We're here on the Mazda stand where Mazda has released the 2010 all new Mazda3. Now Mazda is calling this all new, that might be up for debate but at the very least it has got the brand new styling and some very cool technology inside.
The first thing you'll notice on the new Mazda3 is the styling; it absolutely has a different look to it. Every body panel on this new 2010 model is completely new and different; in fact the face of the new Mazda3 is reported to be the face that is going to go across the line from here on out. A much wider mouth, much stronger dip-line on the front and a much better job of taking air away from the front end and channeling it into the engine to where it can do more efficient cooling, so that they can get more power out of the engine.
Performance has always been very important to Mazda and here in the new Mazda3 it's no different. Two engines are offered a two liter 4-cylinder engine that's essentially a carry over and a new 2.5 liter 4-cylinder engine that replaces the smaller 2.3 liter. Now, the interesting fact here is that the 2.5 which sounds like a larger motor is essentially, exactly the same size doing large part to a lot of hi-tech hardened materials that are in this new block. So it's not any larger, it just offers much more performance. The numbers here are 167 hp, 168 pound-feet of torque that's definitely stronger than the engine ever places and gives this vehicle both with the manual and automatic transmissions offer it a very sporty personality.
As to the suspension, this is really more of a carry over from the previous generation. Some fine tuning has gone into the front and rear suspension, there is a little bit of widening of the stabilizer bars both in the front and back but ultimately it's the same wheelbase and same chassis. Now the body does have a lot of hi-tensile steel re-enforcements. So they've recently taken 25 pounds out of the overall body weight but they have made it 11% stiffer, so that allows the tuners, the suspension tuners to do a better job to make this very-very well dialed in when you try to push it around corners.
Overall the new Mazda3 still has a lot of very fun to drive personalities characteristics to it. The styling might repel some people, might make some people become attracted to the vehicle, may be for the first time coming into this segment but overall, I think this vehicle is going to do really well against its segment competitors.
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