Around ten years ago I noticed a phenomenon that I used to point out to my friends. Whenever there was a cloud of blue smoke on the freeway, there was invariably a Mazda 323 trundling along in front of it — the early rear-wheel-drive model, usually a mustard one, with one pale blue door, or a blue car with one mustard door. These working-class heroes, with hundreds of thousands of kilometres on their clocks just refused to lie down and die. But despite its indestructible engine, the first Mazda 323 was not a very exciting car. It was good basic transport, and that had to be good enough.
Enter the modern equivalent. The Mazda3 is to its ancestor what the latest laptop is to an abacus, with sophisticated electronic gimmickry providing comfort and safety levels that would have been unimaginable a few years ago. At the launch we drove the saloon version — the hatch will only be available at the end of August — in both 1,6 and 2,0 litre guises. While the 104 kW two litre was obviously the weapon of choice through the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, the 77kW 1,6 litre version was surprisingly up to the task of moving along what is a fairly heavy car at a brisk pace.
Both four and five-door models come with five-speed manual transmissions, and both come in four specification levels 1.6-litre Original, 1.6-litre Active, 1.6-litre Dynamic and 2.0-litre Individual. Whatever the spec, they’re all well kitted out, with the level of trim and features we’ve come to expect of modern cars -power steering, ABS with electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), mechanical brake assist (BAS), dual front airbags, aircon, electric windows and a radio/CD.
Front and rear curtain airbags and driver and passenger side airbags are fitted as standard to the 1.6-litre Dynamic and 2.0-litre Individual models. Security is also well taken care off — all models come standard with a transponder immobiliser system with alarm and a keyless entry system with remote central locking and power door locking.
The Active, Dynamic and Individual levels offer a few natty extra treats such as an auto-lights system that switches on the headlights when things get murky, and windscreen wiper sensors that activate the wipers and adjust their speed according to the whether you’re experiencing a drizzle or a deluge. The Individual model benefits from a “Sports Appearance” kit consisting of a body-coloured front grille, different bumpers, side skirts, rear spoilers and front fog lamps.
Mazda tells us that research has shown that women and younger males will fancy the hatchback, while older men will put their money on the sedan. For me there was no contest — the sedan looked vastly more classy than the five-door model. Perhaps these marketing blokes aren’t so thick as we thought—
The Mazda3 1.6 Original sells for R159 990, with the 1.6 Active costing R168 990 and the 1.6 Dynamic R179 990. The flagship Mazda3 2.0 Individual will set you back by R206 990.