My latest road test was inside of the 2017 MAZDA CX-3 Grand Touring. The day it arrived the weather was perfect for a good old road test, blue skies, the sunshine and open road. As the days progressed we got to test the car out in snow, rain and even sleet because Pittsburgh is famous for spilling all different seasons on you in the spread of one week.
Let’s take a look at the inside and outside features of the 2017 MAZDA CX-3 Grand Touring and lavishly live driving out loud with a little bit of ‘zoom zoom!’
2017 MAZDA CX-3 Grand Touring
Meet the 2017 MAZDA CX-3 Grand Touring AWD in Dynamic Blue Mica with a parchment interior. The vehicle claims 27 MPG city driving and 32 Highway driving. There are 5 seats, a hatch trunk, and a power moonroof with a manual operating sunshade. I was provided the vehicle to test drive and I only present vehicles on my site that I feel most affiliate with you, my dear readership. The opinions presented are my own, as are the images.
Please bare in mind when reading this my frame of reference goes back to the Mazda 2017 CX9 that I test drove, so my opinions may be a tad jaded from space to impressionism, but the vehicle is a nice vehicle but lacking size based on my current vehicles size and my point of reference.
Best Car For…
In my opinion, this car is best for those that are single, couples or teens that are driving. There is not a lot of car to maneuver, it has so many built-in safety features, in fact, the Government star safety ratings gave it a 5 Star in Frontal Crash for both the driver and the passenger, as well as side, crashes front and back seat.
The back seat is cramped for teens unless you have 2 people sitting up front that are very small and do not mind putting their seats up I do not believe after riding in here with my tall teens that this is the best fit.
We did manage to put a hockey bag in (one) and a stick, but the stick had to be inside the back seat, not the cargo area and even with seats down it was a tight fit, but doable.
Also factor in the AWD and it is good for snow like we have on the east coast.
TEENS
I feel that teens would be blessed with the Blind Spot Monitoring the ‘stay in your lane’ indicator, great reminders to keep it together while you are driving.
Interior Features
Inside the front seat were heated seats for both driver and passenger and cruise control. The 2017 MAZDA CX-3 Grand Touring had what I will refer to as ‘old-school’ parking brake you pulled by hand, and the seat adjustments while numbering six were a tad awkward (remember I drove the CX9 and everything was amazing in there, this is just my baseline for comparing, albeit fair or not).
To heighten the driver’s seat you had to manually PUMP the lever, which was ‘odd’ to me, but it worked.
Front & Driver’s Area
I will be brutally honest, putting my phone anywhere in the front was not possible unless I put it in the cup holder, under my right arm, which was awkward, There was an armrest that had a holster but in order for the phone to stay in you had to lift the holster.
The above shows a bit of the infotainment center which can be run by touch WHEN you are not in motion and in PARK but when in motion you use the knob down by the gear shift (Auto) to easily change from navigation to radio, etc.
Storage of the FOB was pretty much on the ledge below the radio area, but that was it. Limited storage for anything in the front from lip gloss to phones and charging cord, I would LOVE MAZDA To read this and note that a little more functionality in the front seat would be appreciated from this ‘girl’ driver.
Back Seat
After attempting to load the car up with kids and travel cross town, I found it to not be possible to jam 3 teens in the car there is not enough leg room to make it happen unless you are really tiny and really short.
Again, this vehicle is not for a family (unless it is a small family of 3), it in my mind is more for weekending, adventures, couples, teens, singles.
Cargo Area
This is the cargo area, we did push the seats down, it is very compact. The seats do split 60/40 and it does convert to a flat load, which allows you to get your ‘stuff’ in but then you have no backseats, so you have to make sure that who you have in the car is old enough to sit in the front seat.
BOSE speaker afford you good sound to jam to while driving, and the full active driving display is nice to keep you alert. The motion is not intrusive, there is not an aggressively loud cabin ride when driving even at higher speeds.
The Mazda CX3 2017 is perfect for those looking for an adventure vehicle that will ride in the rain and snow. While with 5 seats, I believe best suited for 3 or less people really not carrying much cargo.