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I t calls itself a family car, the Mazda 3 2.0, and “family” in car speak is a dialectical code for what it’s not: it’s not a hot hatch or a roadster, it’s not an SUV or a saloon, it’s a car, it goes, and it fits people in. OK?
The kind of family it would suit is one in which the front two could be any size – plenty of leg and head room – and the back three had short little legs and a high tolerance for engine noise and tyre roar. (It is actually a pre-adolescent standard, to have short legs and like car noises.) I liked all the revving and the way the speed picked up, and the slightly white-knuckle steering: very keen into a corner but not 100% predictable.
It’s an actively fun drive, but not so fun that you’d make a crazy decision, like driving to Cambridge in rush hour, which is what I did once in the MX-5. (Do you want to know when I arrived? Never.) But fun enough that I’d smile at another driver at the lights, thinking, “I’m having more fun than you.”
People who haven’t bought a car in the past five years still consider a remote-controlled lock a bit of a treat. I, conversely, think my basic human rights have been contravened if I don’t have a touchscreen satnav, so things that ought rightly to impress – the touchscreen display, the USB ports, the Bluetooth – I think of as no more than I deserve. But it is all intuitive, simple and considered. The dash area is covered in that squeezy plastic, which for some unfathomable reason feels far classier than the hard, thwacky surfaces you get used to at this price point. Visibility is a bit strange; it’s fine at the front, but the back windows feel crowded and obstructed by the chunky frames. Parking cameras are all very well, but it’s nice to have the option of using your actual eyes.
Emissions aren’t bad at all, considering the overall vroom appeal. Boot space is unremarkable but wouldn’t bother you, and there’s a flexible seating system so you can fold down the passenger layer for long stuff.
I just have a question mark over its character: a bit green, a bit nippy, a bit exhilarating, a bit comfortable, but none of these things to an extreme degree. I can’t imagine falling in love with it. I can imagine buying it for good reasons – and then wondering if I even needed a car.
Mazda 3 2.0: in numbers
Price £20,445
Top speed 121mph
Acceleration 0-62mph in 8.9 seconds
Combined fuel consumption 55.4mpg
CO2 emissions 119g/km
Eco rating 7/10
Cool rating 6/10
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Mazda 3 2.0 car review – ‘It’s an actively fun drive’https://goo.gl/CYy6jZ
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