The IT Nerd

The interior of the 2018 Mazda6 Signature is simply a class above. Though I do have three very minor complaints, it’s a total winner. Let me walk you through it:

The drivers side door (not to mention the rest of the car) has a mix of Nappa leather, aluminum, Sen wood and Ultrasuede accents that really gives an upscale feel to the interior. Along with piano black accents around the buttons.

I’m zooming on the stitching, wood and aluminum accents that show how well this is all done.  Clearly a lot of time and attention went into this.

Bose supplies the audio. I’ll talk about that more in tomorrow’s review of the technology in the vehicle.

There are red puddle lights on all the doors for added safety.

Here on the drivers side of the Mazda6, there’s all the controls for the electronic overseers, the hood, gas cap, and trunk releases. Along with the pedals including a dead pedal. It’s all very functional, but if Mazda wanted to kick things up a notch, they could have included aluminum pedals to give it a bit of a sporty or upscale feel.

The driver and passenger get 10 way adjustable nappa leather seats that are heated and cooled. The seats are very supportive as long as you dial it in to fit your body. Once you dial it in, it has memory settings to memorize those settings.

The steering wheel is leather wrapped, heated, and has controls for the infotainment system and cruise controls. You can’t see them here, but there are paddle shifters on the back of the steering wheel. They’re plastic which works. But given the amount of detail that you’re going to see in the rest of the interior, aluminum paddle shifters might kick things up a notch.

Though the picture isn’t straight, you can clearly see the gauges. Now the one in the center is completely digital and customizable. The outside gauges are analog.

The 8″ Infotainment screen is mounted on top of the dash and is easy to read in any light. The start/stop button for the engine is to the left of it.

There’s dual zone climate control below the infotainment screen. The display related to this is digital and easy to read in all lighting conditions.

There’s a cubby that is below the HVAC controls that fit my iPhone 7 Plus.

Here you see the leather wrapped shifter, the sport switch, electronic parking brake, a button that holds the brakes on a hill, and the HMI commander switch for the infotainment system. There’s a door to the right of all of that….

…..That has a pair of cupholders…..

…..which holds a Venti sized Starbucks coffee with ease.

There’s a very deep central storage area with a 12V outlet as well as 2 USB ports and a 3.5 mm audio jack. When this is closed, you have a handy arm rest.

Why am I showing you the rear view mirror? It’s frameless. What that does is give you a bit more in terms of viewable area. Which in turn gave me amazing amounts of rear visibility.

The glovebox is average sized and was occupied the owners manuals.

You get a decent sized moonroof. The glass portion is powered, but the sunshade isn’t. My wife commented that having both powered would have been cool. I can see her point. But that’s really not a deal breaker.

The rear seat will fit two adults with ease as I was able to “sit behind myself” which is no small feat as I am 6 feet tall. Three adults may be a stretch if the person who sits in the middle is tall. My wife is 5′ 6″ and her head almost touched the roof in that position. Three kids back here would be no issue.

If you don’t need to seat three in the back, you can flip this down and get a couple of cupholders and the controls for the rear heated seats.

You can also open it for some storage as well as a pair of USB ports.

There’s ventilation in the back.

All the interior lighting is LED based which is very upscale and pleasing to the eye.

The trunk is very large as well as having the hinges boxed in so that they don’t crush anything beneath them. On the left and right sides are recessed storage areas so that you can keep stuff in there and not have it slide around the trunk.

It held our weekly grocery shopping haul with lots of space left over.

There’s a handle on the inside of the trunk that allows you to close it without getting your hands dirty.

This Signature trim level really is impressive. And any criticisms that I mentioned are really minor as these are areas where Mazda could have taken an impressive interior, and made it perfect. To be frank, I’ve been in luxury vehicles that aren’t as good as this. If you spend any time in it, you’ll be impressed as much as I was.

Tomorrow I will discuss the technology in the Mazda6, and there’s a lot of it. Stay tuned!

The Mazda6 in the recent past has only come with a Skyactiv 2.5L normally aspirated four cylinder engine that put out 187 horsepower and 186 pound feet of torque. While those don’t sound like big numbers, none of the Mazda6 models that I’ve driven ever felt lacking in any way when it came to power. And quite frankly I saw no need for them to change anything. Now that engine is still available in the 2018 model year (and as a bonus it comes with Cylinder Deactivation technology). But for the first time, you have a second option if you need more power:

This is the Skyactiv 2.5L turbo engine that puts out 227 horsepower (250 if you use premium gas instead of regular) and 310 pound feet of torque. If this engine and those numbers sound familiar, it’s because a similar engine is in the Mazda CX-9 7 passenger crossover. In this application, this takes a car that is already fun to drive, and amps it up by several orders of magnitude. If you put your foot down, it will leap off the line (in fact, I chirped the tires accelerating off the line from a light). Turbo lag exists if you look hard for it, but it is minimal and you blow by it in a blink of an eye. While it’s not quite “pin your back to the seat” acceleration, its acceleration is very authoritative and you will have lots of power for any situation that you find yourself in. Be it passing trucks or merging onto the highway. Plus it sounds great when you put your foot down.But if you want something closer to that “pin your back to the seat experience”, hit the sport switch and hang on. Though I will note that whether it is in normal mode or sport mode, it’s also one of those cars that has enough power and enough smoothness that it can get you to license suspension country in a hurry if you are not careful. It’s paired to a six speed automatic that in the Signature trim level has paddle shifters for those who like to shift gears themselves. But this is a well sorted transmission that really doesn’t require any human intervention at all. Thus I would leave it alone and let it do its thing. For those of you who want a real manual with a clutch pedal, that option is not available anymore. Likely because like many other car makers have discovered, the take-up on manuals was likely low.

#SaveTheManuals

The accelerator is easy to modulate. Ditto for the brakes. Noise, harshness and vibration is approaching luxury car low. The only times I heard anything was when I put my foot down to accelerate was the growl of the engine. Body roll is minimal and the suspension is firm without being so firm that it shakes you to bits unless you are on really rough roads. It’s also extremely agile and moniker of “sports sedan” fits it very well. What helps with that is G-Vectoring Control which responds to driver inputs with fewer steering adjustments, so your vehicle behaves as you intend and you enjoy a more enjoyable drive. It has a great amount of road feel which makes it very easy to figure out what the car is doing beneath you and the steering is well weighted at all speeds. Finally, visibility is excellent in all directions.

In terms of fuel economy, I am currently getting 9L per 100 KMs which is quite good as I am driving in city and highway traffic, and I am making no attempt to drive in any way that saves fuel.

Tomorrow I will discuss the interior which can be described in two words: “Class Above.” Tune in tomorrow to find out why.

Mazda has seriously raised the bar when it comes to the compact SUV segment when they rolled out the 2017 Mazda CX-5 GT AWD. It handled great, which was a given seeing as we’re talking about Mazda. It sips gas, which is again a given seeing as this is a Mazda. But they seriously amped up the style both internally and externally. In terms of the former, it has an outstanding interior. In fact, it’s so good that luxury car brands may want to take a look at it as the could likely take some lessons from Mazda as it is simply that good. The compact SUV segment is highly competitive. But Mazda has managed to have a product that is not only good enough to make them king of the hill at the moment, but one that is an IT Nerd Award winner as well for 2017.

So I’ve come to the end of my week long review of the Mazda CX-3 GT AWD. Mazda has made some changes for the 2018 model year that have taken a sub-compact crossover that was one of the best options in a very crowded marketplace and made it better. One thing that I need to point out is the fact that Mazda’s Smart City Brake Support feature is now a standard feature. That means everyone has access to a key piece of safety technology. It also makes the CX-3 an even more compelling option in the sub-compact space.

My final fuel economy was 7.9 L/100KM’s which is pretty good given that the CX-3 has all-wheel drive. Plus if you take into account the changes that Mazda made to the suspension encourages you to drive in a more “spirited” manner which typically does not contribute to saving gas, you can upgrade this to being an outstanding result.

If you wanted to cross shop it, contenders would include the Nissan Juke and Qashqai, Chevy Trax and it’s corporate cousin the Buick Encore, the Jeep Renegade and corporate cousin the Fiat 500X, and Honda HR-V. Given that Mazda has a class above interior and a healthy amount of tech on board, you could also start to cross shop it against the Mercedes Benz GLA, Infiniti QX-50 and BMW X1 for good measure.

The 2018 Mazda CX-3 starts at just under $20,000, and goes up to $30,995 for the GT trim level that I tested this week. If you live in an urban environment and want a small versatile vehicle that is easy to park and maneuver in tight spaces, or you want to downsize to a vehicle that is “just right” in terms of size, you have to look at the Mazda CX-3. Mazda has upped this sub compact crossover’s game, and it is still a winner as far as I am concerned.

Even though the 2018 Mazda CX-3 GT is a sub-compact crossover which means that you’re giving up some size, you don’t give up technology. Here’s what it comes with starting with the safety technology:

• Blind Spot Monitoring: This system keeps an eye out for cars in your blind spots so that you don’t hit them when changing lanes. It also detects cars that are rapidly closing in on you from a distance.
• Smart City Brake Support: Let’s say that you you do not react in time to a car that panic stops in front of you. This Mazda is capable of coming to a stop at low speeds, or slowing down to make the impact less severe. You can get more details on this system here. I should note that as of the 2018 model year, this is a standard feature which means that getting such a key safety feature won’t require you to go to the top of the food chain.
• Lane Departure Warning System: If you cross over into another lane, this system will buzz you on either the right or the left side. The buzz really gets your attention I must say.
• Rear Cross Traffic Alert: If you back out of a parking space in a busy shopping mall and you have limited visibility to your left and right, you’ll love this system as you will be warned of any cars that cross into your path.
• Adaptive Front Lighting System and High Beam Control: This trim level comes with LED headlights with LED daytime running lights that look cool. The lighting can be set to automatic so that you never have to worry about turning the lights on and off. I found that the levels where the lights might turn on to be better than most cars that I’ve driven as on a dark overcast day, the lights would come on. That’s something that would not happen in a lot of cars in similar systems. The high beam control is a handy feature to have as it adds to your visibility on dark country roads. So is the fact that as you steer, the headlights allow you to “see” around corners.
• You get anti-lock brakes, traction control, stability control, and electronic brake force distribution. Plus you get hill launch assist which keeps you from rolling backwards when you’re on a hill.
• Finally, you get dual front air bags, dual front side air bags and dual side air curtains.

Now how about actually driving the CX-3? The GT trim level gives you a proximity key with push button start. Thus all you have to do is press a button on the driver’s door handle. Press it and the car will unlock. Get in, hit the start/stop button and drive away. One nice touch is that the start/stop button will light up with a green light if you press the brake pedal to start. That’s a nice touch to remind you to press the brake pedal to start the car. When you’ve reached your destination, press the start/stop button to turn off the car. Then get out of the car, close the door and walk away. You’ll hear two beeps. One after you close the door and one about 10 seconds later. When you hear both, the car is locked. You never need to pull out the key fob to do any of this. But the key fob does have the ability to lock and unlock the doors and it has the ever useful panic button. As an added bonus, it has a backup key inside the key fob should you need it.

While driving the CX-3 you get this handy piece of technology:

This is the Mazda Active Driving Display. Hit the ignition button and the Active Driving Display screen pivots up from its place in the dash. It provides drivers with vehicle speed, chosen cruise-control speed, information from the navigation system (including turn-by-turn directions, distance and lane guidance), speed limit signs, as well as the operational status of the Mazda’s active safety systems. All of this is within the line of sight of the driver. which means you never have to look away from the road. Once I tweaked my seat position as well as the position of the screen, I found it to be extremely useful. For 2018, this display is now in color.

Mazda Connect is on board the CX-3 with the combination of the 7″ touchscreen and the HMI (Human Machine Interface) Commander Switch. It gives the driver a easy to learn, easy to use infotainment system. I wrote about it in detail here, if you want to see what it has to offer. However, the one thing that I will say is that every person who sat in the CX-3 asked if it had Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. At present it doesn’t, but it is something that they have promised to do. Though no timetable exists for that at present.

The touchscreen also doubles as the screen for the backup camera. It was easy to manoeuvre into a space as its field of vision was very good. Though I will note that the actual camera is exposed to the elements.

The Mazda CX-3 has an 7 speaker Bose sound system that I have to admit that regardless where in the CX-3 I happened to be sitting, the sound was excellent as the highs and lows were perfect and the audio was well balanced. Everything from Austra to Wolf Saga sounded great. Phone calls were clear on both ends of the conversation as well. For those of you who still use CDs, there’s a CD drive as well which is unusual to see in a car these days.

The final part of this review will tie up some loose ends and I’ll give you my final verdict. Watch for it on Friday.

Mazda has some impressive interiors and the 2018 CX-3 GT is no exception. Let’s start with the driver’s seat:

The seats are leather with a suede insert to keep you from sliding about. As long as you are 6 feet tall or less, you’ll have no problem finding a good driving position. I say that because if you are any taller, you might feel a bit cramped. The seats are heated and have memory settings for two drivers. It’s 10 way power adjustable as well.

The door has leather and suede inserts and some chrome accents around the door handle. Plus if you look closely…..

You’ll see some faux carbon fiber.

Audio in the CX-3 is provided by Bose.

Below the circular air vent are the buttons to defeat the various electronic overseers. You’ll also notice on the floor that there’s a dead pedal which is handy for long drives.

The steering wheel is heated, leather wrapped, and feels good in your hands. It also includes paddle shifters on the back and all the buttons you need to run the CX-3 on the front.

The gauge cluster is distinctive and easy to read in all lighting conditions.

The 7″ infotainment screen is on the dash and is readable in all lighting conditions. Below it is the hazard light button.

HVAC controls, switches for the heated seats and steering wheel, and a CD player along with two USB ports are present. There’s also a 3.5″ audio jack that you can’t see as the shifter is in the way.

Behind the shifter is the HMI commander switch for the infotainment system. Behind that are two cupholders. To the left is a leather wrapped handbrake.

The cupholders fit a Starbucks venti sized drink with no issue.

This is a cubby for change and other small items. Missing from this is an armrest with storage which makes storage of items inside the CX-3 along with somewhere to rest your right arm a bit of a challenge.

You get a decent sized glovebox.

A power moonroof lets the outside inside.

The back seats like the front ones are leather with suede inserts. You’re not going to fit three people back here unless they’re kids. But acting as the designated driver, I got two adults who were under 6 feet tall back here with no issue.

Even though this is a sub compact crossover, you get a lot of storage space in the back. And you can get more in a couple of ways….

First there’s storage under the floor which can be handy……

Second you can use the 60/40 folding rear seats to give you room for long items.

The CX-3 fit our grocery haul with no issue.

There’s a handle on the hatch to allow you to close the hatch and keep your hands clean.

In pretty much every way I can think of, this is an interior that fits the description of being on that is a class above. It’s well put together and no issues were observed. Visibility is good as well. The only thing is that this is a small crossover and anyone over six feet tall may have issues living with it. If that’s you, Mazda has a CX-5 that they’d like you to take a look at. But other than that, I can’t criticize the interior at all.

Tomorrow I will take a look at the technology in the vehicle. And there’s a lot of it for such a small crossover. Stay tuned!

This is the Mazda 4 cylinder Skyactiv engine that powers the Mazda CX-3 GT. It’s a 2.0L engine that puts out 146 hp and 146 lb-ft of torque through a six-speed automatic gearbox that you can shift manually using the paddle shifters or the gear lever. One thing that I should note is the unlike some cars that need you to put the transmission into a sport mode to use the paddle shifters, these paddle shifters can be used at any time. Excellent! All four wheels motivate the CX-3 via Mazda’s predictive i-ACTIV all-wheel drive system. This system uses a bunch of sensors to figure out driver intent, road conditions, and likelihood of the wheels slipping to make sure the power goes to the right wheels before it is needed. I didn’t have any inclement weather during my week of testing. But I did take it up a gravel road that was kind of steep to get it a parking lot in a Provincial Park it did feel sure footed the entire time.

This combination of engine, transmission and all-wheel drive system make the CX-3 a rocket. Okay, you’re not going to drop 911’s off the line. But if you need power, it will surge forward with enthusiasm. Be it merging onto a highway, or passing a transport truck. I also think that Mazda must have tweaked the transmission logic in this iteration of the CX-3 because the last time that I drove this vehicle, I noted that I would sometimes have to put my foot down to get the most out of the vehicle. This time around I didn’t have to. That was a welcome surprise. But if you want to have more fun, there’s always the sport mode switch which amps everything up to 11.

Handling of the 2018 version of the CX-3 has really improved for the most part over the 2016 that I drove. It’s even more nimble than I noted its predecessor being. It feels very solid, more responsive, and it has excellent road feel. Plus they’ve added G-Vectoring Control which from personal experience from driving the Mazda3 last year makes a huge difference in terms of the handling attributes of the CX-3. The only critique that I have is that the suspension seems to be stiffer than its predecessor. While that improves handling, it also makes it feel a bit harsh over really rough roads. And while I was out on my test loop which I take all the vehicles that I review out on, I noted that I had to take some speed bumps really slowly to avoid not hearing the suspension bottom out. That was something that I did not note in the 2016 model. The 2018 CX-3 is also way more quiet than it’s predecessor which in my opinion was pretty decent. All I hear is some tire noise at highway speeds. The wind noise that I noted in the 2016 was far less present. Thus the acoustic glass and other changes to the 2018 have made a difference on that front.

I’m currently getting 8.3L / 100KM’s in mixed city and highway driving, often in rush hour. That’s not bad and pretty much matches what I got the last time I drove the CX-3. Thus it is still a winner when it comes to fuel economy.

Tomorrow, I am going to look at the interior of the CX-3 which quite simply is a class above. Stay tuned to find out why I say that.

I often get press releases from car companies that tout all the cool improvements that they made to a car be it new, or be it refreshed. But when I got the press release that related to the 2018 Mazda CX-3 which I first reviewed a couple of years ago, I was intrigued. Why? Here’s what they’ve improved on what was already a pretty compelling sub-compact crossover.

• Smart City Brake Support is now standard across CX-3 range
• Newly available features include a full-colour Active Driving Display, power driver’s seat with memory settings and heated steering wheel
• Complementing Mazda’s predictive i-ACTIV all-wheel drive is standard, exclusive G-Vectoring Control, aiding in steering, handling, stability and confidence
• The chassis and steering have been thoroughly revised for better handling, greater comfort and improved sound suppression

There may be four bullet points here. But these are significant bullet points. First, the fact that Smart City Brake Support which is capable of stopping the CX-3 in case you don’t react quickly enough is standard means that more people will get that safety tech. That in turn hopefully means less accidents and injuries on the roads. Second, they’ve clearly made efforts to refine the driving experience in a number of ways. Third, they’ve made efforts to refine driver and passenger comfort and convenience.

The question is, does Mazda deliver on all these points? To find out, I decided to get the CX-3 in GT trim to see if I could feel the difference:

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The Kodo Design that wowed me when I first reviewed it two years ago is still present. And it still looks good from any angle. But from the outside, it doesn’t look like if there are any significant changes. That’s not a bad thing as this is such a good vehicle, I wouldn’t want to mess with it if I were the guy who designed it.

I’ll be posting a multi-part review that will cover the following sections:

• Engine, transmission, handling, fuel economy, and driving comfort
• Interior
• Technology in the vehicle
• Wrap up

The first thing I will look at is the engine, transmission, handling, fuel economy, and driving comfort as there are significant changes on that front. Tune in tomorrow to see if those changes make the CX-3 a better vehicle.