2004 Mazda 3 Review

Conventional wisdom: You get what you pay for. Conventional wisdom: Small, affordable cars are a necessary evil to be sloughed off as soon as you move up a tax bracket or two. Conventional wisdom: The average new car sells for about $25,000. The Mazda 3: Unconventionally wise.

As automotive journalists, our jobs are a little more readily apparent to neighbors than, say, serving society as an accountant or librarian. With a steady stream of new cars taking up street parking in our own little corner of Los Angeles, the folks living nearby have gotten used to seeing the latest and greatest automotive machinery to roll off the assembly lines parked outside of our abodes. Most who bother to enquire have assumed that we’re A.) in the automotive business or B.) up to no good. In any case, we chat with the inquisitive for a bit if we happen to pull up while they’re outside. When we were driving the Mazda 3, they lay in wait for us like a snake stalking a skink, pouncing with enthusiastic questions as soon as we pulled curbside in a Winning Blue Mazda 3s five-door. “Can we sit in it?” “How does it drive?” “This is so great!” “It’s how much?”

The answer to the question about price, at least for our slickly outfitted test Mazda 3, was 22 grand and some change. This included highfalutin’ options like a DVD-based navigation system, side curtain airbags, leather upholstery and Xenon headlamps. Pretty darn impressed, those neighbors were, when we told them that the Mazda 3’s base price was just above $17,000. So were we, after a week spent zipping about sunny Southern California.

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Flashy bells and whistles don’t mean a thing if they’re attached to a mediocre car. Fortunately for Mazda, at the 3’s core, the car impresses as a vehicle that’s been over-engineered, surpassing expectations and inducing warm fuzzy feelings in the heart of everyone who drives it. In fact, in multiple aspects, it reminded us of another famous 3, that is, the vaunted BMW 3 Series. As we pretty much consider the BMW 3 Series the pinnacle of the automotive kingdom, that is strong praise, indeed.

Motivating the Mazda 3s five-door hatchback is a peppy 2.3-liter inline four-cylinder engine producing 160 horsepower at the engine’s 6,500 rpm redline and 150 pound-feet of torque at a rather high 4,500 rpm. Near silent at idle and buttery smooth throughout its rev range, it’s a joy to spool the motor up and watch the tach needle climb, just like a BMW.

Possessing an infectious vibration- and drama-free joie de vivre spirit, the 2.3-liter engine encouraged us to squirt around other vehicles on the freeway while humming the “zoom-zoom-zoom” ditty. Obviously, we spent plenty of time goosing the gas; Mazda estimates fuel mileage at 25/32 mpg for city/highway use, and we averaged just 23.5 mpg during our mixed driving.

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About the only time we felt a lack of power was while ascending the Santa Monica Mountains to dive-bomb down the twisty canyon road portion of our driving loop. When hill climbing, our Mazda 3 struggled while traveling between 20-35 mph in second gear. But around town and on freeways, the Mazda 3 felt hearty enough to merge and pass with the greatest of confidence. Like most driving enthusiasts, we think that additional power could enhance every motorized implement, and this gluttony is likely to be fed in the future by a MazdaSpeed 3, rumored to make its appearance in a year or two.

Our test model was equipped with a five-speed manual transmission, which was most becoming to this sporty hatchback. Do yourself a favor – learn how to drive a stick and avoid the optional automatic. Choosing your own gears is much more rewarding for this type of vehicle. We invoked the sacred letters of the Bavarian Motor Works when describing the five-speed manual, a somewhat notchy shifter that exhibits an initial fluid resistance at the gate before gliding into gear. One test driver noted that the clutch on our test car felt grainy under heavy-use conditions such as stop-and-go traffic, resulting in a bit of slip upon engagement, but we’d chalk that up to the excessive wear-and-tear that most media drive vehicles suffer rather than a design flaw. Otherwise, the transmission was a joy to use.

Underpinning the Mazda 3 is a four-wheel-independent suspension with MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link arrangement for the rear. Precise steering, grippy Goodyear Eagle RS-A P205/50R17 tires, and a compliant yet communicative suspension tell the driver exactly what’s happening at street level and make the Mazda 3 particularly rewarding when the road gets twisty. The steering builds effort progressively and it’s very easy to place the car exactly where you want it, but during the performance-driving portion of our route we felt that it could have used a quicker ratio given its high handling limits. We had to remind ourselves that this is, after all, an inexpensive hatchback and not a German sport sedan.

Further adding to driving pleasure are outstanding four-wheel-disc brakes, vented up front for improved performance. Call it out of character for us nitpicky critics, but we couldn’t come up with a single complaint about the Mazda 3’s braking system. Perfect pedal feel and linear application of the binders make for confidence-inspiring halts, and the system exhibited zero fade under duress. Enthusiasts will be pleased to note that the pedals are positioned to allow for easy heel-and-toe downshifts. Our test model was equipped with an option package that included ABS with electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) and side curtain airbags, features worthy of your $800. Another helpful option on our test Mazda 3 was the package including Xenon headlamps and a tire pressure monitor.