kikimiqbalsoft - Mazda has a tradition of building zippy, entertaining small cars, something that's evident in the Mazda 3, which alwa...
kikimiqbalsoft - Mazda has a tradition of building zippy, entertaining small cars, something that's evident in the Mazda 3, which always has been known for its sharp handling and engaging nature. Of course, the Mazda 3 still provides suitable levels of economy and practicality, too
Mazda Mazda3 Review
The Mazda 3 is as humble a pigeon as you could imagine, part of the cityscape, nothing apparently fascinating or flamboyant about it. But did you know that the pigeon is one of just six species that can recognize its reflection in a mirror?
The 3 likewise harbors hidden talents, including its ability to illustrate the difference between style and design. Style is how something looks. Design speaks to how something works. Unlike most small cars, the 3’s interior is not simply in thrall to the former.
Underneath the cabin’s carefully trimmed sculpting lies a functional integrity that goes beyond how smoothly the vents move or how precisely the central-command knob clicks under your right hand. The 3’s interior is designed to manage distractions visual, cognitive, and manual—interruptions that have infiltrated the modern driver’s car, turning what should be at-the-wheel joy into a long, punctuated stream of annoyance.
To overcome visual distraction, Mazda placed its information array—a seven-inch screen on the center console and a flip-up “active driving display” over the instruments—in the driver’s existing sight picture, thereby minimizing the time required to refocus and readjust the eyes.
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What good is a driver's car if it won't allow you to concentrate on driving? Look for the 3's distraction-abating cabin to proliferate throughout the rest of the Mazda lineup.
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The car metes out relevant information in a way that keeps cognitive distraction at bay, too. The central screen shows just seven pieces of information at a time, and they are spaced so that drivers don’t have to stare at the screen. Making or taking calls, for example, doesn’t cause a mental scramble.
This is enabled by the way the interior eliminates manual distraction. The driver sits with his elbow planted on the armrest, his hand controlling a dial that obviates the need for confusing touch screens or frustrating voice commands.
You usually only find this sort of haptic virtue in European luxury cars. But shouldn’t every manufacturer be thinking like this? With an unprecedented amount of information coming through to today’s driver, Mazda makes the orderly coordination of tasks a priority, not a luxury.
That said, if the 3 had only a well-thought-out interior, it wouldn’t have made it onto this list. The cabin’s true function is to allow the driver to focus on the chassis and powertrain, and what a combo they are. Take the steering; most modern electric-assist systems are failed attempts to replicate the sensations of hydraulic pumps, which are familiar but generally nonlinear and numb. But the 3’s electrically assisted wheel is set up to mimic the directness and response of manual steering. By changing suspension geometry—nearly doubling caster angle and trail—Mazda matches the rise in steering effort to rising g-loads in the tires.
The result is a car that makes full use of its engines. Our favorite powertrain is new for 2015, a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-four making 184 horsepower and driving the front wheels through Mazda’s tidy six-speed manual. The four is as forthright and linear as the steering, which makes the whole car feel harmonious, matched, and smooth, and not like some intemperate hot hatch. But a hot hatch is what it is. Fun fact: Pigeons can hit 90 mph
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