Distance makes the heart grow fonder and with 5000 miles coming up fast, our 2.2-litre 150PS diesel Mazda 3 is capturing my affection.
Whenever I return to the Mazda 3 having driven other cars I find it provides a solid, familiar, tactile consistency that used to be the preserve of VW‘s Golf and the Ford Focus.
Fuel economy is stealthily improving, with the computer claiming around 50.0mpg over the past few hundred miles, although the time-honoured brim-and-brim-again maths reveals the running average has reached about 45.0mpg, providing an easily attainable range of 540 miles.
This is without an overtly soft shoe driving approach, another reason why Mazda is winning friends and influencing more fleet managers with its higher output diesel 3s.
Two shortcomings on our Sport spec 3 continue to rankle: the lack of satnav and reversing sensors, which are both standard on the equivalent petrol car’s equipment list. I have not clobbered a concealed bollard, yet, but reverting to maps takes time – although it helps me to rediscover which way is up.
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