CIRCULATING IN WANGARATTA, BENALLA, MYRTLEFORD, BRIGHT, MT BEAUTY, BEECHWORTH, YACKANDANDAH, RUTHERGLEN, CHILTERN AND DISTRICTS
NORTH EAST
October 17, 2014
available online - wangarattachronicle.com.au
PRINTED FORTNIGHTLY — VOLUME 459
Honda Jazz swings into centre stage Storypage3
MAZDA3: Sleek styling of the XD Astina turbo-diesel certainly suits its sporting nature.
Mazda3 is a high performance diesel O
ther than using less fuel we haven’t seen any real need to buy turbodiesel engines in small or midsize cars - until now. That sudden change of mind happened within seconds of us getting behind the wheel of a Mazda3 with a 2.2-litre SkyActive-D diesel engine. The engine is smooth, has minimal lag and revs far more readily than diesels from all other marques. A sports diesel? Yes, it certainly is. The big-grille that’s such a feature of Mazda’s latest styling theme plays a major part in its sales success on every model on which it’s used. The all-new Mazda3 is the best iteration yet of this interesting style, at least in my humble opinion. While it’s lower than its predecessors, the third generation Mazda3 is longer overall in its wheelbase.
By EWAN KENNEDY The resulting shorter overhangs give it a sportier look. The longer wheelbase makes for more interior space. The sleek new body not only looks good, but also provides best-in-class coefficient of drag, at 0.28 for the hatch. Part of this low number is due to an ‘active’ radiator grille shutter that opens just enough to provide just the correct amount of cooling no matter what the outside air temperature. The exciting new Mazda turbo-diesel engine puts out 129 kW of power and 420 Nm of torque, numbers that are well above those we normally see in an engine of this type. Response is spread throughout the rev range by using twin turbochargers. A small unit operates at low engine speeds, it then works with a large turbo at mid-range speeds.
At higher speeds the large unit takes over to supply boost to the greater mass of air the engine demands. This, coupled with a very low compression ratio, it’s just 14:1 compared with conventional units that require at least 17:1, to give a nice balance between performance and economy. The new turbo-diesel shows an improvement of up to 12 per cent in fuel efficiency over the previous diesel engine. Mazda’s brake energy regeneration system plays its part in this drop in fuel use and emissions. The i-stop system automatically cuts out the engine after the vehicle comes to a stop. When the brake is released, fuel is injected into the cylinder to make for a smoother restart of the engine than is normal in other fourcylinder units, petrol or diesel. Six-speed manual and automatic transmissions are offered, our test car had the automatic. Tagged SkyActive-Drive, the auto has a computer link to the engine and cuts engine
torque during changes so the car has quick gear changes with minimal shift shock. In addition to crash protection items this Mazda three does its best to stop you crashing in the first place. Major features included Dynamic Stability Control, Anti-lock Braking and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution. Then there is Blind Spot Monitoring, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, High Lane Departure Warning, Forward Obstruction Warning and City Brake Support. A reversing camera cuts the risk of running over someone or something in the driveway. Mazda3 has a head-up display that projects driving information onto the windscreen directly. We are told the focal point is about 1.5 metres in front of the driver’s eye point, we can certainly report that it requires minimal eye movement to focus.
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