Full-size style, safety, and sport distilled into a
reasonably priced car.
The reasonably priced car is usually only about the size and
shape of the box it comes in, as if it were a kind of cardboard cutout that
straps over your shoulders like something from a kinder-garden play. “Reasonably priced” often doesn’t leave much wiggle room for driving goodness.
Nevertheless, Mazda has done it again and made the 2014 Mazda 3 even better to
drive than before, although maybe not in the way you would expect.
The new styling
pulls the Mazda 3’s A-pillars 3.9 inches farther rearward, providing a more
panoramic view through the windshield
The way Mazda figures it, the more time your eyes are
focused on the road, the more fun you’ll have. The new styling pulls the Mazda
3’s A-pillars 3.9 inches farther rearward, providing a more panoramic view
through the windshield. Moreover, the outside mirrors are mounted on the doors
instead of at the A-pillars, delivering a better view of traffic behind the
car.
When you lean into
the supportive backrest of the new, slimly tailored driver’s seat
Meanwhile, a head-up display projects the car’s speed and
more on a transparent plastic panel in the driver’s line of sight. The screen
for the electronics interface juts from the dash at just the right distance
from you to enhance visibility, while the interface’s rotary control on the
center console has been designed to do things without forcing you to look down.
Of course, this is still a Mazda, and that zoom-zoom thing
remains part of the corporate DNA. When you lean into the supportive backrest
of the new, slimly tailored driver’s seat and lead the car into the sweeping
bends of Big Tujunga Canyon Road, the all-new 3 feels, well, all-new.
The car has a 106.3-inch wheelbase, 2.4 inches longer than
before, which fosters straight-line stability and a composed ride. Just like
the Mazda 6, the front-wheel-drive 3 has steering geometry similar to that of a
rear-wheel-drive car. This means you feel a reassuring combination of steady
response and appropriate effort through the steering when you’re carving a
corner, despite the new electrically assisted steering system. Once you
supplement the resilient, carefully dampened suspension setup with the
available 215/45R-18 tires, the Mazda 3 drives like the grown-up sport sedan
that we’ve always wanted it to be.
The new Mazda 3
also offers the opportunity for the buyer to have a complete suite of active
safety features
Although this car isn’t very quick, the engine choices
(155-hp, 2.0-liter four and 184-hp, 2.5-liter four) and transmission options
(six-speed manual and six-speed automatic) play along, plus 40 mpg is possible
on the highway with many powertrain configurations. The new Mazda 3 also offers
the opportunity for the buyer to have a complete suite of active safety
features – including radar-operated cruise control, forward obstruction
monitoring, and low-speed active braking – in a reasonably priced car.
