The Mazda 3 has continued the rich vein of form Mazda is in right now, producing a range of cars that are good-looking, great fun to drive and well-priced. The 3 hatchback is one of the best of the bunch, feeling more fun to drive than a Ford Focus or VW Golf and more than a match for other family favorites like the Vauxhall Astra and Kia Cee'd. There’s even a saloon-bodied Fastback version that offers a cheaper alternative to the VW Jetta and Audi A3 Saloon.
Three main trim grade split the Mazda 3 range: kicking off at SE, then SE-L, the top-spec is Sport, while adding sat-nav to your car upgrades it to a ‘Nav’ variant, i.e. an SE-L with sat-nav becomes a SE-L Nav, in Mazda-speak. Four engines are available: a 1.5-litre petrol, a 2.2-litre diesel, and a 2.0-litre petrol offering either 119bhp or 163bhp. There’s no true hot hatch version, nor a super-eco rival for VW’s Bluemotion range, however.
