Practical Looker: Mazda3 5-Door

You’ve all read how good the Mazda3 is in this newspaper and in other publications as well, so we don’t need to elaborate on how refined the sport-tuned suspension is, how sharp and Bimmer-like the steering responds to your hands, how good it looks in and out. How desirable it really is, especially when you take a step back and realize: "Hey, this is still a mainstream car!" That Mazda was able to create a family car, with the price of your average Japanese compact but with the panache of a sports sedan, speaks volumes about that company’s commitment to cars that want to be driven, not just as an appliance with leather and power everything thrown in as can happen at its price point.

So, whatever we’ve said about the Mazda3 sedan applies to the hatchback as well. Technically speaking, it’s just a 5-door version of the car, right? Why would anyone spend more for a car that, on paper, has everything that the base Mazda3 sedan already has? A Mazda3 "S" is P719,000 and it comes with a driver airbag, all-disk brakes, power everything, a 6-CD in-dash player, 15-inch wheels, and a tilt/telescopic adjustable steering wheel as standard equipment. On the other hand, a 5-door 3 is P755,000. You get all the standard equipment of the 4-door "S", except it’s all wrapped in an even more sculpted body with shades of the Batmobile from some angles. For a couple more thousand, you could park your bum in the 4-door "V", which now adds ABS, two extra speakers, foglamps, 16-inch wheels, and a 60/40 split rear bench to the standard "S" kit.

If you’re thinking of versatility in favour of the 5-door, then yes, it’s more practical than the "S". While the latter has a solid rear seatback, the hatchback’s seat is split 60/40 like the "V", which means long and tall cargo can be stowed back there. So, okay, the additional cargo area room plus the added cubic feet resulting from the extended roofline makes the hatchback roomier than the sedan. And the sedan’s relatively tight trunk opening means you will have trouble stuffing large objects into it from time to time, such as when you bring home that flat TV you’ve always wanted. You won’t get that problem with the hatchback since the opening should be big enough for most objects.

However, if practicality is your main argument for buying it, other 5-doors out there will cost you less but have more room. A Honda Jazz, for example, makes the most of its cute-box-on-wheels packaging with a practically cavernous area created when the seats collapse to the floor. You can stuff two mountain bikes (not exactly the easiest to store in any automobile) upright with the front wheels removed into a Jazz. You can’t do that with the Mazda since only the seatbacks fold; the bottom part is fixed to the floor. The result is less usable space back there than you’d expect.

But let’s forget all this talk about "space", "versatility", and "value" and just admit it: you want the car because it looks so good. The practicality and value are just bonuses for one of the most inspired shapes to bless the middle class market in so many years. In fact, not a few have commented that, from afar, the silhouette closely resembles BMW’s much more expensive 1-Series hatchback.

But if the same good things about the sedan apply to the hatchback, then the same so-so details can be whined about as well. Such as: the lack of power from the 1.6-liter engine, a refined, vibration-free design that zings to the redline for all its worth to pump out an anemic 105 horses. If the "S" and "V" sedans are underpowered, the hatchback is more so because it is also more portly. It weighs 45 kilos more than an "S". If the sedan drove like you always had two passengers on board, the hatchback feels like you’ve got three. Imagine how it feels like when you’ve got real passengers on board. And here we keep reading online about the 2.0 and 2.3-liter equipped 5-doors in other markets…

While we’re bitching, how about another gear for that transmission as well? The ActiveMatic is very smooth and only occasionally flustered with our frequent rowing, but another gear would enable closer-spaced ratios and a more sprightly feel in traffic with that motor. We’ll even take a manual transmission (we keep reading about how good the manual is, too)!

But is this really relevant? Will the 5-door buyer really care about bodega-sized cargo room or sporty car performance off the line? Or will this be the only thing that really matters: that it’s made for around-town toodling about while looking very modern at upscale subdivisions and supermarkets. Forget about the relative lack of space and power and just admire the many details with the sheetmetal, like the bulge on the hood that’s even more pronounced than the BMW 3-Series’ signature powerdome. Or the little bulges at the edge of the roof that hide the hinges for the tailgate, looking like little ripples in the car’s musculature.

Any angle you look at it from, the car looks dynamic and edgy, flattering the ego more than you thought 755 grand ever could. In short: it’s stylish and it’s comfortable, but in performance and versatility, it’s not all that it could be. In Brit-speak, this would qualify as a "shopping car" with just enough verve to race for those prized parking slots come Midnight Madness. But what a statement you’d make when you step out with that credit card in hand, right?