Hatchback 2.0 120 SE 5d

Great all rounder

I have had the Mazda 3 for 3 months now covering over 1400 miles. I previously owned a Mark 6 Golf 1.4. There are many positives to the 3, possibly the best part is handling which is excellent. I had the opportunity to drive a 3 at Silvestone as part of the Mazda3 Driving Experience and on the race track it was outstanding. The ride is smooth although find the car can get a bit noisy on long trips, sound proofing could be better. The engine is responsive with an excellent gear change. However in comparison to the Golf this car lacks lowdown power, you do need to change down a lot more. I also test drove a Kia Ceed petrol 1.6 and found that the 3 has far superior handling and greater engine flexibility. While the Ceed does offer better value this is much more of a drivers car. The internal build quality of the car feels good and is certainly comparable with the Golf; however, the external panels do feel flimsy. I can’t help thinking that in the quest to reduce weight the panels have been made too thin. I am not sure how they will deal with the test of time but and I have already picked up a dent. I would suggest that you do specify rear parking sensors as rear visibility is poor. Fuel economy is reasonable, I have averaged about 38mpg ,however, nothing like the 55 mpg Mazda that claim on the combined cycle! As a result I have marked the 3 down on running costs. The Mazda multimedia command system is very easy use but I feel that £500 for a Sat Nav is excessive. It would probably make sense to buy a TomTom.I have now owned the car for 15 months and cover over 10000 miles so time for an update The positives of the Mazda remain, excellent handling and good looks. I have had no reliability problems with the car other than a puncture. Fortunately this happened near a tyre center so I was able to repair it but it goes to show the stupidity of Mazda for not supplying a space saver wheel.A friend with a Mazda 3 had had 3 punctures and is so fed up says he will not buy another Mazda! If you are buying this car do make sure this is included in the price. Unfortunately the car is starting to look a little tatty after over a year of use. I felt that my previous MK 6 Golf was far better built with a much more solid feel. I am also disappointed with the road noise; again the Golf was superior in this area.However, I recently changed the tyres over to Michelin Cross Climates and this has greatly reduced the amount of road noise. These also seem to help the car stick to the road better so I would strongly recommend ditching the supplied tyres as soon as possible. The fuel economy has averaged about 40 mpg which is disappointing considering that it is meant to be state of the art technology. My 1.4 Golf with a much older design engine could get close to this. Overall I think that a MK7 Golf is probably a better long term buy but if you do decide to go for the Mazda maybe wise to wait until they bring out the inevitable special edition, this should add parking sensors, digital radio and fog lights all of which should be standard on a car in this class.

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