New Mazda3 is a solid bargain, just don’t get distracted inside
Published 1:30 am Sunday, November 20, 2016
The 2017 model of the well-received Mazda3 compact started arriving at dealerships about two months ago, fresh from design updates inside and out, bearing additional performance and safety features, and offering some new equipment options.
There’s only one thing I didn’t love about my Mazda3 tester, so let’s get that out of the way first. It’s the head-up display screen that rises out of the dash directly in front of the driver. To be fair, I don’t like head-up displays in general. I guess it’s because I’m easily distracted and anything that encourages my attention away from the road is not a good idea. Other head-up displays are projected onto the windshield and can be vanquished by just turning them off, but in Mazda’s version, the screen stands defiantly in its fixed position even after the display has been given the cold shoulder.
The Mazda3 is available in four-door or hatchback configuration, with 2017 pricing starting at $18,680 including an $835 destination charge. Its likeability has always been credited to great build quality, great fuel economy, attractive design, affordability, sporty handling and a much roomier interior than you’d expect in a compact car. The newest version builds on those attributes, projecting the car into the province of lovability.
Handling characteristics of last year’s Mazda3 left no room for complaint, but for 2017 something called G-Vectoring Control technology has been introduced, exclusive to Mazda and standard equipment on all Mazda3 models. It uses the engine to refine steering and handling to match the driver’s inputs. Drivers inclined to take tightly-wound roads with more enthusiasm than the average motorist will notice and appreciate the technology more than others.
There are four different trim levels: Sport, Touring, Touring 2.5 and Grand Touring. All are available with a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. The base engine is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder generating 155 horsepower and 150 lb-ft of torque. For a boost of 29 horses, there’s a 2.5-liter four cylinder with 184 horsepower and 185 lb-ft of torque. All versions have front-wheel drive.
My tester was the four-door Grand Touring model, equipped with the 2.5-liter engine and an automatic transmission, with an EPA fuel economy rating of 27 mpg city, 36 mpg highway. It was dressed in Eternal Blue Mica paint, a very appealing new color for 2017, with an interior color scheme called Parchment, also very appealing and more simply described as black and white. A terrific inside-outside combination if you ask me, but the spontaneous reaction of a friend with a couple of messy young kids (is there any other kind?) was “White seats? Oh god, never!”
The highlights of my tester’s interior — in addition to the overriding impression of upscale, comfortable and roomy — were a heated steering wheel (a new feature for 2017), six-way power driver’s seat, moonroof, 7-inch touchscreen, infotainment and connectivity features that have become standard in the automotive industry, and rain-sensing windshield wipers, the Pacific Northwest’s godsend.
Ease of use, a hallmark of the touchscreen and its related infotainment system, was another godsend.
Premium equipment packages bumped-up the tester’s bottom line by $2,700. Scuff plates and a cargo mat account for the rest of the increase. The extras are all nice to have, of course, but most of them will probably seem superfluous to budget-minded buyers looking to keep their output as close to the base price as possible.
2017 MAZDA MAZDA3 FOUR-DOOR GRAND TOURING
Base price, including destination charge: $18,680
Price as driven: $27,930.
Mary Lowry is an independent automotive writer who lives in Snohomish County. She is a member of the Motor Press Guild and a board member of the Northwest Automotive Press Association. Vehicles are provided by the manufacturers as a one-week loan for review purposes only. In no way do the manufacturers control the content of the reviews.
