Error parsing XSLT file: \xslt\FacebookOpenGraph.xslt Our Fleet Test Drive Review: Mazda 3 - 11th Report
Cookies on Businesscar

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Car website. However, if you would like to, you can change your cookies at any time

BusinessCar magazine website email Awards mobile

The start point for the best source of fleet information

Our Fleet Test Drive Review: Mazda 3 - 11th Report

Date: 04 March 2010   |   Author: Hugh Hunston

Pallets
Category: Lower medium
P11D price: £18,260
Key rival: Ford Focus

After eight months in our custody the Mazda 3 still gains second glances with its sculpted good looks.

However, its form does have some negatives. For example, the thick rear three-quarter pillars restrict over-the-shoulder vision at junctions, where extra care is required, and the hefty aft overhang highlights the lack of standard parking sensors.

Solidly built and minus rattles despite Oxfordshire's increasing pothole-littered roads, the 3's fuel economy has been dented by one snowy, sludgy week spent commuting into and out of Reading.

Over that period it tumbled to 40mpg, but a return to more varied running has maintained the 45mpg average, a reasonable 7mpg shy of the official combined official figures. The computer, though, insists on registering an indulgently optimistic 50.5mpg.

On a recent trip to Wales the 2.2-litre diesel/six-speed combination eked out a couple of mpg better than the return journey along the same route despite extensive use of cruise control. Perhaps the return journey involved a sustained uphill gradient on the M4?

That kind of motorway slog usually highlights any shortcomings in driving ergonomics but supportive sports-style seats and a good driving position relative to pedals and steering wheel do not inflict discomfort and twinges.

Mazda 3 2.2d 150PS Sport 5-door manual
Mileage8109
Claimed combined
consumption
52.3mpg
Our average consumption45.0mpg
P11D price£18,260
Model price range£13,500 -£21,500
CO2 (tax) 144g/km/19%
BIK 20/40% per month£58/£116
Service interval12,500mls
Insurancegroup 10E
Warranty3yrs/60,000mls
Boot space (min/max)300/1360 litres
Engine size/power2184cc/150PS
Top speed/0-62mph127mph/9.2secs
Why we’re running itCan it step up to its
class mark like the 6?
PositiveStops as well as it goes
NegativeBadly placed handbrake

FOLLOW BUSINESSCAR ON TWITTER



Share


Subscribe