2014 Mazda 3 s Five-Door Full Test

Edmunds.com

2014 Mazda 3 s Five-Door Full Test

The new 2014 Mazda 3 Five-Door easily captures the hatchback crown with style, performance, generous feature content and strong value.

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corollamike

Why buy a $27k compact car when, for practically the same money, one could buy a Mazda 6? It just makes no good sense. Same with Ford's Focus: By the time you optioned out a Focus, you could have a comparatively-equipped Fusion. Same with the Elantra/Sonata. Today's mid-size cars get about the same mileage as their compact siblings, too. Same money, smaller car. Makes no sense.

gloss

Because sometimes you don't want the larger vehicle?

guy1974

CorollaMike - it makes sense to some. Lets take the Mazda 3, for $26K you can have a 3 S Turing which has the same engine as the 6, but navigation, HID's, auto lights, upgraded stereo and other goodies. The 6 Touring for the same price has none of that. So if you don`t need all the extra space in the rear but like the extra equipment then you buy the 3.
Plus most 3's (and most compacts ) will still be below $20K. Remember you can spend $33K on a 6 (or a Camry) and for that money you can get a BMW 320i.

themandarin

Extreme cab-backward design results in cramped rear seat in what is supposed to be a useful car

bankerdanny

The GT Tech package has some interesting options, but absolutely nothing that I would want to spend $1,600 to get. Kudos to Mazda for not forcing buyers to spend this money to get something like heated seats or HID's.

auto4fun

I feel like you guys are not addressing one of the main competitors to the the Mazda 3 s - the GTI. The GTI is marketed more towards the hot-hatch segment than the everyday hatch like the 3, but the price is pretty similar and I feel the comparison is warranted (especially considering these are my current top 2 contenders to replace my dying '98 M3 - though I would be waiting for the 3s manual and the Mk7 GTI).

You mention that it is more athletic than the other standard hatches, but how does it compare to the GTI in terms of being fun to drive?

piredon

Does anybody else think the new 3 has some Alfa-Romeo-ness to it? The hatchback in particular. Maybe it's because we haven't had Alfas in this country for so long, but I'm surprised none of the major automotive outlets have commented on it. This is a giant positive, by the way. Alfa fairly consistently produces some of the best looking vehicles in the world. Unfortunately, we don't get hardly any of them (8C and now 4C excepted).

nh6

how did you guys get such a slow 0-60 time? Most other publications have gone less than 7.8 with one even in the high 6's. You guys might wanna try again when the car's got some more miles on it cause this car is definitely quicker than that.

fordson1

You might want to mention in the text body about the laggy manual upshifts, the brakes that fade a bit, the typical crappy Mazda OEM tires and the slightly intrusive stability control that you cover on the test spec page.

lions208487

@ nh6- Edmunds tends to have the slowest track times of any publication. Even Motorweek yields faster track times than they do.

Again. Mazda has made the most fun to drive hatch in the segment. Hope the Speed3 comes to the party soon. The only thing

rickibobbi

price has really gone up, I got a new 2012 MS3 for 21k, and I'm sure the new Mazda is great, but that seems really high for a compact car, Maybe all car prices have gone up?

szlachta

There are many reasons. 1. A hatchback has a much more usable storage / trunk area than sedans. 2. Smaller cars are easier to park and navigate in tight streets. 3. The Mazda 6 is not as good of a car as the Mazda 3. 4. Extra weight / mass usually means poorer handling and performance. 5. Some compact hatches have larger back seat room or legroom than mid size sedans. 6. Some smaller hatchbacks are cheaper to insure than larger cars. 7. Most people simply don't need anything larger than a compact car - more and more people seem to be realizing that fact. 8. Some people may find small hatchbacks better looking than larger sedans.

scratchdoctor

Lol for the same price you can get a used M3. What's your point? Like gloss said, sometimes you don't want a larger car. It doesn't make sense to you but to someone like myself, who, enjoys cars in the class, it does. I'd still like the be able to have the latest tech too.

meest00gt

@auto4fun- You do realize the standard 3 is not competing against the GTI directly. That would be the mazdaspeed3. They are vastly different animals. The standard 3 would compete with the Golf, not the GTI.

saintviper

Wow, I just bought a CX-9 for $27K. It doesn't get 40mpg though.

tim_boo

Mazda has been using this approach for more than a decade, of providing more fetures than anyone expected in a small car, of course for a price. It is a smart move for Mazda and one the industry is following. Of course many buyers in the 3 market are looking for sub 20k pricing and Mazda provides those cars, however more and more people are looking at small cars but they want the luxury features too!



Smart plan Mazda!

rxanand

The rear seat looks to be a little claustrophobic with the high belt line.

nutellapr

I'd recheck your 0-60 times. Other mainstream car magazines with dedicated test tracks and instrumentation clock the times anywhere from 6.9-7.4 with Car & Driver coming in at 7.2.