2014 Mazda 3 2.0 Automatic Sedan
Further confirmation that thrift and fun are not totally unrelated.
Although upstaged sort of in the 2014 new-auto spotlight by the thrilling Corvette Stingray and marvelous Cadillac CTS, the all-new Mazda 3 moved into the gathered minimal-auto sweepstakes as something of an amusement-changer, attaining first class-efficiency without giving up driving delight. It additionally earned Car and Driver 10best Cars trees for 2014.
The key is the organization's Skyactiv engineering, which sounds somewhat puzzling however comes down to enhanced powertrain effectiveness and diminished weight. Both the Mazda 3's accessible 2.0- and 2.5-liter four-chamber motors gloat the most recent improvements, incorporating immediate fuel infusion with a 13.0:1 pressure degree, and the designing group has meticulously pared weight in pretty much every possible territory—suspension, motors, and transmissions—while beefing up the auto's unitized body structure to handle more-stringent counterbalance frontal crash prerequisites. Our test auto—a Touring car with the 2.0-liter motor and six-velocity programmed transmission—weighed 2915 pounds. By correlation, the Mazda 3 Touring we tried in 2012—a part of the way Skyactiv-ated scaffold model with a 2.0-liter motor and six-velocity manual transmission—weighed 2874 pounds.
This means essentially holding the line regarding mass. That may not sound like feature news, yet remember that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, abetted by the informal yet compelling Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, is continually presenting new crash-insurance prerequisites that constantly appear at the scales.
Why this attention on mass? Notwithstanding the clear efficiency-suggestions, weight is the relentless foe in all vehicle flow, and force-to-weight is the way to how rapidly an auto gets over the convergence when the light turns green.
Force Factor
Our test auto's 2.0-liter Atkinson cycle DOHC 16-valve four is evaluated for 155 pull and 150 lb-ft of torque, yield that we've described as fundamentally ho-murmur in our different experiences. What's more that depiction applies to this current auto's advancement down the square with the throttle totally open.
At the track, the Mazda 3's speedo needle hit 60 mph in 7.6 seconds, and the minimal vehicle secured the quarter-mile in 15.9 seconds at 89 mph—about mid-pack versus rival vehicles, for example, the Volkswagen Jetta 1.8t, the Kia Forte 2.0, the Honda Civic 1.8, and the Toyota Corolla 1.8, and a long way from exciting. Keeping in mind the fascination of Mazda's 2.0-liter motor versus the 2.5-liter choice (184 steeds, 185 lb-ft) is an edge in mileage—30 mpg city, 41 interstate for this model, as per the EPA, contrasted with the 2.5's 28/39—our 2.0-prepared test auto could oversee only 29 mpg in 800 miles of honestly vivacious driving.
Still, if the 3's 2.0-liter motor makes the driver esteem energy, the auto's flow make force extraordinarily simple to manage. This is the place the 3 truly increases current standards with its restricted body movements, sports transient reactions, and electric force controlling that is games-auto speedy (2.6 turns lock to bolt), precise, and, not at all like so a significant number of the new frameworks, informative.
Shockingly, the new six-rate programmed helps the Mazda's high amusing-to-drive score. In any case we favor a manual gearbox, especially when managing the impediments of humble force, yet the mind legislating the 3's auto-shifter is flawlessly modified to keep the motor at ideal rpm. Movements are smooth, up or down, and the reactions to throttle requests are at this time-brief. Manual moving could be attained by flipping the shifter fore and rearward, and the reaction times utilizing this system are above normal. At the same time most automatics in this class are determined in programmed mode more often than not, and surveyed on that premise, the Mazda 3's six-rate gets high stamps.
Our test auto was outfitted with a set of 205/60-16 Yokohama Avid Bluearth low-moving-safety all-season tires. Picked for mileage-enhancement, they most likely kept the 3 down in dynamic scoring, despite the fact that their tall sidewalls likely served to smooth ride quality. On account of that detached elastic, 0.82 g on the skidpad—tires wailing in challenge—resembles a really great effect. So does a 167-foot braking separation from 70 mph, a tribute to the Mazda's framework—one that is not difficult to adjust and with brilliant pedal feel.
The Eyes, Ears, and Backside Report
While progress put the 3 at the highest point of the reduced load, Mazda hasn't dismissed the comforts. Inner part materials ooze quality—even in the mid-level Touring model we tried, the front seats are generally reinforced and the solace levels are high. Standard supplies is complete, with a long rundown of security characteristics that incorporates blind side-following and back cross-movement-alarm frameworks. The outline group has accomplished something few others have dealt with—a pragmatic conservative vehicle that really looks great.
As tried, our $23,235 Mazda 3 i 2.0 Touring car was outfitted with the $1600 Technology bundle, which incorporates route, a seven-inch shade touch screen, nine-speaker Bose sound, satellite radio, a rearview Polaroid, two USB ports, double-zone atmosphere control, and quick message sound conveyance and answer. The base cost for the 2.0 Touring programmed is $21,440.
The Mazda 3 Touring is aggressively evaluated, in spite of the fact that a long way from the slightest unreasonable around economy-situated minimized autos. (The 2.0 auto combo is likewise accessible in the $18,790 SV and the $20,290 Sport.) But that forgets an imperative elusive. What value do you set on a compensating knowledge in the driver's seat? Calculate that number in, and the M