2016 Mazda 3

The Mazda 3 sedan features a thrilling driving experience not seen on many compact sedans. It comes with a choice of engine and transmission options, all of which do an excellent job and keep the thrill going. The 2016 Mazda 3 sedan goes up against the 2016 Ford Focus and the 2016 Kia Forte.

The 2016 Mazda 3 sedan comes in five trim levels: 3i Sport, 3i Touring, 3i Grand Touring, 3s Touring, and the 3s Grand Touring. Pricing for the trims starts at $17,845 for the base trim and goes up to $25,795 for the top trim. Standard features on all trims include 16-inch wheels, power-folding mirrors, height-adjustable driver’s seat, cruise control, tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel, and a 7-inch touchscreen. 

Some optional packages are:

• Preferred Equipment Package (only Sport trim): adds 16-inch alloy wheels, heated side mirrors, premium cloth upholstery, a rear-seat armrest, automatic headlights, automatic windshield wipers, and a blind-spot monitor with rear cross-traffic alerts.
• Popular Equipment Package: (3i Touring trim only) adds dual-zone automatic climate control, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, a CD player, satellite radio, and a premium nine-speaker Bose surround-sound audio system.
• Technology package (3s Grand Touring only): the i-Eloop regenerative braking system, active grille shutters, a forward collision warning and mitigation system, a lane-departure warning system, automatic high-beam headlight control, and adaptive cruise control.

We Recommend

We recommend the 2.5L engine trim, the top 3s Grand Touring. It packs in a powerful engine, that delivers performance and maintains economy at the same time. The Grand Touring is topped with practicality in terms of features, and there’s no denying the safety package the car gets. At $25,000, it is pretty much affordable as well.

The 2016 Mazda 3 sedan comes with two engine choices, a 2.0L I-4, and a 2.5L I-4. The 2.0L comes on the 3i trims and the 2.5L comes on the 3s trims. There is also an option between a six-speed manual transmission and a six-speed automatic transmission. Both work excellent, with accurate shifts as expected. We prefer the manual for the thrill it provides.

The car handles like a charm. It’s precise and very focused. The ride quality also is smooth and planted. The car comes channeled with a front-wheel-drivetrain. The 2016 Mazda 3 sedan flies past 60 mph in a long 7.5 seconds and manages to reach the quarter-mile mark in 16 seconds. It has a top speed of 130 mph. The 2.5L engines do 0-60 mph in 6.8 seconds and finish the quarter-mile in 15.4 seconds. 

The 2016 Mazda 3 sedan and the Ford Focus are closer to each other in terms of engine power and torque output, but the Focus gets one less gear. The Forte costs less and has a smaller engine. In comparison, the 2016 Mazda 3 sedan is the fastest among the three. The Focus takes 8.2 seconds for the 0-60 mph run, and the Forte takes 8.9 seconds for the 0-60 mph run.

The 2016 Mazda 3 sedan 2.0L engine with the manual returns 29 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the highway. These are great numbers for a compact sedan. The 2.5L Mazda 3 with the manual transmission returns 28 mpg in the city and 39 mpg on the highway. The car has a tank capacity of 13.2 gallons. 

The Mazda 3 sedan has the highest fuel economy. The Focus and the Forte have the same combined mileage at 30 mpg. The Focus is slightly better in the city with its 26 mpg and the Forte is better out on the highway at 37 mpg. However, both fall short of Mazda 3’s incredible economy. The range on the Mazda stands at 382 miles in the city and 541 miles on the highway, nearly 100 miles over the rivals.

The 2016 Mazda 3 sedan offers one of the best interiors in the segment. It’s spacious, the materials are top-notch and the fit and finish is great. There’s hardly anything to complain about apart from the wind noises that creep in the cabin. The layout is slick, with well-arranged buttons and knobs that do not feel cheap at all.

The front seats in the car offer great support and comfort with excellent side bolstering. The rear seats however are slightly tight and tall passengers will not like them for long journeys. There are adjustability options for the front seats as well. The visibility from the car is very wide, with no major blindspots as such.

The cars can seat 5 people. The three cars offer similar seating space in the front seats, but the Forte offers better headroom. The legroom in the front is excellent in all three cars. Coming to the rear, the Focus offers slightly less legroom compared to the others but has the most headroom. Comparatively, the Mazda 3’s rear legroom is better among the three. The Kia offers the most cargo capacity at 14.9 cu-ft. This is 2.5 cu-ft more than the Mazda 3 sedan’s cargo space of 12.4 cu-ft, which is less for the segment. Major interior features include-

• Tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel
• Height-adjustable driver seat
• Cruise control
• Rear-seat armrest
• 60/40 split-folding rear seats
• Keyless entry and ignition

How intuitive is the 2016 Mazda 3 sedan’s infotainment unit?

The infotainment system of the 2016 Mazda 3 sedan is among the better ones out in the market. It’s semi-touch: the screen is a touchscreen but only when the car is not in motion. The screen is 7-inch in size and gets a knob controller for access. The infotainment system is easy to use and very straightforward as well. As standard, the Mazda 3 comes with features voice controls, Bluetooth audio, and phone connectivity, navigation, HD radio, aux input, USB port, and a 6-speaker audio system. Higher trims get a 9-speaker Bose surround sound system Some other salient infotainment features include:

• USB port
• Navigation
• HD radio
• 7-inch touchscreen
• Mazda Connect system
• 9-speaker Bose surround sound system

The 2016 Mazda 3 sedan is curvy and very eye catchy among the other cars in the crowd. The car received a redesign in 2014, and this design has carried on unchanged for 3 years now. The car’s overall form is beautiful, which has adapted Mazda’s “Kodo” design language. Upfront, the design is neat. The grille integrates into the swept-back headlamps and projects a long and wider hood. Along the side, the shoulder line travels along the entire length, integrating into the taillights at the rear. The wheels are well-shaped for the car, with narrow wheel arches. At the rear, the car looks slightly rounded-off and is simple and attractive.

The 2016 Mazda 3 sedan dimensions stand at 180.3 inches, 70.7 inches, and 57.3 inches in terms of length, width, and height respectively. The wheelbase is the longest, at 106.3 inches. The ground clearance stands at 6.1 inches, taller from the ground than most compact cars. The car’s weight is on the lower side as well, at 2869 lbs.

In comparison, the Mazda 3 is the longest car and the Focus has the least length. The Focus, however, is wider than the two cars and has the most height as well. The Forte is similar to the Mazda in terms of dimensions and has the least weight. Few major exterior features include-

• LED tail lights
• Sunroof
• Automatic headlamps
• Rear lip spoiler
• 16-inch/18-inch wheels
• Power-folding mirrors

The 2016 Mazda 3 sedan scores top in safety crash-tests. The NHTSA rated the car with a 5-star rating and the IIHS gave the Mazda 3 the highest rating of ‘Good’. Standard safety features on the Mazda 3 sedan include a tire pressure monitoring system, airbags, traction control, stability control, active front head restraints, and ABS. Higher trims get blindspot monitoring with rear-cross traffic alert as standard. The Technology package also covers some advanced active safety features. Other salient safety features include:

• Airbags
• Traction control
• Engine immobilizer 
• Ventilated front and solid rear disc brakes
• Remote anti-theft alarm system
• 4-Wheel ABS

The 2016 Mazda 3 sedan does well as a compact car with its all-rounded performance. The engines offer high performance and do so while not hampering the car’s economy. The interior is well above standards for the segment, and this car is rated high in terms of safety features as well. All in all, the car provides excellent value-for-money and is worth investing in.