Mazda3 Turbo Hatch – SAFETY. FAST.

Mazda3 Turbo Hatch

SAFETY. FAST.

Recently the New York Times took a look at the growing increase in pedestrian deaths. And you should know, the Nation’s Daily was not reporting on pedestrians falling to their deaths or taken out by an AR-15. The Times took a look at pedestrians hit by cars, trucks and SUVs. And after extensive research, the paper came to an entirely predictable conclusion: Our larger vehicle fleet in the U.S. is responsible for more pedestrian deaths. 

It seems the front fascias of today’s trucks and SUVs are almost as high as the typical pedestrian is tall. With that, when a large vehicle strikes a pedestrian, the pedestrian doesn’t fly over the hood as he or she once did; instead, that victim is thrown under the vehicle, where much more mayhem ensues; those injuries incurred as a vehicle rolls over you are more serious, frequently fatal. Happily, the Mazda3 continues to present a modest face to the world (and the errant pedestrian), and its menu of crash avoidance features are among the best offered at its relatively modest price point. When thinking safety, you’ll typically see Volvo or Subaru on short lists, but you can add Mazda to that conversation. 

Before delving into death and death-defying, let’s look at living with this compelling hatchback. The Mazda3 is an established entrant (our personal history with Mazda’s Mazda3 began in ’05, with the purchase of one for our daughter after graduating from college), and with its 4-door sedan sibling the Mazda3 constitutes the sum of Mazda’s car offerings in these United States. Our test example, a Mazda3 2.5T Premium Plus AWD, is at the top of Mazda’s small car food chain, with an MSRP approaching $40K, a 0-60 comfortably under six seconds, and an available red leather that is to die (dye?) for. 

In an ever-shrinking category, the Mazda3 hatch competes directly with the VW GTI and Kia’s K4 Hatchback, along with – to a lesser extent – the  Corolla hatch and Subaru’s Impreze 5-door. Mazda’s up-spec guise with a turbocharged 2.5 liter four and all-wheel drive might be seen as a true hot hatch, but the Mazda3’s built-in refinement tends to get in the way. The hatchback’s drivetrain goes about its business – accelerating, braking and cornering – with nary a hiccup. And when running errands with the Missus, Tina’s only complaint was with the height of the passenger seat, placing her far closer to the floor than either of our two Grand Cherokees. That’s in contrast to the GTI, where she’d be against the VW’s entire premise. 

To channel Renee Zellweger’s Dorothy Boyd in Jerry Maguire, the hatchback’s sheetmetal had me at ‘hello’. The smallish Mazda is unified in a way few small cars are, and while its front overhang is a tad too long in profile, the overall length of 175.6 inches is almost fuselage-like in its footprint and surfaces. The sedan variant of the Mazda3 is, again in profile, perhaps better balanced, but I don’t care. The hatch is the perfect embodiment of all that you need and nothing you don’t, and while its roots are Japanese, you could easily park this in Paris or Pittsburgh and it would look and feel appropriate. 

Inside, those red buckets are perfectly proportioned for the average male. Surprise-and-delight begins with the shape and size of the wheel,  and continues with a digitized representation of an analog gauge display. And that begs the question: Why do so many cars come with dashboards looking like something Radio Shack offered in the ‘80s? This arrangement is clean, balanced and informative – and completely distinct from the infotainment screen mounted in the middle of the dash. 

I’ve discussed Mazda’s infotainment display before, so I won’t linger. The win is the HVAC controls mounted beneath that display, while the frustration is the two-step process to change a radio station. My ’21 Miata generates that same frustration, and the only offset is that with the Miata’s top down I can’t hear the radio!

Another interior plus – beyond the gauge arrangement and red leather – is the traditional console-mounted transmission lever. While wishing you could still get a manual with the upmarket turbo, you do get the traditional lever, a console-mounted ‘Sport’ toggle, and a manual trans override should you care to use it. It’s all – as we used to say – ‘of a piece’; Mazda’s design team has nailed it.

The rear seat in this close-coupled hatch is, well…close-coupled. You’ll find, however, adequate leg and shoulder room for two grown adults, although the sunroof does intrude into headroom. We’d call it great for the lunch run, less so for the drive to Laredo. And if carrying your stuff, there’s 20 cubic feet behind the upright rear seat, and more than enough flexibility with that rear seat folded. The Ikea trip may require a roof rack, but then, the second stall in your garage could be Mazda’s larger CX-50. 

Under the hood is the aforementioned 2.5 liter turbocharged four, delivering 250 horsepower if you absorb the bump into premium grade. If you don’t buy into the 91-Octane, you’ll have about 10% less power for your 10% lower out-of-pocket. Regardless, performance is brisk in getting to freeway speeds, and relaxed once at freeway speeds. And with that performance you’ll enjoy a ride/handling balance that is playful in a 30-something way.

And this is where we pivot to safety. Without going full PR, know that Mazda vehicles – the entire lineup! – earned eight TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety; this is the third consecutive year that Mazda secured the top tier IIHS recognition. And all of the safety features Mazda offers are available across the showroom, beginning with the Mazda3 (sedan) at $24,550. I remain most interested in active safety – the ability to avoid a collision in the first place – but I like Mazda’s approach to both active avoidance and passive protection. 

And it all has to hopefully help when confronting the defenseless pedestrian…