2009 Mazda 3 Review and Prices
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Price: $15,440 - $22,595
MPG: 24 City / 32 Hwy
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2009 Mazda 3 Buying Advice
The 2009 Mazda 3 shapes up as a still-attractive sporty compact car, but one showing sure signs of age. That’s why Mazda plans a thorough freshening for model-year 2010 with an update aimed at improved refinement and power.
That presents an opportunity for 2009 Mazda 3 buyers to cash in on savings as the factory and Mazda dealers look to cut prices on ’09 models before the updated 2010s arrive.
The Mazda 3 earning its stripes as a darling of enthusiast drivers fond of its punky looks and spunky handling. But the most-popular version isn’t the trendy hatchback with the upgraded engine. It’s instead a pretty basic sedan with the base-level engine. That would be the “i” Touring sedan, to use Mazda’s nomenclature. Nicely equipped for under $17,000, it accounts for about half of Mazda 3 sales.
Mazda 3 sedans in fact are preferred over hatchbacks by three of four Mazda 3 buyers. That doesn’t mean you should be among them, however.
The hatchback better expresses the Mazda 3’s cool-car personality. It’s a spot-on blend of snarly looks and packaging realism. For around $18,000, you can get a hatchback in “s” Sport trim. It’ll have the more-powerful engine, a full compliment of safety features, a nice array of convenience items, meaty tires on alloy wheels, and an attitude all-too-rare in this price range.
The 2009 Mazda 3’s turbocharged MazdaSpeed model can run with most anything in this class. But the Mazda 3’s real appeal is that even the entry-level and midline versions have a spirit that sets them apart from like-priced compact cars.
One reason is the Mazda 3’s European genes. It shares much of its underskin engineering with the Euro version of the Ford Focus. Ford owns 33 percent of Mazda and judged the Japanese company’s compact worthy of the same chassis design that makes the European Focus a favorite of demanding drivers overseas. Deemed too expensive for the American Focus, this “platform” is also used in the U.S. by compact cars from Volvo, which is owned by Ford.
The 2009 Mazda 3 will return in four-door sedan and four-door hatchback body styles. Both are front-wheel-drive five-passenger cars with a four-cylinder engine.
The lineup starts with a sedan in a trim line Mazda labels “i.” These have a 148-horsepower 2.0-liter engine and come with a five-speed manual transmission or a four-speed automatic.
Moving up to “s” trim presents a choice of sedan or hatchback with a 156-horsepower 2.3-liter. These “s” versions begin to assert the Mazda 3’s sporty nature in the form of wider tires, uprated brakes, and an optional automatic transmission with five speeds.
Atop the line is the MazdaSpeed sedan and wagon with a 263-horsepower turbocharged 2.3-liter linked exclusively to a six-speed manual. Special trim inside and out plus sport-tuned suspension, brakes, and tires are included.
2009 Mazda 3 Changes
The 2009 Mazda 3 is a virtual carry-over from the 2008 model.
No change to the 2009 Mazda 3 will significantly alter its performance or passenger accommodations from those of the 2008 model. Statements in this review about performance and accommodations are based on detailed test drives of the 2008 Mazda 3.
2009 Mazda 3 Prices
Besides dividing the line into “i” and “s” categories, Mazda imposes Sport, Touring, and Grand Touring designations, each with its own parcel of standard equipment and available options.
The “i” Sport sedan starts at just under $14,000, but you’ll need to pay extra for such features as air conditioning, power windows, and keyless entry, not to mention ABS and side airbags.
It’s nearly a $2,500 jump to the “i” Touring sedan, but this model comes with a nice selection of safety features and power accessories, plus larger tires and alloy wheels.
The “s” versions start around $17,500 and range to about $20,000, adding the 156-horsepower engine and layering on such features as leather-wrapped steering wheel, leather upholstery, heated front seats, automatic climate control, and xenon headlamps as you ascend to the Grand Touring versions.
The MazdaSpeed lists for around $22,400 in sedan form and just over $24,000 as a hatchback. They’re basically fully equipped models centered around their turbo powertrains and performance-oriented suspensions.
2009 Mazda 3 Road Test
Driving the Mazda 3
Only the 263-horsepower MazdaSpeed version is truly fast. The “i” models can feel labored when you wish to scoot off the line or merge on the highway. The “s” versions are a worthwhile step up for power, but no automatic-transmission Mazda 3 feels very lively.
Steering and agility begin on a relatively high plane and get progressively better as you ascend the line, with the MazdaSpeed among the better-handling front-wheel-drive cars. Again, “s” versions are a step above the “I” models in this regard, but “I” versions are rewardingly nimble for what are basically entry-level compact cars.
With the weight of their engine over the driving wheels, Mazda 3s have good traction in the snow, though the MazdaSpeed version, with its low-profile sport tires, might prove an exception.
Riding in the Mazda 3
Handling remains a Mazda 3 drawing card, but rivals like the Civic and the Volkswagen Jetta and Rabbit are every bit as rewarding on a curvy road, and trump the Mazda 3 in ride control and comfort.
A growing number of compact cars are quieter, too. Except for intrusive tire roar and exhaust rasp in the MazdaSpeed model, the Mazda 3 isn’t unpleasantly noisy, it just doesn’t place a premium on filtering out engine, road, or wind sounds. This is more of an issue in the hatchback than the sedan.
Either body style gets you a pretty standard compact-car mix of good front-seat space and tight rear accommodations, though again, cars like the Civic, Jetta, and Rabbit find a way to give back-seat passengers more leg room. Mazda 3 seats are firm, supportive, and nicely bolstered to hold you in place during fast turns.
Interior materials are a sage blend of unimpressive plastic panels in placed you’ll seldom contact, and sturdier, often padded, materials in places you frequently touch. Switches and buttons that operate with smooth precision help elevate the feeling of quality.
Kudos for cargo space in the Mazda 3 hatchback. With its huge portal and fold-down seats, it’ll swallow some big boxes. The sedan’s trunk isn’t large but is load-friendly, helped by standard folding rear seatbacks. There’s a generously sized glove box, but not much else to crow about for small-items storage.
Mazda 3 dashboard and controls
Much of the fun feeling of driving a Mazda 3 comes from instruments and controls that would be at home in a sports car. Tachometer and speedometer, fuel and coolant gauges are clustered nicely before the driver though they’re so deeply re
No-nonsense audio- and climate-system buttons line the center face of the dashboard. The heat, temperature, and fan knobs, however, are a bit too low to adjust without moving your eyes from the road.
Mazda backlights all these gauges and controls in red, which may strike some as hip and others as slightly pretentious. The latter group won’t be impressed by the neon-like bar of red that expands and contracts across the radio’s face when you hit the on button.
The Mazda 3 was among the first cars in its price range to offer a navigation system. That’s less unusual these days, but the Mazda system remains easy enough to program and a useful accessory, if pricey at around $1,750.
2009 Mazda 3 Fuel Economy
If marginally underpowered compared to some rivals, mainstream Mazda 3s pay off in good fuel economy. Over the years, expect “i” models to average 26 mpg or so in mixed city and highway travel. The “s” versions should average around 24. There won’t be a big difference in fuel economy between manual and automatic transmission. The turbocharged MazdaSpeed is the only Mazda 3 that requires premium-grade fuel, and you’ll be lucky if it averages 20 mpg overall.
2009 Mazda 3 Safety
All Mazda 3s have four-wheel disc brakes, but Mazda trails most competitors in denying the least-expensive model -- the “i” version Sport sedan – core safety items as standard equipment. These include antilock brakes (ABS), torso-protecting front side airbags, and head-protecting curtain side airbags. These features are standard on other Mazda 3 and available for the “i” Sport sedan in an option package reasonably priced around $400.
The “s” versions add additional safety enhancers like brake assist, which automatically applies maximum braking in emergency stops, and antiskid control, which can apply individual brakes to help keep the car on course in fast turns.
In government crash tests, the Mazda 3 scores four stars of the maximum five for protection of driver and passenger in a frontal collision. In side impacts, it rates three of the possible five stars for driver and rear passenger protection; most rivals rate four stars in side-collision tests.
Mazda buyers don’t give high grades to Mazda dealers, with low marks for the overall sales experience in surveys conducted by J.D. Power and Associates, the leading evaluator of consumer satisfaction. As a brand, owners surveyed rate Mazda below average in overall dependability.
Mazda 3 buyers tend to echo this experience, rating the car generally below average in overall quality and overall dependability.
2009 Mazda 3 Release Date
Release date for the 2009 Mazda 3 is mid-summer 2008.
What's next for the Mazda 3
The Mazda 3 was introduced for model-year 2004 to replace the Mazda Protégé. The Mazda 3 is due some fairly significant changes for model-year 2010, though it’ll retain its current underskin engineering. Look for styling to evolve and for upgrades in engine power, sound deadening, and interior appointments. Release date for the 2010 Mazda 3 is mid-2009.
2009 Mazda 3 Competitors
With Mazda 3 sales concentrated on the “i” sedan in Touring trim, look to the Honda Civic, Ford Focus, and Toyota Corolla sedans as prime competitors. All follow the four-cylinder, front-wheel-drive formula, though Civic is the only one of this bunch to offer a gas-electric hybrid model.
Civic is also the sales leader in the class, and with good reason. It’s a marvelous blend of fashion, refinement, roominess, and unflappable road manners. Civic’s LX model matches up nicely with the “I” Touring sedan in price and equipment. The current Civic was introduced as a 2007 model and its next full redesign is targeted for model-year 2011.
The Ford Focus was heavily reworked for the 2008 model year, and though it retains its aged U.S. chassis design, it meets the Mazda 3 for room and comfort if not for cool looks or handling prowess. True to Ford’s cost-containment strategy, Focus undercuts the Mazda on price; its top-line SES model is slightly better equipped than a midline Mazda 3 for about the same money. Look for Focus to step up to the Euro-flavored Mazda 3 platform when the Ford is redesigned for the 2011 or 2012 model year.
The 2009 Toyota Corolla rolled into showrooms in early 2008, all-new but looking and driving much the same as the strong-selling 2003-2008 generation. It’s a conservative recipe that subjugates driving fun to quite, soft-riding, user-friendly transportation. Corolla is cost-competitive with similarly equipped Mazda 3s, but like Civic, it will retain more value at trade-in time. The Focus is the clear residual-value loser. The 2009 Corolla design won’t change drastically before model-year 2014 or so.
