| Based on our initial impressions of Mazda's latest 3, the compact—which comes in sedan and hatchback forms—is one heck of a small car. In the metal, its "Kodo" design language, which is shared with the larger Mazda 6 sedan and CX-5 crossover, is gorgeous and looks expensive. The interior is straightforward and rendered in quality materials. Oh, and it happens to drive like no sub-$20,000 car deserves to. Indeed, our biggest takeaway after driving the 2014 Mazda 3 was that it had the goods to take on the current segment leader, the Ford Focus, a task perhaps made easier by Mazda's aggressive pricing structure. The automaker has revealed full, lineup-wide pricing for the new 3, and the least expensive variant starts at $17,740. You'll note that the Mazda's base price is slightly higher than the $17,105 Ford charges for its most entry-level Focus four-door, as well as the $17,540 Volkswagen Jetta, $16,700 Kia Forte, and the $16,990 Dodge Dart. Still, the base Mazda 3 four-door costs less than Honda's $18,955 Civic sedan, Chevrolet's $17,995 Cruze sedan, and Hyundai's $17,760 Elantra. The Mazda comes in four trim levels—SV, Sport, Touring, and Grand Touring—and offers two engines with Mazda's Skyactiv fuel-economy-boosting tech. The entry-level engine is a 155-hp 2.0-liter four-cylinder, and is denoted by an "i" before the trim level name; the uplevel engine option is a 184-hp 2.5-liter four, which is denoted by an "s" before the trim level name. The 2.0-liter is standard on all four trim levels, but the 2.5-liter is exclusive to the sporty versions of the Touring and Grand Touring models. Four-door and five-door hatchback body styles are available on Sport, Touring, and Grand Touring Mazda 3s, but the base i SV model is four-door-only. The Mazda 3′s list of standard equipment is long, with even the base i SV bringing push-button starting, remote keyless entry, power door locks and windows, power-folding mirrors, air conditioning, a folding rear seat, USB and auxiliary audio input jacks, hill-start assist, and front and rear disc brakes. A six-speed manual is standard on all trims—save for the s Touring and Grand Touring, which launch with a six-speed auto but will offer a manual later—and a six-speed automatic is optional. Model-by-model pricing and features below: i SV: $17,740 + $1050 for six-speed automatic i Sport: $19,240 + $500 for five-door, $1050 for six-speed automatic; adds steering-wheel controls, a 60/40 split for folding rear seatback, Bluetooth, cruise control, trip computer, CD player, map lights, body-colored side mirrors, tachometer. i Touring: $20,390 + $500 for five-door, $1050 for six-speed automatic; adds 16-inch aluminum wheels; heated outside mirrors with turn indicators; bright exterior trim; rear-seat folding armrest; keyless entry; leather-wrapped steering wheel, shift knob, and handbrake; rear spoiler, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert. Optional $1600 Touring Technology package adds a 7-inch touch-screen infotainment system, navigation, backup camera, Bose 9-speaker audio system, automatic dual-zone climate control, XM radio. s Touring: $25,390 + $500 for five-door; adds 18-inch aluminum wheels, bi-xenon headlights, piano-black grille, fog lights, LED taillights, LED daytime running lights, paddle shifters, sport mode for transmission, Active Driving Display with a head-up display, six-way power driver's seat, leatherette seats and door-panel trim, heated front seats, and i Touring Technology package. i Grand Touring: $23,540 + $500 for five-door, $1050 for six-speed automatic; adds (in addition to i Touring) six-way power driver's seat, leatherette seats and door-panel trim, heated front seats, sunroof. Optional $1600 Touring Technology package adds 7-inch touch-screen infotainment system, navigation, backup camera, Bose 9-speaker audio system, automatic dual-zone climate control, XM radio. s Grand Touring: $26,790 + $500 for five-door; adds (in addition to s Touring) automatic headlights, auto-leveling and adaptive headlights, rain-sensing windshield wipers, auto-dimming rearview mirror, leather seats, sunroof. Optional $1600 Touring Technology package (exclusive to s Grand Touring) adds Mazda's i-ELOOP regenerative engine-braking system, active grille shutters, automatic high-beam control, lane-departure warning, and automatic low-speed braking/collision-avoidance system.
Mazda's pricing and equipment allocation for the latest 3 puts its compact right in the thick of the small-car arena, and in many ways pushes the features boundary for this class even further. For example, the Smart City Brake Support automatic braking feature that's optional on the s Grand Touring model isn't available on anything in this class. (Subaru offers a similar system on the upper trim levels of its larger and more expensive Forester and Legacy/Outback.) The s Touring and Grand Touring models' Active Driving Display with head-up display stands alone in the compact class, and Mazda is still the only game in town when it comes to adaptive headlights. Here's to hoping folks cross-shop the 3 in the first place—after all, the biggest impediment to this Mazda's success is the brand's level of recognition compared to, say, Ford.  from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com | |||
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