Mazda

Mazda

Mazda

Mazda

Mazda

Mazda

Mazda

Mazda

LOS ANGELES—I'll admit it, I always look forward to the launch of a new Mazda. Other brands might give you ten minutes of Cliff's Notes on the car before throwing you the keys and pointing you at the nearest twisty ribbon of tarmac; by contrast, the Hiroshima-based OEM's events always feel more like a grad school seminar. (I think that's a good thing, but that's probably why I have this job.)

In this regard, the launch of the brand-new Mazda 3 did not disappoint. The car is a clean-sheet design, the first to use the all-new Skyactiv-Vehicle architecture. And before we got to try it out in a mix of LA traffic and the Angeles Crest Highway, the engineers and designers responsible gave us plenty of insight into how they went about updating Mazda's best-selling car. The result is a refreshingly human-centered vehicle from an OEM that continues to live up to Jinba Ittai—its internal philosophy of making a car and its driver feel as one.

From concept to production

As with previous generations, the new Mazda 3—which goes on sale in March—will be available as a sedan (starting at $21,000) or a five-door hatchback (starting at $23,600). Eventually, you'll be able to option one with Mazda's clever new Skyactiv-X spark-controlled compression ignition engine , but at launch all US cars will come equipped with the same 2.5L four-cylinder Skyactiv-G power unit. There is a choice between front- and all-wheel drive, though, and at least some cars will even be available with a manual transmission.

Our first look at the revised Mazda 3 came at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show, when the company debuted the Kai concept. As it turns out, that was a pretty faithful representation of the new hatch, with most of its design cues making it unscathed to the production car. Along the way it has gained a more corporate face, giving Mazda a cohesive-looking lineup on the forecourt or auto show. And yet the design team has managed to give us distinctly different styling for the five-door hatch and four-door sedan variants. (In fact, the two share almost no body panels, save for the hood.)

As ever, how we react to a car's styling is intensely personal. For me, the hatchback looks great from most angles—it even reminds me of the Ferrari GTC4 LussoT from behind—but that C pillar can feel awkward or even a little overwhelming from other angles. The sedan, to my eyes, wears its shape even better, with a low hood and trunk line that are becoming all too uncommon these days. Mazda says it's targeting different customers with the two body styles. The sedan is aimed at someone who wants a sophisticated look; the hatchback is aimed at a sportier driver, which explains why only the hatchback will be available with a six-speed manual transmission.

Things are even classier on the inside. Cover up the Mazda logos, and you could easily convince someone you were sitting in a car with a sticker price that started with a six, not a two. (The car we drove was specced with the Premium package, which starts at $26,500 for the front-drive sedan and goes up to $28,900 for the AWD hatchback.) But to discuss the fit and finish already is getting ahead of ourselves; first, we need to learn how to walk.

Mazda

Mazda

Mazda

Mazda

Mazda

Mazda

Mazda

Mazda

A soccer injury led to a better car?

It all started when one of Mazda's engineers messed up his knee playing soccer. As he went through physical therapy and the rehabilitation process, it caused him to think about how we sit in cars, particularly our natural sense of balance and how to work with it to make a car that's better to ride in or drive. The reason we don't get motion sick when walking is because of the way our spine and pelvis smooth out our balance with each step, keeping our heads stabilized. Mazda decided to take that idea and apply it to the Mazda 3, redesigning the seats to ensure they transmit forces from the car to the driver with as much linearity and as little lag from inputs as possible.

As with ideal posture when walking, the new seat keeps your pelvis upright and your spine in an S-shape, all with plenty of adjustable thigh support. The ideal driving position isn't quite reclined like an F-16 pilot, but you definitely sit in the car and not on the car. Even the placement of the dead pedal plays its part: when your left foot is on the footrest and your right foot on the accelerator, they are shoulder-width apart just as if you were standing. The wheel now has a greater range of adjustment fore and aft, and the placement of the gearstick and infotainment controls has been optimized for better ergonomic efficiency.

Speaking of infotainment, all Mazda 3s will now come with the same 8.8-inch widescreen system. The screen still sits proud of the dash, but it's well-integrated into the design rather than looking like an afterthought. It's angled toward the driver, and sitting where it is on the dash places it much closer to your forward sight line. There's also an all-new heads-up display that's a big step up from the type used in the outgoing Mazda 3. It's now a higher-resolution HUD similar to the type you'd find in a fancy Volvo or Range Rover, and the focal point has been increased to 7.5 feet (2.3m), again to minimize the time you spend refocusing.

All your interactions with the infotainment system are via the Commander—the scroll wheel and buttons that live on the center console between the cubby and the gear stick. It's a big improvement from the previous iteration—now you only rotate or push the dial, rather than also having to nudge it left or right to enter or leave menus. The system is based on automotive-grade Linux, and the UI is more refined. Thanks to the extra widescreen real estate, it also provides context for each of the settings so you can quickly understand whether you're in the right setting. Android Auto and CarPlay are available on almost every model, and the latter even makes full use of the widescreen display.

Listing image by Mazda