2005 Mazda MAZDA3 in Costa Mesa

Chantilly, France—

The rural roads an hour north of Paris aren't nearly as bad as Michigan's, but they're no prize, either. It's fair to say that a day's drive there in the newest member of the Mazda family was a good indication that we're going to love the 3 once it arrives in America.

Having fond feelings for the Protegé it replaces, we were pleased to see the Mazda 3's boldly sculpted face, which bears a strong resemblance to both the RX-8 and the 6. And we were also pleased to note that a dimensional increase will allow back-seat passengers in both the elegant four-door sedan and the edgy four-door hatchback to breathe easier. Surprisingly, the sedan and the hatch share not a single body panel.

If you appreciated the sporting nature of the Protegé, you'll also breathe easier. The 3's two available four-cylinder engines include the base 148-horsepower (slightly less in California emissions trim) 2.0-liter and an optional 160-horsepower 2.3-liter handed down from the Mazda 6. Both engines are from Mazda's new MZR engine family. The 2.0-liter does the job, with 18 more horses than the Protegé's 2.0-liter. But it's certainly not as convincing as the bigger engine, which has as-yet-untapped capacity, according to Jim O'Sullivan, Mazda's U.S. president. A five-speed manual gearbox (based on the 6's) can be traded out for an automatic four-speed that has a manual mode—a rarity in this class. The Mazda 6 is also the source of the 3's sophisticated rear multi-link suspension, which is set up to give the car great stability in high-speed sweepers. The front suspension consists of MacPherson struts, with fluid-filled bushings at the rear of the lower arms, mounted to a rubber-isolated subframe—another rarity in the economy class.... Read full article