Test drive Mazda Mazda 3 (Axela) Sedan 2004 - 2009 sedan

Probable, obvious

The prospects of new models are often vague - it takes some time to figure out how good the car is. But there is no doubt in the success of Mazda3: many advantages of this car are not only likely, but also obvious.
 
Mazda3 forms a credit of trust in the correspondence stage of acquaintance: the car is produced in the Land of the Rising Sun, and the super -quality Japanese assembly is a kind of starting capital of client sympathy. With it, the rather high cost of new items is perceived adequately. The price line begins with $ 17500 for a 1.6-liter sedan in the basic equipment. A five -door hatchback for a hundred dollars is more expensive, and his fellow in the maximum configuration of Sports (with whom we are dealing with today) costs $ 22900. The equipment includes such pleasant things as an electric package, climate control, xenon light, six airbags, traffic stabilization system, etc.
 
When a living car appears before his eyes, it becomes clear: the company's designers are not in vain eat their bread. Like the impeccable Mazda6, the three is irresistible: with such an appearance at least to the podium. Due to the purity and elegance of body lines, the positive perception of the car rises to the highest level. An additional originality of the machine in the Sports configuration gives individual grille of the radiator, fog, bumers and thresholds. However, this makeup does not weather - the car is good and so. But those who liked the top design have the opportunity to embellish even a basic car for an additional payment.
 
Mazda3 continues to score glasses due to the size and design of the salon. It is much more spacious than other representatives of the golf class, to which the Japanese novelty belongs. This mainly applies to the back row of seats, from where in the machines of this weight category, displeased exclamations of passengers are most often heard.
 
The rational layout on the basis of the new Ford Platform (used not only in compact Ford and Mazda, but also in Volvo magpies) allowed, in addition, to save space for a voluminous trunk. If you fold the back of the rear seat, the size of the cargo compartment will double, and then a washing machine or other bulky things will enter it. Moreover, the transformed trunk has an absolutely flat floor, and under it - a pallet with cells for all sorts of things.
 
The aesthetics of the interior supports the outer style of the car - the same scrupulously verified. The quality of the performance is excellent, all the elements are neatly incorporated. The front panel is elegant. The instrument shield is made in the manner of Alfa Romeo - in the form of deep wells. The paradox, but due to this aggressive plagiarism, fresh motives appeared in the form of a dashboard. In addition, the numbers glowing with purple are better read during the day. The central console is replete with buttons and handles, each of which is located according to the mind, with the exception of one - adjusting the volume of the standard audio system. When you want to reduce or add sound while driving, you involuntarily grab the nearest handle and knock down the setting of the wave. However, the habit is a profit. In addition, on the left spoke of the steering wheel there is a duplicate button music control unit. The steering wheel itself is a dream; A century would not be released from the hands.
 
On a trip from Mazda3, you get exactly what you wait. The two -liter engine disperses the 1300 -kilogram hatchback to hundreds in nine seconds - the result is quite worthy. The three accelerates confidently, without failures and bursts. And how at ease, the car touches the place - neither trembling in the steel body, nor jerks during the starting episode!
 
The machine is well digesting all five programs (by the way, the mechanics are perfectly agreed with the motor, which allows, for example, to move from a place as much as the fourth) and retains the ability to respond to gas at any time.
 
The suspension conscientiously controls the profile of the carriageway, managing to repay the fluctuations of the body and the rolls in turns in a timely manner (though, voicing the passage of potholes with boomcagons). As a result, the hatchback holds the road tenaciously and pamper passengers with sled comfort. The steering, moderately acute and amazingly informative, will be a little stubborn in parking lots: the electro-hydraulic power at low speeds is a little lazy, which is why the steering wheel has to be rotated with more than one finger, but two.
 
The rear view from the cabin, in contrast to very decent anterior and lateral, is fair to characterize as Nevazhnetsky. This was easily predicted ahead of time - along wide rear racks and a small feed window; Well, beauty, as always, demanded some victims.
 
The car turned out to be standing. Its essence is to like and give pleasure. Mazda3 has everything you need for this. And, it seems, a feathered creature that has chosen a proprietary emblem for most owners of the new car will become the same fabulous bird that brings happiness.
 
Text: Igor Kuznetsov
 

Source: Wheel magazine