The Mazda 3 is a model of simplified excellence; an affordable, everyday car that’s stirring to operate and pleasing to sit in. While our praise, including two consecutive 10Best awards, often highlights the car’s tossable chassis and eager engine, it’s the 3’s interior that allows its driver to fully enjoy those elements.
That’s no small feat given the Mazda’s pricing ($17,765 to start), but the 3’s cabin is as clever as it is classy. Mazda nailed the seating position and primary-control relationships. And the 3’s minor controls are designed to minimize driver distraction, allowing eyes to stay on the road. In Touring and Grand Touring 3s, a flip-up screen atop the instruments places vehicle speed right in the driver’s sightline, while a large central tachometer dominates the cluster. The navigation-and-entertainment unit takes its cues from luxury cars, with a bright, seven-inch center screen parked high on the dash and controlled via an intuitive knob on the console, or, if you prefer, by tapping the screen itself.
Mazda’s interior décor is well-wrought, clean yet interesting, and has just enough detailing to feel upscale but not overdone, much like the 3 as a whole. It’d still be a good car if it had a simpler—and cheaper—cabin, but the fact that it doesn’t is, in part, what makes the 3 such a winner.
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- 2015 10Best: These Are the Absolute Best Cars You Can Buy Today
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1BherV2
via Agya
