By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(June 4, 2017) This one was a very disappointing experience. Not the 2017 Mazda3 5-Door Grand Touring, the experience. Apparently, the car had seen abuse at the hands of previous members of the press. (Cue Major Renault from the movie Casablanca as he says, “I’m shocked, shocked to find gambling is going on in here!,” while being handed his winnings by a croupier.)

The second of the six gears in the manual transmission had a weak if not downright torpid synchro, and would grind with all the enthusiasm of a barista at Starbucks.  Rather than make it worse, a call was made, and the car went back for repair.

The two days that it was in my possession, however, were enough to determine that the changes made for 2017 are real improvements, not window dressing.

The 184 horsepower/185 pound-foot 2.5-liter Skyactiv-G engine is reasonably gutsy and fuel efficient (25 city/33 highway/28 combined says the EPA).

The revised front and rear fascias look crisper, and the the new 18-inch alloy wheel design (shod with P215/45-R18 all-season tires) is handsome. Inside, there’s a standard electronic parking brake, more sound deadening, perforated leather-trimmed seats, an analog tach with digital speedometer, and a full-color head-up unit.

The changes are subtle, with the center console and the lower half of the instrument panel being the most noticeable differences between the 2017 and the car I drove last year.  The car also came with two of three new equipment packages, the Premium Equipment Package and the i-Activsense Safety Package. Among other things the former adds bi-LED auto-levying headlights, adaptive front lighting, a heated steering wheel, and navigation. The other package adds high beam control, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, radar cruise control, smart brake support and traffic sign recognition.

Unfortunately, the short time with the car meant there was little chance to test the standard for 2017 G-Vectoring Control that applies the inside brake to help rotate the car during cornering. However, the basic chassis settings are so good, this is icing on the cake.

Which makes it even more amazing that Mazda sells fewer vehicles than Toyota, Honda and Nissan, not to mention Hyundai and Kia.

The Grand Touring model with manual transmission starts at $24,770.

The Virtual Driver