2014 Mazda MAZDA3 S Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

2014 Mazda MAZDA3 S Long-Term Road Test

Our long-term 2014 Mazda 3 hatchback has useful cargo space, if you've got the right kind of cargo.

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mlin32_

Sedans don't always have a big/tall enough pass through, and sliding in taller, longer items is more difficult.

Ultimately the more sloped rear window of some hatchbacks like the Mazda3, Focus, and Opel Astra reduces the flexibility of the space and headroom. Golf is probably still the best best in its class.

legacygt

Sometimes even wagons don't offer a big enough "pass through." I wonder if you could have fit both boxes through the narrow pass through of the TSX wagon. Probably if the combined width was 24" but probably would have not worked with slightly wider boxes.

Why doesn't every car offer a front passenger seat that folds down? It seems like a relatively simple a cheap mechanism that adds a lot of utility.

evodad

@ legacygt, it's a good point our old ford edge had a fold flat front passenger seat and it was quite useful for just such tasks

bc1960

It would still need to be a longer car, and if those boxes actually are as high as the Mazda3 wheel arches they won't fit through the trunk pass-throughs of a lot of sedans, even mid-sizers. It would be nice if more cars had the front passenger seat back that folds flat forward, although I have made do with removing the headrest and reclining it as far as possible. Japanese hatchbacks also tend to have the narrower side of the split rear seat behind the front passenger, who would be the driver in Japan. So if your long cargo is just a bit too wide, yes, you lose all the passenger seats. But I have also dealt with the low comedy of a cubic box that would easily fit inside the trunk, but won't fit through the trunk opening--or any of the doors. With fastback cars so popular, this is even more prevalent today--the Ford Fusion trunk is nearly 4 ft from bumper to rear seat back, but the opening, while tall and wide, only opens the first 9 or so inches of depth. Fine for flat-ish boxes and suitcases, but not for bigger cubes.