2015/17 Mazda 3

Oliie · 27 Oct 2019 at 13:41

hello all
I’m currently looking at a Mazda 3 2,0 petrol the forums on the net are very few and far between and seem very quiet.so I thought I’d try on here.Does anyone on here own one.? I’m trying to move away from a diesel. My daily commute is 35 miles each way on a roads. After looking at the Mazda I won’t have to worry about dpf’s Leaking injectors etc as it’s just a plain NA engine. Are they capable of getting anywhere near the 55mpg that Mazda claim?
Thanks for reading

ZG002 · 27 Oct 2019 at 17:02

I've test driven one that was being used by a salesmen as a daily and actually really liked it, not a load of power but enough. If I remember it was showing about 40mpg in the history and I was getting about that on the test drive, I'd say 55mpg would be a stretch.

Oliie · 27 Oct 2019 at 18:52

40 I took one out this afternoon coming from a tdci it did seem slow but I knew it would be.... I went on a ten mile test drive kept it at 60 mph was just touching 37.4 so that’s the Mazda crossed off the list . I’ve been looking at the seat Leon which seem to have favourable reviews but with the 1.4 act engine I’m not sure when this comes in my worry is will it be running on two cylinders for nearly 70 odd miles a day.To me that sounds like a huge repair bill waiting to happen I’m thinking the 125 bhp model without act would be better

Matthew.M · 27 Oct 2019 at 19:11

Might be worth trying another or checking tyre pressures. Was it a very stop start route?

I had a 2litre skyactiv petrol Mazda 3 for a few years. I stuck 30k miles a year on it and it’s the best “normal” car I’ve ever owned. I could easily get 50mpg on a motorway run as long as cruise wasn’t set above 70mph. I saw 60mpg very frequently on my 50mile commute but admittedly that included variable motorway usually set at 50-60mph for a stretch. I don’t think I ever got below 40mpg under normal driving unless it was across a city centre on a very short trip.

I gave that car hell. It went around the Nurburgring, drove to Munich at max speed wherever possible numerous times a year, took it across the Pyrenees and down to southern Spain. Outside of regular servicing it only needed tyres and brakes. Nothing ever broke and it felt as tight as day 1 when I got rid of it. I miss it

Drumroll · 27 Oct 2019 at 19:12

Mazda is a fine car. Manual great. Automatic is reliable. Any VAG smaller than 2.0 is fitted with the stinky 7 speed DSG dry clutch. The new 1.5l is showing kangorooing problems on manuals.
Either go for a hybrid, and get a better mpg than a normal petrol, Mazda for an enjoyable car to drive. If going manual, 6 speed will be essential.

ZG002 · 27 Oct 2019 at 19:35

Oliie said:
40 I took one out this afternoon coming from a tdci it did seem slow but I knew it would be.... I went on a ten mile test drive kept it at 60 mph was just touching 37.4 so that’s the Mazda crossed off the list . I’ve been looking at the seat Leon which seem to have favourable reviews but with the 1.4 act engine I’m not sure when this comes in my worry is will it be running on two cylinders for nearly 70 odd miles a day.To me that sounds like a huge repair bill waiting to happen I’m thinking the 125 bhp model without act would be better

The Leon I can help with as that is the one I actually ended up going with. We get about 43mpg average and it never leaves sport. It only really drops down to two cylinders on a run out.

More power than the Mazda, I'd say not quite as good quality on the inside but infotainment system is much better and I find it a better drive also. We have been more than happy with it.

Oliie · 27 Oct 2019 at 19:37

The route was very country lane if honest But I’m thinking surely as you say on a run it would be better my commute to work is very much in a straight line for 45 minutes so as u suggest stick the cruise control at 65mph. Just about having the balls to jump from diesel to petrol. I looked on honest johns real mpg and people are reporting real world mpg at 44.my old 2.0 petrol vw Passat used to do that and that was 15 years ago

TheVoice · 28 Oct 2019 at 00:45

My parents have a 2015 Mazda3 2.0 SE-L auto, the overall interior quality is nice but as above, the infotainment is fairly basic (albeit fast and functional) whereas the Leon has far more features and options for customising it how you want e.g. having the navigation displayed on the secondary display between the rev counter/speedo. It's a bit frustrating because the Mazda has a screen there too, you just can't do anything useful with it.

It drives quite well and has decent power despite only being 120 or 130PS. The turning circle is weirdly large for a car of its size though, and in typical Mazda fashion the alloy wheels are corroding. Lots of odd little omissions too like only having one-touch auto windows on the driver's door (Leon has them on all four), mirrors won't fold when you lock it, and DAB is apparently quite rare too as it wasn't offered as an option until much later.

I'd considered a 3 myself but after trying it and the Leon, I went SEAT. I've got the FR 1.4 ACT, 2-cylinder mode will kick in whenever it's appropriate but you'll realistically never find the engine using it for extended amounts of time because any remotely significant amount of acceleration even with cruise control on will cause it to active all cylinders. It's a bit like start/stop in that it's the accumulative effect of having it that matters, albeit you tend not to notice it even changing modes unless you're in a low gear.

Rroff · 28 Oct 2019 at 00:58

I don't have huge experience but various family/relatives run Mazda 3s and 6s - the MPG does get fairly close to the stated figures if everything is working as intended and you drive in a manner that gets good fuel economy! but the standard engines are pretty gutless and tedious (but then I do like a ~3L V6) but the closer to performance spec engines are reasonable - but then you get a bit lower MPG. I'd say trim and reliability wise they seem OK for the money.

Silent Bob · 28 Oct 2019 at 11:47

I've got a 2015 Mazda 3 2.0 petrol. I get 45mpg on my commute to work which is a mixture of motorway and slow moving traffic. On a motorway run it's usually into the 50s due to the long gearing. The 120 model drives a bit like a small turbo engine, mechanically the engine is the same as the 165 model but the throttle is restricted over 4500rpm.