Lilas and I were out for the day and stopped in Wooster for some shopping and lunch... might as well stop at the Mazda dealer and see what Rick Preast had in stock for Mazda 3s while we were in town, right? Right. There were about 10 sedans to choose from, ranging from basic to loaded, and one loaded five door. We chose to test four cars; a loaded Graphite Mica Mazda 3s GT with a Dune Leather interior and the five door GT also in Graphite Mica but with the black leather interior and by way of comparison we also drove a Mazda 6i and a 6s. Our story begins. 
 

 

Built on what is more or less an upgrade of the previous generation Mazda 3 chassis, this redo is very successful with more high strength steel (somewhere around 78% of the cars steel is the high strength variety) than any other car in it's class. Two engines are offered, the same 2.0 liter four as last year in the 3i versions (148 hp/135 lb ft torque) and a new 2.5 liter (167 hp/168 lb ft of torque) in the 3s. The smaller engine in the 3i can be matched to a five speed manual, the larger engine to a six speed manual and either engine can be bolted to a five speed, shiftable, automatic. The curb weight for the 3i is down a tad and it is up a tad for the 3s so for either model performance is mostly better than before.  Fuel mileage remains good and you should be able to easily beat the EPA numbers if you're careful. 
 

The four door was first out, like the five door this had the Advanced Keyless Entry that uses no door or ignition key, just push a button and you're off.  We feel that both models are quieter and more solid feeling than the outgoing 3, with more zoom-zoom from the larger 2.5 engine. You can feel the added 11 HP and 18 lb ft torque which is up from 156 HP/150 lb ft last year. The five speed automatic works flawlessly whether shifting on its own or with our "help" when shifted manually. We'll be back to test a six speed manual at a future date, but in any case this is the same very good power train that is shared with the Mazda 6i.
 

 The interior of the 3s GT features new leather surfaced sport seats that are deeply bolstered and very comfy, even more so than the very good seats in both the outgoing 3 and the Mazda 6. We found the dash to be highly sculpted with three deep binnacles for the major gauges located in the drivers line of sight. The trip computer, audio read outs and nav system are located in the swish that grows up out of the center stack and across the drivers 2/3s of the dash. It's quite dramatic and to our eyes modern and clean too. Other controls are logical and easily found in the center stack as well as on the steering wheel. Ah, Mazda has a new steering wheel too, again this is more sculpted than on the old 3 and it also has more buttons and controls on it than most cars of the seventies had buttons in total.  You'll find the controls for the audio, Bluetooth, nav system (cute little joystick) and cruise control on this leather rimmed three spoke wheel. Remember when all you could do with a steering wheel did was turn the car and toot the horn?  
 

As long as we're in the drivers seat we'll notice that the seat is now eight way power adjustable with a three position memory and five positions on the seat heaters, your tushy will be both happy and warm. Speaking of warm and comfy, the GT features a dual zone automatic HVAC system so that there will no longer be any fighting over the temperature controls. And when looking back through the rear view mirror we find that we can see out the back window, Mazda has redone the headrests on the 60/40 split folding rear seats, so that when not needed they can slide down out of the drivers line of sight making looking back much easier than before.
 

If your needs run to a four door 3 you model choices are the basic 3i SV, 3i Sport or 3i Touring or step up to the larger engined 3s for the 3s Sport or 3s Grand Touring. The five door is only sold as the larger engined 3s in both Sport and Grand Touring trim. So now that you've chosen your model it's just a matter of choosing a color; Copper Red Mica is sweet, Velocity Red is back after having been off the palate for a few years, of course there's Black Mica, Crystal White Pearl Mica (extra cost), Liquid Silver Metallic and Graphite Mica, the Celestial Blue Mica made our retinas melt but the Gunmetal Blue Mica is just right. Interiors can be done in Black or Dune cloth or leather depending on the model and exterior color. 
 

Our favorite of the four cars tested? That would be a five door 3s GT with the black leather interior and the five speed automatic, if you don't need the larger car we would recommend the 3 over the larger 6, it's that good.

 

The new Mazda 3s GT dash.