After eight months in our custody the Mazda 3 still gains second glances with its sculpted good looks.
However, its form does have some negatives. For example, the thick rear three-quarter pillars restrict over-the-shoulder vision at junctions, where extra care is required, and the hefty aft overhang highlights the lack of standard parking sensors.
Solidly built and minus rattles despite Oxfordshire’s increasing pothole-littered roads, the 3’s fuel economy has been dented by one snowy, sludgy week spent commuting into and out of Reading.
Over that period it tumbled to 40mpg, but a return to more varied running has maintained the 45mpg average, a reasonable 7mpg shy of the official combined official figures. The computer, though, insists on registering an indulgently optimistic 50.5mpg.
On a recent trip to Wales the 2.2-litre diesel/six-speed combination eked out a couple of mpg better than the return journey along the same route despite extensive use of cruise control. Perhaps the return journey involved a sustained uphill gradient on the M4?
That kind of motorway slog usually highlights any shortcomings in driving ergonomics but supportive sports-style seats and a good driving position relative to pedals and steering wheel do not inflict discomfort and twinges.
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