Skyactiv-D, each of which provides smooth, responsive throttle control in any driving situation. Having sampled this on both the CX5 and CX3, I still have some skepticism about it, mainly on the fuel economy side. The Mazda 3 is a big model for the manufacturer and one that they ear mark as a key seller globally. Mazda's representative Director, President and CEO Akira Marumoto had this to say at the unveiling today, "The all-new Mazda3 we unveil today begins a new era for Mazda. The next generation of Mazda cars will enhance the value of the car-ownership experience. Through these products, we will further raise Mazda's brand value and work towards our goal of building ever strong bonds with customers all over the world"
I'm starting to take a liking to the now ever popular "SAV" - Suburban Activity Vehicles, while they're aren't as big as SUV's they're not small either, so it offers the occupants a great spacious interior and of recent most of the models that are being released look damn good too! Take for example today's reviewed car, the new Mazda CX3, based on the Mazda 3 platform, the car is higher, just a bit wider and looks fantastic. It looks sort of like a big, raised hatch back but with Mazda's Kodo design language, the edges, lines and angles on the car just give it that cutting edge look which is distinctive of the brand. Driving the car over the next 7 days proved to be quite fun as you will find out and seeing what Mazda has to offer in terms of optional extras for a car like this was pretty impressive.
STYLE
Mazda's design philosophy and language "kodo" means a car isn't simply a mass of metal but they believe its more like a living creature. Hence the design team creates a design that is so much more than just aesthetically pleasing to look at but actually creates a bond with car and driver. I know it's a lot to take in but from someone who has been passionate about car design their entire life, I get that. While I still think that Mazda need to let more creativity flow down from their concept to production cars, what they're doing at the moment is great. The CX3 doesn't differ too much from it's bigger brother the CX5 which I reviewed a little earlier this year, while the CX5 did have better design lines and angles, the CX3 still looks damn impressive. The car looks bigger than it actually is, so if driving big cars daunts you, don't be too intimidated by it. On the inside, it's practically a Mazda 3, all the creature comforts of a sedan, but in a more spacious environment.
PERFORMANCE
The 2.0L engine that I had in the CX3 was surprisingly lacking at times, especially on open road driving., even being on the coast I felt that at times I struggled to get power out of it. With me fighting to get some speed, this did impact the fuel economy a lot which saw me having to visit the petrol station after doing just 483km. I suppose it's not entirely bad given the size of the engine but just in terms of response from the car, I was expecting more. The 4 cylinder Skyactiv-G engine derives 115kW and 204Nm of torque which is adequate for city driving.
COMFORT/ TECH
With it's bigger frame, the CX3 is much more spacious than regular hatch backs, there is plenty of space in the cabin for 4 adults. The luggage space is also quite decent with you being able to get as many bags as passengers in there, which also meant there was enough space for a set of golf clubs. Tech wise, I was pleasantly surprised to see the CX3 had just as much toys as the CX5, with a quality Bose sound system, sat-nav, easy to use infotainment system, bluetooth telephone/ audio, USB and Aux inputs. The car also came up with a heads up display giving you critical info when driving. The car also comes with collision detection, which also brakes for you if you unaware of oncoming danger.
VERDICT
While I did complain about the lack of power at times, I've been known to have a heavy foot so others might not have the same issue as me. The car is built really well, looks pretty awesome and really appeals to everyone out there even though the styling might favour the youth. The automatic gearbox could do with some work but if you shift into manual mode and use the paddle shifts, it does give you a different experience, even in sports mode. With the pricing of the CX3 being very competitive to the market, Mazda have something special here which sales figures are already proving to be true.
So a few weeks back I got my first Mazda on test, venturing into the unknown since I have never driven a Mazda in my life and haven't been in the inside of one that was made in the last five years, you could say my knowledge on the brand was pretty low. I know in the past and in some aspects of the current generation, they borrow or share a lot with Ford vehicles, most notably the BT-50 bakkie and the Ranger but in terms of the other models, one really cannot tell. Anyway, I was scheduled the new all new Mazda CX-5 DE Akera 2.2L AWD, immediately I visited the website to find out what exactly I was getting, Medium size SUV, all wheel drive, 2.2L diesel engine and top of the line spec in the range, so I was looking forward to receiving this car, from the pictures and the massive billboard I pass on a daily basis of it, it looks like quite a stunner so I was counting down the days till the day I got it.
DESIGN
The CX-5's design is a show stopper, the angles and edges to this car is like no other on the road, while form is still practical, the extrusions to this car make it that dramatic. Mazda call this design language, "Kodo" which means "Soul of Motion", the design is unmistakably Japanese, with the narrow but sharp LED headlights, large diamond like grille with flowing edges that run to the back and tie in with the rear lights which also are narrow and sharp like the front. The 19" rim dark rims really added character to the Eternal Blue colour in which I had it in. It's a joy to look at this car, and even while I had it, I did tweet that I envy the people who see me driving it because the car looks that good. Not to say the inside was bland, it too was great. In a weird way, the interior felt very German. With similarities to certain German manufacturer which they have no ties to, it was odd but for me, long as it looked good, was of good quality and worked, it was fine by me. The layout of the interior was good, with everything in its place or within arms reach of the driver.
PERFORMANCE
Having the diesel option of the engine variants was up my alley as with medium to big SUV's, I prefer having the high torque option. Mazda say that the Skyactive-D 2.2L is clean-running and has the lowest compression ratio in the world at 14.0:1 for such an engine. This translates to less friction and inertia for higher revving and more power. The engine produces 129kW and a torque factor of 420Nm, all this power hitting all four tyres is simply magic, really lives up to their "Zoom-Zoom" motto. Though it was fun to drive and had power on demand, I did find the CX-5 very thirsty. For a 58L tank, the claimed fuel consumption is 6L/100km but I only managed about 500km on 1 tank. Granted I was heavy footed with it most of the times, I still thought it would return much better consumption. Other than that, I can't fault it, handling was excellent, cornering was great, that AWD drive really works well on all surfaces, also the engine is very quiet but has a nice grunt to it when you need that extra power.
COMFORT
With the CX-5, you're not going to run out on space, the car is well designed on the inside and gives the passengers maximum space in the cabin. The car can carry 5 grown adults in comfort, with dual climate control air-conditioning from the front passengers, and the option of heated seating with air-con vents at the back for the rear passengers. The CX-5 comes with a glass sunroof, to enjoy the views on your journey be it in the sun or in the bush. The boot space is huge and even comes with a retractable cover should you not want the contents to be in direct sunlight or keep away from prying eyes.
TECHNOLOGY
As I said from the beginning, this was new waters for me, not knowing what Mazda have done or are doing, I had no idea what technology was going to come in this car so I was just expecting the norm, bluetooth telephone and audio at most but from what I saw, really blew me away. It offered most of the bells and whistles any luxury European manufacturer would off and in some cases, they do it better. Since I'm Indian, lets start off with the sound system, it came with a Bose speaker system, not sure how many speakers as I could only count 10 and I'm pretty sure there were more. The quality of the sound is second to none with Bose and the placement of the speakers in the cabin gave everyone, an optimal sound experience. Next up, the heads-up display, while not projecting onto the windscreen but rather a cool pop-up visor on the dash, it gave all relevant info one would need when driving. The active warning senses are damn reactive and gives sufficient warnings, for example of the car in front of you suddenly slams on the brakes. The lane departure feature was one I was very impressed with, like Ford, the steering did vibrate and sort of guide you back into your lane if it picked up that you were straying off, but while the car may not be autonomous, I did try letting go of the wheel (on an empty road) and it kept the car perfectly in lane, it did start shouting me after about 20 seconds for me to hold the wheel again though.
VERDICT
From having not driven a Mazda to getting behind the wheel of this CX-5, colour me impressed, they seriously have blown me away with this one and I seriously underestimated the brand and I will eat a plate of humble pie for it. They really have a great vehicle in this, while this is in essence the range topping vehicle, for all the normal things it does it right. The ride comfort is great, the car goes like a dream and everything else is just a bonus if you ask me. The price isn't that bad as well, considering what you are getting.
