New Mazda3 Takes on Civic, Corolla: Which Is the Best Hatchback in 2019?

Kolama

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  • Sep 11, 2008
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    ලිම්පෝපෝ කන්දෙ
    Many decades ago, American automakers focused too much on gas-guzzling cars, allowing the Japanese manufacturers to sneak in with their economy boxes. This is kind of a repeat of that. While Ford and Chevy pulled out of compact hatchbacks, Mazda, Honda, and Toyota are still heavily invested and offer more premium touches than ever.

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    Both the Mazda3 and the Toyota Corolla bring something new to the table, but the Civic has been a dominant force ever since the 10th generation came out. So how do they compare to the yardstick?

    Well, engines are a major divergence. As you probably know, Honda uses a 1.5-liter VTEC turbo on many of its cars. It's powerful, has a good torque and also delivers in the mpg department. However, Mazda doesn't believe in downsizing, so it's still using a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated unit which gets cylinder deactivation for 2019. The Corolla, meanwhile, is the least appealing with a 2-liter+CVT combo. But chances are this powertrain will be the most reliable.

    But what's most striking about these two new models is the design, with bold headlights that stick out from a mile away, oversized grilles and plenty of character. On top of this, the Mazda3 has a premium interior, which wouldn't look out of place on a Mercedes or BMW. But it's not perfect in the infotainment department, and the Civic definitely offers more space.

    The two cars also surprise you in the way they drive, but in a totally unexpected way. The new Corolla is much better than before, while the Mazda3 has become forgettable, according to this AutoGuide review. This probably has to do with Toyota switching to the brilliant new TNGA platform while Mazda adopted a lighter solid rear axle.

    Toyota also costs less to buy, which is obviously important in this class. Overall, it feels like Mazda used the Civic yardstick the wrong way around.

    Source: https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...ich-is-the-best-hatchback-in-2019-135467.html
     

    MrCat

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    What are they trying to say here? The conclusion is not clear isn't it? :D "Toyota costs less to buy" ? "Civic yardstick the wrong way around" ??

    Looks like they are saying that the drive is improved in the Corolla but not much improved int the Mazda 3. Which is understandable if the 3 is having a solid rear axle.

    I agree that Toyota just improved the 'Drive Feel' game massively since 2012. I used a 2015 corolla for 6 months (near new car) and just thrashed the thing around (insurance hire car :D, so drove it like i stole it), was not too bad apart from the CVT. The CVT was average and smelled like burning oil when thrashed hard on manual mode :D

    Also, hired a 2017 corolla in New Zealand (near new car) and drove like a lunatic up ski-mountain roads it did ok though probably not as good as then model Mazda/Civic.

    The corolla does feel like it`s made to withstand daily abuse more.. :D :D Plus, the 2019 model looks bloody brilliant externally.

    The rental i`ve drove/raced for about 2500kms in NZ: :rofl:


    uc


    uc

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    MrCat

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    Also, about independent rear suspension, just read that the 2019 Corolla is having an independent multi-link rear. This is after many many years, possibly after the AE110 series from memory (I could be wrong here).

    I heard or read somewhere that car manufactures would save an average of 300 dollars per car from having live axel rears as opposed to independent.

    Strange that Mazda went the other way around after having excellent suspension dynamics for many previous generations.

    Looks like they are trying to defend the decision though :D


    Source : https://www.goauto.com.au/news/mazd...-car-suspension-rethink/2017-09-10/65426.html

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    “Mr Fujiwara said the change was not based on cost grounds – even though a multi-link suspension is typically a more complicated and expensive design than torsion beam – but to improve refinement as well as dynamic performance.

    “Changing from the multi-link to a torsion beam was definitely not on cost grounds,” he said.

    “We are focusing on the value for the customer, therefore we selected this kind of torsion beam axle instead of the multi-link suspension.

    “Also, our expert in chassis dynamics already has tested (the new platform) for high-speed, bumpy roads, and everything is better than the current Mazda3’s multi-link suspension.”

    Mr Fujiwara explained that newly developed rubber bushes in the trailing link of the new suspension had met the company’s requirements.

    “So far, it’s been very difficult meeting vehicle dynamics, ride comfort and reliability but we have managed it with these special bushes on a torsion beam axle,” he said.

    “Also the torsion beam axle is much, much better than multi-link suspension in terms of road noise, so we selected that in reducing road noise for customers.

    “We got a lot of complaints (about the noise) from the media.”

    Mr Fujiwara revealed that Mazda was inspired by some of the better French torsion beam applications such as the one employed in the T9-series Peugeot 308, which also features related bush component designs to quell noise, vibration and harshness intrusion into the cabin.

    “We investigated the Peugeot, of course,” he said, acknowledging that it was one of the prime benchmarks for the next-generation Mazda3.”

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    jmzsl

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    kandy
    ඒක ඇත්ත මචන්. මටත් Civic 2018 Hatchback එක තමයි දැනට තියෙන ලස්සනම කාර් එක! :yes:

    Issaha patta. eth passa kathai matanm. Sedan ekanm Hodai
    Matanm lassanama car eka Mazda 6 :love::love:
     

    MrCat

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    MrCat, Thanks for your inputs machan. :love:


    එල මචන් ..!!

    මේක හොඳ වෙන්නේ නැති පිස්සුවක් බන්.. වෙලාවකට හිතෙනවා සාමාන්‍ය මිනිහෙක් වගේ වහනයක් පැදගෙන ඉන්න තිබ්බ නම් කියල.. පිසුවක් කරගන්නේ නැතිව ..


     

    Kolama

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    ලිම්පෝපෝ කන්දෙ
    Issaha patta. eth passa kathai matanm. Sedan ekanm Hodai
    Matanm lassanama car eka Mazda 6 :love::love:

    :shocked: බලහන්කො එකෙත් හැටි. මට ඕකෙ අනික් පැත්ත. මම Honda Civic Sedan එකට ආසම නෑ. ඒක නිකන් Hatch Back එකට පස්සක් හයි කරලා වගේ. :eek:

    Mazda Axela, 3, 6 තුනටම මමත් ගොඩක් ආසයි මචන්. ඒත් Honda Civic එකේ තියෙන්නෙ යුනික්ම ඩිසයින් එකක්නේ. :rolleyes:
     

    Kolama

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    ලිම්පෝපෝ කන්දෙ


    එල මචන් ..!! මේක හොඳ වෙන්නේ නැති පිස්සුවක් බන්.. වෙලාවකට හිතෙනවා සාමාන්‍ය මිනිහෙක් වගේ වහනයක් පැදගෙන ඉන්න තිබ්බ නම් කියල.. පිසුවක් කරගන්නේ නැතිව ..

    මටත් එහෙම වෙලාවකට හිතෙනවා මචන්... ඒත් නිදා ගන්න මොහොතක් තියලත් ඉක්මන් එකේ අලුතින් දාලා තියෙන කාර් බලලයි නිදා ගන්නේ. :lol:

    අනික අනික් උන්ට තියෙන පිස්සුත් (ගෑනු පිස්සුව, බේබදු කම) එක්ක බලද්දි මේ පිස්සුව හොදයි. :rolleyes:
     
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