Review: 2019 Mazda3 Sport
Friday, August 30, 2019 at 1:17AM 
The Mazda3 Sport approaches driving with human behaviour and motion in mind. It works to balance performance with Mazda's usual sporty handling while combining that with extra comfort and convenience features. We check out what's new with this compact hatchback under the jump.
Exterior Design
The all-new 2019 Mazda3 Sport design continues Mazda’s KODO theme. The hatchback design has a sportier feel with aggressive body lines. It comes with standard LED headlights, with rear LED circular-designed lights. The exterior design has Mazda’s signature front grille, and the sensors for its safety system is located behind the front emblem. Our road test model included auto-levelling front lights, and 18” alloy wheels.
Interior Design
The interior design is well laid out with a 7-inch LCD instrument cluster, and an 8.8-inch Mazda Connect centre screen (the 2019 models don’t have touchscreen available). The control for Mazda Connect is easy to use (one of the best I’ve experienced) and positioned comfortably for the driver. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both available. Our road test included a windshield-projected colour Active Driving Display—one valuable feature is that it showed the Blind Spot Monitoring notification right on the display. As the radio functions are in the Mazda Connect control near the gearshift, this frees up the dashboard to hold minimal functions and streamlines the design.
Our road test model had new colours—Polymetal Grey Metallic for the exterior, and red leather for the interior.
Under The Hood / Basic Maintenance
The engine bay is compact in the 2019 Mazda3 Sport with do-it-yourself items located up top. The battery is conveniently located near a ground connection if you need to jump start the vehicle. Unlike older generations, the coolant reservoir is located separate from the radiator, right next to the washer fluid filler neck, and is easy to read the minimum/maximum levels. The brake fluid reservoir is also located up high near the battery.
Child Car Seat
If you are installing a rear-facing child car seat in the 2019 Mazda3 Sport, you may lose some space for the front seats once you set the appropriate recline angle for the child car seat. The rear seats have a slight bucket shape and are quite firm. Having said that, the seatback is positioned slightly away from the seat bottom so you may need to use pool noodles during a rear-facing child car seat installation in order to achieve the correct recline angle. The UAS anchors are clearly marked and they are located at the edge of the cushion.
When installing a forward-facing child car seat, the headrests are removable to make it easier to install the tether strap on forward-facing child car seat. You’ll also want to remove the headrests because part of it lays over the seat back (see image) and may push the car seat forward. The rear seat bench has the benefit of its seat belts starting at the top of the seat so that the belt will lie flat against the passenger’s shoulder. This will minimize the chance of the belt being too close to their neck and face. The rear tether is located behind the seat and won’t interfere with the tether buckle.
There is also a notification available on the rearview mirror if there are passengers not buckled in who are sitting in the rear.
Storage / Trunk
The Sport model (hatchback) is an option if you’re looking for more cargo space. The trunk is deep and the rear seat back folds down in a 60/40 split. The Mazda3 Sport also comes with a spare tire, located under the trunk floor panel. A nice feature that Mazda incorporated is a separate lock button located at the tail gate. This way, you can lock the entire vehicle from the rear as well.
The 2019 Mazda3 Sport (hatchback) is a compact car with the benefit of additional cargo room. The vehicle also has an AWD option available. Starting price for the 2019 Mazda3 is $18,000 CAD.
Model tested:
2.5L Skyactive-G engine with Cylinder Deactivation
Skyactiv-MT 6-speed manual transmission
Front-wheel drive
Seating Capacity: 5 people
Road Test Terrain: 60% city, 40% highway
Tested MSRP: $30,295 CAD
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