I recently rented a Mazda 3 5-door hatchback while on vacation in Spain. I arrived at the rental company's parking garage late at night, started the car, and retrieved from my briefcase the Mapquest directions I had printed before I left Ann Arbor.
I depressed the clutch pedal, put the shifter into first gear, and started moving toward the exit. I was surprised at the four-cylinder's low-rev torque, so I glanced down at the gauges. It wasn't until I saw the tachometer's 4750-rpm redline that I realized my Mazda was, in fact, a diesel.
Over the next 350 miles I thrashed the living daylights out of the little 3. I did several top-speed runs (over 115 mph indicated), thrashed it on mountainous back roads, and reveled in its controllable lift-off oversteer, taking every traffic circle as sideways as I possibly could.
Never once, neither when tootling around in traffic with five people on board and the A/C cranking or cruising down the highway at 80 mph, did I mind that I was in a diesel-powered car - the Mazda's quick steering and great composure made sure of that. And though my right foot was on the floor most of the time, the 1.6-liter's abundant torque never left me wanting for more.
The only surprise I had was when it was time to fill up: I had averaged 36 miles per gallon.
To put that in perspective, I've completed twenty-one road trips in the past year.... Read full article