I got behind the wheel of the next generation Mazda 3 this week. The new model arrives in dealerships this weekend – the hatchback first, the sedan not due until mid-year. The Mazda 3 is the private buyers small car choice, the overall market’s fourth best seller, and this new model is a big move upmarket but so too is the price – the entry G20 Pure, now 24,990, $4,500 more expensive to the outgoing entry Neo Sport. Mazda claim the rise is justified on the basis of added refinement and quality. I drove the 2.0-litre auto G20 Evolve at $27,990 and the top-spec 2.5-litre G25 Astina at $37,990. Mazda’s Japanese designer suggested the aim was to make the new Mazda 3 “an object of universal desire.” Certainly it’s clear that Mazda has raised the bar – drive it and it becomes even more obvious. Firstly, the car’s overall style lifts it into the premium class, good looking, classy and polished, the interior likewise, materials, trim and fit and finish superb – a head up display in the windscreen a big step up so too the 8.8-inch infotainment display angled at the driver, the new instrumentation premium in every way. But how does it drive – NVH or noise vibration and harshness a massive improver, ride quality premium as well, and seat comfort gaining special attention. A superbly balanced chassis but of the two engines the 2.5-litre is the one to own, the 2.0-litre engine a step below the rest of the car. More next segment. I’m David Berthon

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