– By Mike Ridley-Smith –
The new Mazda CX-3 is another niche filling crossover vehicle catering to customers wanting SUV looks in a small package.
In many ways this is a Mazda3 that has been put in a vice reducing its length by 30cm but pushing up the height by 10cm. This extra height doesn’t sound like much but the high blacked out wheel arches with a shorter body accentuate the SUV look.
Inside you have a modestly elevated driving position, enough height to leave your hat on, and comfortable seating for four (we tried five but the 10 year old in the middle was unimpressed).
Everything about the interior is modern Mazda through and through. Good seat fabrics, plenty of space for odds and ends, comfortable seating ergonomics and nice to touch plastics and switchgear. The hatchback boot is on the small side and a tight fit for three school bags.
In all but the lowest spec versions you enjoy Mazda’s new impressive MZD Connect infotainment system with a 7- inch touchscreen. This provides plenty of connectivity options – Bluetooth, USB and iPod, an app centre and satnav as standard.
Great to see car companies finally realising that they can no longer charge several thousand for kit you can get for a few hundred dollars on a smart phone. The system works well with its rotary controller and surrounding buttons in the centre console. The steering wheel also has multiple controls for answering calls, controlling the cruise control and calling up basic vehicle information on the dashboard.
The CX-3 is only available with the same 2.0L petrol SKYACTIV engine you will find in the Mazda3. It has a healthy 109kW and cruises very comfortably. It is however a little rowdy on hard acceleration. There is a superfluous sports button, which just holds revs higher (even when cruising), adds to the noise and does not generate any genuine sportiness – you will use this button once or twice only.
The Mazda i-stop works well with very little shake on start up. This helps deliver pretty good official combined cycle fuel economy of 6.3L/100km. This was pretty much in line with my real word suburban duty result of 7.3L/100km. As you would expect from Mazda, the CX-3 also handles well.
As with many SUVs, regardless of size, I find it hard to understand the trend to choose them over the equivalent sedan or hatch. In the case of the CX-3 v Mazda3, there is no improved off-road ability, a smaller boot (not want you want from a ‘lifestyle’ vehicle), worse fuel economy (6.3L/100km v 5.8L/100km), poorer handling (torsion beam rear end v multi-link), barely perceptible height difference and not to mention, in my view, much less attractive looks. Trends are not always rational – I come from a beta video family after all.
With the CX-3 Mazda have tapped into the SUV trend and if a small SUV is what you want for a novated lease, then the CX-3 should be high on your shopping list. Prices range from $23, 480 through to $35,119 in NSW.
However, if it was me, I’d just buck the trend and go for the excellent Mazda3.
