(Welcome to the Short Shift! This is where we’ll do less intensive reviews of new cars and stuff that we get a chance to have some quality time with. Manufacturers will sometimes ask us if we want something to buzz around in and it just so happened that we were heading for a family road trip to the wilds of New Hampshire so we took up Mazda’s offer to spend some time in a 2014 3 with a six speed and a hatch back…here’s what we thought!)
Really? A Mazda 3 on BangShift? Have we lost our minds? Gone soft? Turned into tree hugging, mileage concerned latte drinkers? Certainly not, but when we had a shot to jump into a Mazda 3 Grand Touring edition for a few days in order to take a family road trip to New Hampshire, we snagged the keys as quickly as they were waved in front of our faces. The fact is that Mazda has been a very involved company with racing for decades. Head to an SCCA road racing event and check out what is there for cars. Undoubtedly you’ll see a ton of Mazda 3 Speed editions, Miatas, Mazda powered formula cars, and more. My interest in this car was the driving experience because Mazda’s are often talked about as being fun so I wanted to see if the hype was for real.
My first impression of the car was that it was weird looking in a pleasing sort of way. The shape is certainly different but I liked looking at it. Being that this is the 5-door hatchback style machine, I thought it would be cool to see if it was capable of doing all the things a small SUV does but get better economy and provide a more fun driving experience than those notoriously bland and uninspired cars. In my mind anyway, this thing is a small station wagon. Layout-wise it is identical to a small SUV but was it better? I was also interested to see if it could do all of that stuff for a much more reasonable price tag in both fuel and purchase prices.
The first test of the car came when my wife packed up our family for a month long trip to the Andes weekend adventure to central New Hampshire. We’d be riding the “Polar Express” and then heading to an old New England theme park called “Santa’s Village”. This would give us a look at the cargo capacity of the Mazda and also would give us hours on the road with the car as we were cruising north into the White Mountains to get an impression of what we thought of it. As I watched the bags, coats, suitcases, and survival tools stack up, I thought that we were in deep because while the rear of the Mazda 3 looks big, spaces like that fill up fast. I was also seeing a situation where I thought we’d be dragging the bumper the entire way. So?
After removing the privacy cover/package tray, we got everything in there and ready to go. If this was a week long trip we may not have had this much luck but the fact is that the car has a lot of storage area behind the seats. As you’ll see in later photos, there was virtually no sagging or looking like the Mazda was carrying a super heavy load. With everything slammed into the rear of the car, it was now time to see if the kids were ready to hop into their safety seats and get ready for the three hour trip.
Basking in the afterglow of the rear cargo area, I was ready to battle with the seats but that was not the case at all. The seat retainer clips were super easy to access and the the seats popped right into where they needed to be in no time. A fold down center console in the rear had cup holders and a little compartment for the two guys to store their iPods when they were not in use.
Rear seating was great for the kids and in reality anyone 6″and under would be in good shape back there on a long trip. I am 5’10” and I found the back seats to be comfortable and roomy enough. You could easily spend a day in there on a long drive and be A-OK with it.
It needs to be noted that this is a small car. Sitting next to a Honda Pilot it looks like a model, but that is part of the fun. and why this car is far superior (in our opinion) to a small SUV.
The car is really fun to drive and can be thrown around with aplomb on the road. This is not a Mazda Speed version of the car so the suspension is more forgiving and prone to roll than a more tied down version would be. The six speed box was smooth and did everything we asked of it without complaint. The throws are short and it loved to be snicked up and down. Again, not being the Mazda Speed edition the tires were certainly more all season than performance. With a relatively narrow section width and taller side walls, the tires were done far before the chassis was. The car would go into understeer when the rubber decided that enough was enough. Happily, by the time you got to that point fun was being had.
Because this car had the “Grand Touring” package the interior was upgraded to leatherette all round. The red stitching on the seats, wheel, and other surfaces looked cool and the interior of the car was definitely a racy feeling place to be. One complaint that I have with this interior and many others is the fact that virtually everything is black. This is nightmarish when the car ages some and you are constantly having to clean it, etc. It was handsome though and I may just have a mental problem. You mileage could vary. The driver and passenger buckets were great. lots of support, super comfy. The steering wheel is meaty and there are nice grips on it. Cruise, audio, etc have redundant controls on the wheel. I wasn’t really into the faux carbon fiber accents that could be found in the cabin.
Here’s the radio controls for the Mazda 3 with the Grand Touring Option. This knob and a couple of buttons. We really enjoyed this system and took to it quickly. Clearly Mazda is not getting down into the same insane redundancy that companies like Ford and GM are with knobs, screens, buttons etc. While older people may struggle to get a handle on this as quickly as the younger set, it really cleans up the interior and is super easy to use when driving. This also controls navigation and other functionality.
The engine in this car is the smaller of the two available plants but the only one currently available with the six speed manual. It is a 2.0L four banger with 155hp and 150 lb/ft of torque. The car is not fast but it isn’t a total slug either. The six speeds help that situation of course. I found it super interesting how quickly the car wants to be into sixth gear, undoubtedly for mileage purposes. By 45 mph, if you follow the dash shift indicator you are lugging down into 6th gear. Frankly that little thing was ignored a lot but when it was paid attention to, the mileage was spectacular. We did far less rowing of the gears in the mountains than we thought we would. Not that you’d mistake this for a diesel because of all the torque, but it is a good little engine. We averaged almost 35mpg over the entire week we had a car. On the highway we flirted with 40-42 mpg with the cruise on. That’s pretty awesome and exceptionally better than an SUV making the same ride.
The 7″ touch screen is nice but it seems like someone just glued a tablet to the dash of the car. It works great, but looks like an after thought. This cove is probably filled with a clock on models not equipped with the screen.
The dash is good looking and functional. Nothing crazy here.
The longer that the car was in our hands the more we liked the way it looked. The blunted nose is pretty dramatic from the side, especially in an age where virtually everything has a big schnooz on it.
The car did everything we asked it to, was fun to drive, got GREAT economy, slogged through sleet, rain, ice, etc and never whimpered or complained. The sticker price on our tester was $24.635 and it was pretty loaded. If given a choice between this car and a small SUV, the small SUV would get left in the dust every time. Just the fun of rowing the gears is enough but the functionality and good chassis seals the deal.
There’s the Short Shift. The 2014 Mazda 3 5-door Grand Touring gets two BangShifty thumbs up as an economical people mover, road tripper, and entertaining zip around car. The next one of these…well there’s 300hp more on tap in the next one of these Short Shifts. Stay tuned!
UB40…really?
I daily drive a 2012 Mazda 3 with the old MZR 2.5L and a 6-speed. It has been a great car so far. Mazda makes some fun to drive cars. Even the most mundane econobox in their lineup, the 2, is fun to toss around corners.
Informative and helpful review Brian. I’ve had good luck with Mazda’s…my DD is a 2003 Protege, a real reliable little workhorse that gets 25 mpg around town and fun to drive with a 5-speed. Little long in the tooth now with some rust issues (Canadian car for its first 7 years). IMHO Mazda pooched the 3 styling-wise in the last few years with that horrible smiley face grill. Really like the look of this little machine though; may trip down to the dealership and have a look-see.
Nice little cars for sure. A good friend who previously had a 2010 Mazda3 recently traded it on a 2014, the GT model with 2.5L auto and 18″ wheels. I took it for a quick scoot, beautiful driving car.
I like the 6 ,these are strange looking . The front plate ruins it too but I know its a law but its dumb looking there. It is definately an improvement from the stupid smiley face.
You could have fit all that crap in your Caprice too Brian. Thats the best part of a B body!
I was hoping for a head to head with the Pacifica. Or at least a drag race.