Newsletters

Driven: 2010 Mazda3 i Touring

Having already familiarized ourselves with the Mazda3 s (not to mention the devilishly fun Mazdaspeed3), we got the chance to get behind the wheel of the 2010 Mazda3 i Touring. Of course, we were interested to see how the small-displacement engine, only available in the four-door version, contributed to the overall driving experience of the beloved 3. 
The Mazda3 i’s 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine provides 148 horsepower and 135 pound-feet of torque. It’s the sort of power that makes the car very capable under most situations. Especially in normal city driving, the engine feels like it is up to the task at hand. At other times, though, it definitely feels like it is lacking. When entering the highway, the engine feels out of shape, and has trouble getting the car up to speed briskly. Unlike the 2.5-liter mill in the Mazda3 s, really hammering the throttle offers only mild acceleration for passing maneuvers. Once up to speed, though, it doesn’t take much effort to keep the car moving, and lifting one’s foot for a little while won’t lead to a huge and immediate deceleration that requires a lot of effort to recover from. Just don’t expect a sense of urgency from under the hood when you put the pedal to the floor.

The suspension is a double-edged sword. We like a communicative ride that conveys information about the road surface and grip, and the Mazda3 has that on offer. Often times, however, the ride felt bouncy. Slight dips and crests in the road are magnified, particularly up front. This actually seemed to decrease the degree to which we could feel the road through our seats, as the swelling up and down movements drown out the smaller bumps and pings that provide us a good sense of the ground passing by underneath us. Not to mention the discomfort involved with a bouncy car. While many drivers will overcome, or not even notice the motion in the suspension, more sensitive occupants may complain about the ride. Honestly, we haven’t noticed it on previous short drives. It was only after spending a lot of miles with the 3 that we began to take note of it.

The controls of the Mazda3 are good for the most part. There’s no dissonance between driver input and automobile reaction. Even though steering feels a little dead on center, as soon as we put it hard into a corner, the steering tightened up, allowing us to really toss it around in the bends. While that initial feeling of play in the wheel doesn’t inspire much confidence at first, we liked the way the car happily changed direction with a modest flick. Shifting into manual mode, often a futile gesture in exercising more control over the car, actually provided some rewarding shifts. However, we would have preferred some sort of paddle mechanism to keep our hands close to the helm, and, of course, nothing would have beat the standard five-speed manual gearbox, a feature that Mazda always seems to do very well.

Over the course of our time with the Mazda3 i Touring sedan, we encountered a range of conditions. In the wintry Michigan clime, the Mazda had no trouble in soft snow, or on a mixture of dry pavement and ice. As long as there was some normal surface available, the 3 happily and steadily motored along. The only issues we found with stability were on icy roads. While any car can get squirrely when roads get slick, the 3, on its all-season rubber, had trouble keeping up with the rest of traffic when the mercury dropped. As other vehicles sped by us, we cursed the traction control light blinking at us from the instrument cluster as the nose kept pulling toward the side of the road. We rejoiced when the salt truck got far enough in front of us that we could finally keep up with other drivers.

Ok. Enough nitpicking. To be honest, we only nitpick a car like this because we expect so much from it. The Mazda3, at its core, is meant for the driving enthusiast on a budget. While the 2.0-liter mill might be a bit asthmatic for those of us with a heavy right foot, the design language that speaks to drivers is there. If someone is looking for a car that is fun to drive, responds well to driver input, and costs well under $20,000, look no further than the Mazda3 i. If you need that extra pep, though, we definitely suggest springing for the 2.5-liter, 167-horsepower engine found in the Mazda3 s. You’ll be much happier when you take to your favorite winding roads, you can still stay under $20K, and the six-speed manual comes standard.

Top 10 Little Things That Count

By Joe Bruzek, Cars.com
In the time our editors spend reviewing hundreds of cars a year, we run across features we simply can't live without. The features that make us whine when we don't have them aren't high-end, expensive gadgets but little conveniences that make a high impact on everyday usability and comfort. Here are our 10 favorites:

One-Touch Power Windows
Sure, one-touch up/down windows only save three seconds, but that's three seconds you can use to get out your checking deposit slip at the bank teller's window. And if there's a person you don't want to delay, it's the one who handles your money. The 2010 Toyota Camry has the one-touch up/down feature on all four windows.

USB Input
With a USB input, you can tuck the MP3 player out of the way, let it charge and control your 10,000 songs through the stereo, which is much better than the more common MP3 jack. Bonus points go to stereos that recognize older iPods — some won't — as well as searchable song lists. Interfaces that aren't alphabetically searchable make it agonizing to turn the dial a hundred times to get to your Weird Al Yankovic collection.

Telescoping Steering Wheel
Telescoping steering wheels not only give you more adjustability for finding a comfortable seating position, but they also help keep drivers in a safe position if the airbag deploys. The feature is available in every class of vehicle, so a model that doesn't have a telescoping steering wheel is at a competitive disadvantage.

Backup Camera
Backup cameras make navigating parking lots infinitely easier and can pay for themselves by preventing even one parking lot fender bender. Our favorites have lines on the screen that preview the vehicle's backup path. However, we'd still like to see more backup cameras as a stand-alone option rather than tied to an expensive navigation package.

Steering-Wheel Controls
There's probably nothing you have more interaction with in a car than the steering wheel and stereo, so having controls for both in the same place cuts down on the time your hands are off the wheel. Even better are steering wheels with cruise control buttons -- a separate cruise control stalk almost always gets mistaken for the turn signal at some point.

Trip Computer
A trip computer with mileage readouts can be an easy, no-cost way to improve fuel economy. By looking at the instant mileage, you can tailor your driving habits for the best results. Also included in some trip computers is an outside temperature gauge. Although we can't change the weather by looking at the gauge, it's quantitative proof that the weather forecaster is making stuff up.

Smart Cupholders
Fast-food drinks and jumbo-size coffees are more satisfying when they're not all over your car's carpet. The best cupholders are deep enough to keep cups from tipping over and accommodate different-sized drinks — from small coffees to Super Big Gulp Slurpees — using adjustable feelers and grips.

Heated Seats
This quintessential winter feature makes dealing with subfreezing temperatures as easy as hitting the heated seat button to "on." Heated seats start warming before the car's heat is able to blast at 90 degrees, and they can be fitted on cloth or leather seats.

Height-Adjustable Seats
Seats that adjust vertically are so critical to sitting comfortably that when a car doesn't have more than four-way adjustability, it seems grossly outdated. Six-way adjustable seats should be the bare minimum; anything less should have been left in 1996.

Three Sets of Latch Connectors
Just because a big SUV has three rows of seating doesn't guarantee there will be more than two sets of Latch connectors for child-safety seats. SUVs that have three sets of Latch anchors or more, like the 2010 Honda Pilot, offer more flexibility for larger families.

 Ask the Car Doctor