28 Jun 06
The Mazda3 may not be too familiar a sight in the UK, but since its launch in 2003, Mazda has sold over 222,000 examples of its small family-sized car in Europe and a million or so worldwide - it's even been a best-seller in Canada.
A Hiroshima-built sister model to the latest Ford Focus - which it pre-dated - and sharing much of its underpinnings with the Volvo S40 and V50, it's the first of this 'family' of Ford-empire models to receive an update and general overhaul. This hasn't been exactly extensive, but even if the minor tweaks are less than headline-worthy, checking out these latest models does at least serve to remind that the often-overlooked 3 was never a bad car in the first place.
The visual changes are limited to a slight redesign of the bonnet and front bumpers, black lamp bezels and repositioned rear bumper reflectors - and you'd have to do a pretty careful compare-and-contrast with the outgoing model to even notice these. There are seven new paint colours to choose from, however, and new alloy wheel designs.
As before, five-door hatchback and four-door saloon versions are on offer, though most customers will, as before, opt for the hatch. But don't dismiss the exterior remodelling as purely cosmetic: improvements to aerodynamics have led to fuel consumption gains of up to 6% compared to the outgoing 3s.
The interior has a few more noteworthy updates, too, with new seat fabrics, a new instrument panel and fascia (plain, black and anonymous, but easy to read and modern-looking) and a choice of black or grey finish, depending on spec level.
