2020 Mazda 3 Saloon

[Alwayzsidewayz2]

So after my Kia i wanted a bit more comfort and better mpg, while enjoying a better engine than the kia had.

I got a 2020 mazda 3 skyactive x saloon. The top tech GT model. In the great colour Soul Red.

It has full mazda service histroy, only 13k miles amd had just had its 75k or 6 year big service.
Its mint bar a few tiny chips its mint, inside has zero wear and it drives so well.






So far about 500 miles in getting low 50s mpg on screen at least. Engine really sings at high revs, gearbox is a delight, handling is surprising, actually good fun and overall its got a bit of character. Tech is a touch clumsy, but liveable with.
I am going to swap tyres as the ones on it are original and 6 years old now and a bit hard.

[BugLebowski]

Can't go wrong with a petrol Mazda. I had a Mazda 3 1.6 that I took from 40'000 to 160'000 miles. Serviced every 10k miles and it still ran perfectly. The only thing ever to fail was a headlight bulb and two rear shocks. Rust was it's only weakness as with all Mazda's.

Honestly the most sensible car purchase I ever made.

[Blue_star]

Is this the 2 skyactive petrol engine? Do you recommend engine choice?

[dontlookdown]

My sis has a hatchback one of these. Slightly earlier model, 2015. Same colour, few marks and scratches but still looks good from 10 foot away;)

It's the 'sporty' one with 165bhp. Performance is fine but it won't set your hair on fire. The standard ones must be a bit pedestrian for a 2 litre.

They are really underrated imo -super reliable, more stylish than a lot of white goods cars, pretty decent to drive and a nice interior. Only fault I have noticed is a bit more road noise esp on motorways than ideal.

We had a first gen Mazda 6 estate as a family runabout a few years ago. Owned for prob 6 years, literally nothing went wrong with it apart from the usual consumables. There was a hole in the a/c compressor when bought but dealer replaced it under warranty.

[Screenwash]

Good looking sedan. There are loads of Mazda 3s on the roads here in NZ, mostly hatchbacks.

Mazda seems to have taken a different path to its competitors; no small turbocharged engines but unstressed 2.0 and 2.5s instead. Seems to work well.

[Alwayzsidewayz2]

Blue_star said:

Is this the 2 skyactive petrol engine? Do you recommend engine choice?

So far yes, I have come to this from my past car a Kia GT with a 1.6 petrol Turbo engine, that was of course quicker and more Torque, but lazy to rev and very average on fuel. With a less than wonderful gearbox the Kia drive train was weak. while its chassis ws excellent

The mazda is slower and I agree its no hair burner, but its very eager to rev, noise is not bad and it has an almost min Vtec kick at the higher end of the rev range
The Skyactive X does lack a but below 2.5 K, You do need to use the Box and I could see it being a bit unhappy with an Auto box. However if you drive it in an almost retro fashion like a 90s 16 valver, god its fun.
MPG is superb, despite a good making progress early on drive to Silverstone Sat and Sun its still did 50mpg and I have not got less than 520 miles to a tank so far

So far I am really happy with it and I find the engine and styling to be the most interesting parts of the car.

What I would say is that if you are very used to Turbo power, it does take some getting used to. My wife has a Skoda Scala with the 1.5TSI engine and she is not a fan of extending a rev range, so finds the Mazda engine a bit lacking.. which I understand. But for me Its fun and involving

[dxg]

Take care of the seat bolsters. Mazda leather is really just a hint of leather. No more than a mere idea; a notion....

[Alwayzsidewayz2]

Update on the car
Its got one niggle, occasionally when cold it pops out of 6th gear.

Now I dont think its gearbox, as there is no noise or vibration at all, and when its warm its fine. I think its a linkage issue

The dealer local to me had a look yesterday, but it was fine.

So I am just going to crack on and see.

The other stupid thing is that the TPS is uber sensitive, I was 1 PSI down from 36 on the front right and its alarming, and then due to the warning the car refuse to let you use the radar cruise or some of the other useful driver tech!

I got the underneath dealer video yesterday too, usual stuff, brakes and tyres all good as is the exhaust. I was surprised and a bit disappointed to see the amount of surface corrosion on suspension parts and subframes. Car came from Northampton, not a seaside car at all.

So I will be getting the car up on Jack and having a good look myself in detail ASAP

Few other observations, Boot deceptive and decent size, rear leg room is okay as is head room, but its really just 2 people wide in the rear

Auto headlights are useless, they switch to main beam at the wrong times and really are almost unusable if you have an consideration for other road users.

[Alwayzsidewayz2]

dxg said:

Take care of the seat bolsters. Mazda leather is really just a hint of leather. No more than a mere idea; a notion....

Good to know, I will be careful and keep it well feed and clean

[Trevor555]

Alwayzsidewayz2 said:

Update on the car
Its got one niggle, occasionally when cold it pops out of 6th gear.

With only 17,000 miles, and a full Mazda history, take it into Mazda and see what they say.

[Alwayzsidewayz2]

Trevor555 said:

With only 17,000 miles, and a full Mazda history, take it into Mazda and see what they say.

I did, they cannot find a fault, and feel the gearbox is fine. so we shall see