Practicality test Mazda 3 Fastback long-term test review & Price List

I've just finished redecorating my apartment, which is on the surface will not have much to do with our Mazda 3 Fastback.

Until, that is, you consider how much garbage home improvement produce. There was old furniture, carpet offcuts, paint cans and various other related detritus which all need to be taken to a recycling center.

In an ordinary family hatchback, you get a huge opening for the entire rear of the car form the bootlid, but the sedan as 3 Fastback, opening much smaller. Fortunately, though, the boot is relatively versatile. You can drop the rear seats by pulling the useful power off of the boot, rather than fiddling with a lever on the chair itself - handy when you are struggling with the remnants of the skirting board.

The amount of space on 3 Fastback boot is 419 liters with all five seats in place - 55 liters more than the ordinary hatch - but this space can not be used as the hatchback because it was a narrow opening. I finally got it all, but not without considerable jostling.

I also found a way to get the most out of the 1.5-liter diesel motor. I have already noted that he did not feel very sporty and throttle response can be soft, but I have found that keeping the revs a little higher than normal (say, above 2000rpm) avoid bogged-down feeling low down range before the turbocharger has had a chance to catch up. It still prove to be economical, too, because we average over 56mpg in normal driving.

When I took 3 for the first major toll road run, the 180-mile round trip to my home in Northamptonshire, I was impressed with the improvements the machine. Even under load, the noise did not really penetrate the cabin. That said, it can feel a little timid when overtaking at higher speeds and downshift is usually required.

One of the interior features that I really like is the infotainment system. Most of the time it can be controlled via a rotary dial on the center console, but also a touch screen, making tasks such as entering zip codes in the nav or pressing a phone number is much easier. The little touches like this charming car of my own.

MAZDA 3 SPORT 1.5 DIESEL NAV Fastback

List price £ 21 945 Price as tested £ 22 605 56.7mpg economy Error No Expense No Last seen 8/3/16

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