By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(May 1, 2016) Quite honestly, the name and the styling threw me off at first. I thought the CX-3 was built on the Mazda3 platform, but soon released it is much smaller than the Mazda3-based CX-5 when I tried the back seat. That’s when I noticed the similarity between the CX-3’s instrument panel and that of the Scion (now Toyota) iA. Like that sedan, the CX-3 is based on the Mazda2, a vehicle so unloved it’s no longer sold here.

Which, if you think about it, doesn’t bode well of the CX-3. After all, if the Mazda2 is unloved, what could possibly make the little crossover more attractive?

Simple. It’s a small crossover, one of the hottest markets on the planet right now, and a great place to grab entry-level buyers as they purchase their first new car. It’s been a gold mine for Buick (Encore), has drawn in Chevy (Trax), and attracted Jeep (Renegade) and Fiat (500X) with more to follow.

Where Mazda differs is in its style and utility. The CX-3 is handsome and sporty, with a roofline that trails away over a rising beltline to a rounded, upright tail. If the front seat passengers are tall, those in the rear may find leg room at a premium, but a bit of sharing will make both relatively comfortable. One area that may be a problem for those in the back is head room. With a power moon roof standard on the Grand Touring trim level, rear seat passengers are forced to pop their heads into a recess carved into the headliner behind the moon roof.

This gives the glass panel room to fully slide back, and leaves enough room for taller passengers to stick their heads. It’s not the best solution (I’d probably have made the glass roof section slide over the roof to preserve head room), but it makes the rear seat habitable, if a little claustrophobic.

Most of the time, the rear seat will be empty or folded forward to create more cargo area, and head room won’t be a big concern. The cargo area is regularly shaped if not especially tall, and can hold four 24-packs of water and two 12-packs of soft drinks quite easily with the rear seats up. (That’s 12.4 ft.3 for the budding accountants in the audience.)  Fold the seats forward, and the CX-3 swallows a lot more stuff — 44.5 cubic feet of stuff — though your mountain bike will still have to go on a roof rack. Also, if getting a couple of inches of depth is important to what you can carry, the load floor drops down below the hinge level of the rear seats to add more height.

The interior is pure Mazda2, with the Grand Touring sporting a handsome two-tone instrument panel with a stationary 7.0-in. color touchscreen, actual stitching on the leather trim panels, two-tone seats, a Bose audio system, Bluetooth, the same iDrive-like rotary controller found on the Miata, and more. Unfortunately, should you have drinks in the cupholders, expect the now-vertical arm rest to get in the way.

Thankfully (a word that seems blasphemous when speaking about Mazdas), there is no manual transmission option. If there was, your elbow would be skimming the tops of the drinks in the cupholders and bashing into the raised arm rest when going for the even gears.

The six-speed automatic has nicely spaced ratios, and can be shifted manually via paddles located behind the steering wheel or by slotting the gear lever into the manual slot and toggling it fore or aft. Located right behind the gear lever is the Sport button. It does what most Sport buttons do: change the engine response and shift points. But with paddle shifters on the steering wheel, do you really need this button? It may prove helpful on twisty roads when thrashing along, but you can do most of the same thing by putting the transmission in manual mode and using the paddles to hold and change gears as needed.

The question is: Would you want to take the CX-3 out and thrash it along curving, sinuous roads? Yes. Mazda has a reputation for building sporty vehicles underscored by the Miata and its long running “Zoom-Zoom” advertising slogan. However, this doesn’t mean that ride comfort has been sacrificed for ultimate grip or the steering and brakes are heavy. They aren’t. What they are is nicely weighted, linear and responsive. Any degradation in ride is due to the Grand Touring’s low profile 18-in. wheels and tires, though this — and the headroom problem in the back seat — can be eliminated by choosing one of the lower trim levels.

On the negative side, ordering one of these versions will remove the paddle shifters, leather-trimmed seats, head-up display, navigation unit, Bose audio system, satellite radio and LED lighting, but it’ll also leave anywhere from $3,000 to $5,00 in your bank account. The choice is yours.

Thankfully, each model is the same mechanically, with a 146 hp 2.0-liter mated to a six-speed automatic transmission and driving the front wheels. The all-wheel drive unit kicks in when slip is detected, and distributes torque as needed. Front suspension is by MacPherson struts, while the rear is a torsion beam with twin-tube dampers. Four-wheel disc brakes with four-channel ABS and electronic brake force distribution also is standard across the line. In short, Mazda’s CX-3 doesn’t scrimp on the important stuff, no matter what trim level you can afford.

And the CX-3 is reasonably frugal. The EPA rates it at 27 city/32 highway with all-wheel drive (29/35 in front-drive form), and I was able to get a solid 28 mpg in mixed driving. The CX-3 is great around town, and its trim dimensions (168.3 in. long, 69.6 in. wide, 60.7 in. tall on a 101.2- in. wheelbase) means it’s easy to park and maneuver.

It can get a little loud under hard acceleration, but this impression is heightened by the quality of the interior materials. You expect it to be bank vault quiet because of them.

The Mazda CX-3 in Grand Touring trim feels like it belongs a class above in terms fit, finish, materials and vehicle dynamics. Order the Grand Touring, check the box next to the i-Activesense package, and it comes with items like radar cruise control, smart city braking support, lane departure warning, variable rain-sensing wipers, high beam control and automatic on/off headlights.

These are not things you expect to find in a vehicle the size of the CX-3 or for less than $30,000. But that’s what this little crossover does best. It punches above its weight with a style all its own.

The Virtual Driver