You've just got to love what Mazda's done to its Mazda 3. This the latest model, along with the rest of the heavily revised Mazda 3 line-up, comes with an extra dose of flavour thanks to a special spice that Mazda calls "Nagare".
The Nagare concept car, introduced three years ago at the Los Angeles auto show, wasn't just a silky-looking hunk of plastic panels and glass fibre that, like most static showpieces, would never see the light of day. It was an insight into a radical new design that has finally trickled down into real cars. It also means "flow" in Japanese.
There are traces of Nagare all over the new Mazda 3 and after sampling the car in two-litre sedan form I can say I like the taste. It has a clean, uncluttered and cool feel, inside and out, with a combination of body lines that look as if they've been sculpted by the wind, sand-dune style, and a chilled-out ambience thanks to icy-blue cabin lighting.
I expected more from a two-litre, especially with output claims of 110kW/187Nm, and even more especially because there's another smaller, weaker engine choice. Ask for anything more than a leisurely pace and it wheezes like an asthmatic chain-smoker. Luckily, that engine is available in only one of the new range's nine models.
Acceleration is clearly not this car's strength but it does make up for power shortcomings with sheer comfort and driveability. The leather seats in the two-litre Individual concerned are among the best in the C-segment and my hindquarters were as cosseted on a dozy weekend road-trip as they are on my own broken-in sofa.
The cabin is an airy and uplifting environment, with easy-to-read, and to use, controls, and lends itself to long journeys.
My only gripe inside the new Mazda 3 is about the pair of afterthought information displays on top of the fascia that show radio stations and trip data. Two sizes, two colours, two fonts, obviously sourced from different suppliers. One singular screen displaying everything would clean up the fascia nicely and I'll bet there are Mazda designers who'd, behind closed doors, agree.
Driving controls are light and airy but in a more literal sense. Hardcore racer-types will baulk in the way an iron-pumping gymster would react to yoga, but I must say that changing direction with one finger, depressing pedals with mere flicks of your pinky toe and shifting cogs with nothing more than a stiff glance at the gear lever is a relaxing, zen-like driving experience.
Set radio preset No.1 to Classic FM and just chill. Extremely easy to drive.
I also noticed that external noise failed to permeate into the cabin, especially at slow speeds. Jozi CBD is a noisy, slow-moving place but my daily commute was calm and collected in the Mazda 3. I could see the jackhammers pounding and hawkers' lips moving but couldn't hear anything but Beethoven's 'Piano Concerto No.4 in G major'. Thanks again, Classic FM.
VERDICT
A modern-looking, comfortable and full-of-flavour addition to a sometimes bland C-segment market.
The new Mazda 32.0 Individual is unfortunately sluggish, especially at altitude. Prices are somewhat in the clouds as well at R259 900 (the slightly older but bigger Mazda 62.0 Original is cheaper at R256 000) but, money isn't an issue, it's probably the best-specced and best pick of all small sedans. - Star Motoring