Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £11,950 to £19,900
Taut, responsive handling, lively engines, nicely built out of well-fitting components, improved refinement from summer 2006.
Slightly overworked styling, not as roomy as it looks, still doesn't look that inspiring or sporty.
More fun to drive than you'd expect, but not quite an object of desire.
Mazda turns out very well-built cars from its Hiroshima factory and generally performs well in customer satisfaction and reliability surveys. There have been no reports of any serious problems since the 2003 launch of the original and this latest 3 should be utterly dependable too.
There are a few cheap touches away from the obvious line of vision, but, by and large, the cabin is made from good-quality materials and plastics and looks reassuringly expensive, if uninspired in its design.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Mazda Mazda3
wrote on 16 12 2006