This is a splendid little car with a nifty six-speed gearbox, manually explored for total pleasure and just asking to be stirred around with gusto to get the best possible performance out of the car.

The engine and gearbox are perfectly suited to a combination of high revs and meaningful use of the gear stick. Then, and only then, does the driver hang the lovely little family car out to dry while he or she gets to grips with just how good the Mazda 3 really is.

She comes to the showroom with Skyactiv technology, the new Mazda buzzwords. It really is all about fuel economy, low emissions and the bit we enjoyed, making driving fun.

All the parameters are explored: engines, transmissions, chassis and body. The engines for instance deliver the perfect combination of performance with economy by being lighter, stronger and more efficient and the Skyactiv chassis has been developed to offer the perfect balance of agility and stability.

This provides the means for powerful and dynamic driving which seems to deliver the ‘fun to drive’ element almost as an afterthought. Inside one is regaled with a seven-inch colour display which carries a range of useful information and then the hands-free Bluetooth connection twin USB connections CD player and shark fin Antenna all proclaim that this car means business in this modern electronic world.

The road holding qualities are really most remarkably good....

The seats are remarkably comfortable even when the car is approaching various limits. The adjustable driver’s seat with lumbar support allowed occupants to adjust things to our personal tastes and having had a couple of puncture scares recently the Tyre Deflation Detection System seemed a jolly good idea, especially as we were cornering at times very near a prudent limit.

In fact its difficult to know just when the tyres and suspension arms would get fed up, and the laws of physics being nearly overcome, we would be smartly launched off the ‘black-top’.

The road-holding qualities are really most remarkably good, obviously helped by traction control and anti-lock brakes, made even more useful by the addition of EBD, Electronic Brake Distribution.

This car comes with City Brake Support System, which is most certainly worth a few words, as many people will have no idea what we’re talking about.

It’s a delightful gizmo that takes the stress out of town and Maltese village driving. Add Gozo for good measure. This brake system is designed to help avoid or minimise the effect of low speed shunts. The laser based system is continually monitoring the gap and speed difference between you and the vehicle ahead and then it applies the brakes for you if the gap decreases below the safety distance. This smart system operates up to about 25 km/h so is actually most useful for all local drivers.

In reality the Mazda 3 is a full, five-seat family car with the rear seat backs folding down 60:40 to allow two or three people to enjoy the drive whilst carrying considerable loads.

The finely sculptured lines of the car with the interesting and frankly quite aggressive front end and headlamps all proclaim that this is a car designed with purpose for an ever increasing family market.

It is gloriously engineered and assembled with absolutely perfect panel gaps, and a paint finish worthy of cars costing far more of the owners’ cash helps to make it an absolute delight to use on our overcrowded and poorly maintained roads.

With the 16” rims the car comes with sensible 60 per cent profile tyres are standard. These tyres can absorb far more punishment than the really low profiles that many manufacturers of luxury cars genuine petrol heads and boy racers like so much.

Inside we were kept comfortable by adjusting the airconditioner, and having had enough of that sport reverted to opening any or all of the electrically operated windows. Many contemporary cars have keyless ignition working on a stop/start button with the master toy, which opens the doors and the boot kept vaguely reachable, in our case in one of the cubby holes.

The outside mirrors also fold and adjust electrically, which is useful, especially if the outside weather is absolutely foul.

Mazda have climbed an incredibly long way since I first had a test drive in 1972 and frankly the marque has become synonymous with quality, interesting domestic cars as well as some pretty sound sports and competition vehicles.

Verdict

COMFORT
Well above the class standard. We would have liked a full weekend of testing

PERFORMANCE
The 1.5 petrol is most certainly up to standard but the 2.2 litre diesel wafts to 100 km/h in only 8.1 sec

COOL
With those looks and level of comfort this gets a four-star rating

QUALITY
As good as it gets irrespective of class

At a glance

TOP SPEED
113 mph

0-100km
10.8 seconds

ECONOMY
Combined cycle 55.4 mpg. 5.1l/ 100 km

C02
119g/km

ENGINE
1496 cc

POWER
100 bhp at 6,000 rpm

MAXIMUM TORQUE
150 Nm at 4,000 rpm

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