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Brown paint over cream leather seems like a colorway for geriatric transportation — something we’d expect on a ’77 Buick LeSabre. But on the Mazda3 S Grand Touring ($25,545), the shades are different. The metallic brown is called Platinum Flash (and matches the name), the cream leather is an almond hue with sporty perforations and racy red stitching. And even though the cockpit isn’t lined with Alcantara, the hatch still had me flying through the gears like a kid furiously mixing cookie dough. The Japanese five-door isn’t the pinnacle of performance for Mazda — the Mazdaspeed3 still waits in the wings — but it does show that Mazda gives a shit about the driver. Which — as some engineers seem to have fallen asleep at their desks — is an important distinction.
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The Japanese five-door isn’t the pinnacle of performance for Mazda, but it does show that Mazda gives a shit about the driver.
Just like the previous Mazda3, the five-door hatchback takes the sedan to the mats in the looks department. While the four-door looks clean, there’s a boring element to it. The five-door eschews that mundanity with its shooting brake style. The old Nagare “flow” design language on the last-generation Mazdas, including the 3, polarized buyers. While the overall body shape was probably better proportioned than the new car, the five-pointed grille on the former-gen 3 looked more like the mouth on a whale shark rather than the intended five-point design. The current Mazda3 looks noticeably longer (despite its slightly smaller interior seating space) and more muscular thanks to flared fenders and flowing character lines along the body.
Inside, the cockpit materials are excellent for this price point, and the layout is driver centric — something Mazda does better than anybody these days. The supportive, sporty bucket seats in almond leather draw a nice contrast to the black dash and door panels. Mazda made the seats great to sit in for long drives, but also eye catching with black backs and red stitching — which is also found on the shift knob boot and the center armrest. The fat tach is parked right in the middle of the instrument binnacle where it belongs, and speed is tossed onto the retractable and attention-grabbing Active Driving Display (Mazda’s version of a Heads Up Display). To the left of the tach, there’s also a shift indicator, telling you when — well, recommending when to change gears on the 6-speed manual transmission.
Under the Hood
Engine: SKYACTIV-G 2.5L DOHC 4-cylinder with VVT
Horsepower: 184 horsepower @ 5,700 rpm
Torque: 185 lb-ft @ 3,250 rpm
Fuel Economy: 25 / 37
Base: $25,545