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Mazda 3 - Driven Review

By info@topspeed.com (Brady Holt)
Flying in to Newark International Airport last month, I arrived at the Budget Rent a Car counter and received the keys to a familiar staple of rental fleets: a 2019 Nissan Sentra wearing scratched-up Ignore Me Silver paint. Plenty of travelers would likely ask if, pretty please, anything else was available. This previous-generation Sentra (the car was fully redesigned for 2020) is generally reviled by anyone who appreciates a fine automobile. Its underpowered, it lacks handling poise, and its drab-looking inside and out. And yet, it was just what my family of three needed for a three-hour drive home to Maryland. The Sentras plus-sized rear backseat was perfect for our rear-facing child seat, and its big trunk swallowed our suitcases and stroller with ease. Its generously sized windows offered excellent outward visibility, and it could go 41.3 miles before burning a gallon of gasoline. And, keeping our rental rate in check, the Sentra provided plenty of features at low prices. This brings us to the subject of todays review: the 2020 Mazda3. Like the Sentra, it belongs to the compact economy car market segment. But thats pretty much where the similarities stop. For two cars in the same segment, its hard to get more dissimilar than our tested Mazda3 and our rental Sentra for better and for worse. The Mazda3 is basically a luxury sports sedan (or, like in our test car, a five-door hatchback). Its beautifully styled, elegantly finished, laden with features, and although its not as energetically zippy as it once was a pleasure to drive. It even offers all-wheel-drive, just like an Audi or BMW. Yet like a luxury car, its also more expensive, has a cramped rear seat and tight cargo hold, has slits for windows, isnt cheap for its class, and gets lousy gas mileage. It would have been absolutely the wrong choice for a family road trip, even for our small family. But if you appreciate something finer than a Sentra and wont often carry more than one extra passenger, the Mazda3 brings a high-end experience at relatively affordable prices starting from $21,500.

http://feeds.topspeed.com/~r/topspeed/~3/N9AQPSXYKhs/2020-mazda-3driven-review-ar188180.html

 

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