The Next Mazda 3: Zooming Right Along
It’s pretty common for automakers to talk a big game when it comes to building cars that provide pleasure during everyday driving situations. Generally speaking, Mazda has backed it up.
The Mazda 3 compact sedan and hatch have long been considered among the best of the small-car segment for those who enjoy driving. Mazda knows this and is looking to live up to that reputation with the new global 3, while also boosting fuel economy.
That means that there are five powertrains utilizing Skyactiv technology now available. They displace 1.5-, 2.0-, or 2.5-liters in the case of gas engines, or 1.8-liters for the diesel. A hybrid powertrain will also be available. It’s unclear as of yet which engines and drivetrain layouts are set for sale in the U.S. and Canada, or if the 3 will be listed as a 2019 or 2020 model year vehicle.
(Ed. note: As usual, auto show lighting is terrible for pics. If we get better ones later, we’ll replace them. See below for a glossy press shot.)
You’ll be able to choose between a six-speed manual and six-speed automatic transmission, and all-wheel drive will be available (again, it’s unclear if AWD will be sold in North America).
Let’s take a break here: I need to note that Mazda’s press materials don’t differentiate what is global and what is U.S.-spec. I’ve heard that this might get cleared up at the press conference, but given that the presser is scheduled for late in the day, I’d rather report what we know now and update later.
The specs above are what we know now. I did get to see the car in person last night and my initial take is that the car is sleek-looking, but the sedan is far more handsome than the hatchback (which has the kind of booty we usually hear about in bad rap songs).
The hatch also looks a bit like the current car, while the sedan is a clear departure.
It’s a certain bet that the Skyactiv-X engine will be available in U.S.-spec cars in 2.0-liter guise. A prototype I drove in January proved to be pretty torquey around town. While some harshness issues cropped up, I bet they’ll be cleaned up for production.
This post will be updated if and when we get more spec details.
[Images © 2018 Tim Healey/TTAC, Mazda]
Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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This car will be just sad for kids - they'll have no choice but to stare at their phones and build a slowly growing hatred for all things automotive, because they won't be able to see a thing. Terrible car for enthusiasts with kids.
Having seen more pictures of it elsewhere than those shown here, the hatchback has a design that can only be described as "what were they thinking?". It is absolutely hideous. Adding an engine with "harshness issues" to a car that has struggled over its entire life to find refinement and been saddled with excess NVH issues hardly seems like a winning move. The sedan may do OK but this could lead to even further drops in Mazda's US sales volume once the early-adopter fanbois buy their allotments, something they can ill-afford.