Ford Focus v Mazda 3 v Toyota Corolla 2019 Comparison

Despite the pall over the entire new-car market, it’s nice to know that the small-car segment, even though it’s acknowledged to be in decline, still manages to account for a sizeable slice of national sales.

Although hardly anybody is selling more vehicles year-to-date than in 2018, the percentages don’t actually stack up too badly for small cars – which still outsell all individual SUV segments other than the medium class.

Small cars are most strongly represented by traditional big-number players such as the Toyota Corolla, Mazda3 and Hyundai i30, all of which have upped their presence through recent introductions of essentially all-new models.

And bubbling along in the background is Ford’s promising – and also all-new – Focus which, like the others, is so-far under-performing on year-to-date sales.

Despite being down 13.9 per cent, the Ford Focus is dragging its heels less dramatically than such competitors as the Toyota Corolla (still dominant but down 18.5 per cent), Volkswagen Golf (down 19 per cent) and Holden Astra (down 22.5 per cent).

Against this background, we decided that lining up the two strongest small-car players – Mazda3 and Toyota Corolla – against the as-yet undelivered promise of the new Ford Focus, would be a good way of putting each car’s merits into respective perspective.

Is the 2019 Focus a sleeper due to wake up from its slumbers and issue a wake-up call to the small-car glitterati?

Pricing of this new generation of small cars is vexed. Due largely to the now-standard inclusion of extensive safety technology, all have jumped noticeably, with the Corolla hatch (previous-generation sedans are also available) closest to the once-requisite $20,000 mark with its manual-gearbox Ascent Sport priced, before on-road costs, at $22,870.

Jump to the mid-spec hatchback level and all begin edging towards $30,000: The Corolla SX CVT is $26,870 and the six-speed auto Mazda3 Evolve G20 is $27,690. The least expensive Focus you can buy is the Trend hatchback which, with standard eight-speed auto transmission, is $25,990.

Taken to the limit, you can pay $31,870 for a Corolla, $34,490 for a Focus or as much as $36,990 for a Mazda3.

This is made more complex by the Mazda3’s availability with either the base 114kW/200Nm G20 2.0-litre engine or the 139kW/252Nm G25 2.5-litre, and the Corolla’s choice between a new 125kW/200Nm 2.0-litre and a 90kW (combined-power) hybrid based on the previous-gen 1.8-litre engine.

The Focus comes only with a 134kW/240Nm 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine.

Mazda3 and Corolla also offer a choice – depending on variant – between six-speed manual or auto transmissions, continuously variable (CVT) in the Corolla’s case.

As a matter of record, all come with paddle shifters on the steering column.

Here, we are comparing the $26,690 Mazda3 Evolve G20 hatch automatic and the $26,870 Toyota Corolla SX against the $25,990 entry-level Ford Focus Trend.

Upgrading to an ST-Line Focus would have added $3000 to the price without significantly upping safety levels or – other than bigger wheels/tyres and firmer suspension settings – general equipment.

There’s a price to pay with the initially-cheaper Ford, which will be detailed shortly.

Safety, passive and active, grabs an ever-increasing share of attention in these small-car newcomers, but though all include standard autonomous emergency braking (AEB), the mix of technologies varies.

For example, the Mazda’s AEB is, unlike Corolla and Focus, active at both high and low speeds – as well as in reverse – while the Focus, although it’s the only one to get lane-departure warning and lane keep assist, lacks adaptive cruise control and blind-spot monitoring that are standard in Corolla and Mazda3. But you can obtain these items in the Focus Trend 'Driver Assistance Pack' for $1250.

The Focus lacks a knee airbag for the driver, which is standard in Mazda3 and Corolla. We construe that to mean that the Ford protects the driver's extremities without the need for a kneebag. All three cars come with pedestrian-avoidance technology.

The upshot is that the Mazda3 Evolve boasts the most impressive lineup of safety tech in standard form, followed by the Corolla SX and the Focus Trend in that order.

Perhaps the most resounding differences between the three hatchbacks compared here relate to the packaging.

Although recent reviews of the new Corolla have expressed bewilderment in Toyota’s decision to relegate passenger and boot space low in its list of design priorities, the latest Mazda3 hatch is hardly any better.

The Corolla’s quoted 217 litres of boot space is, in the real world, as limited as it sounds, and so is the Mazda’s 295 litres, which is 13 litres less than the previous model. By comparison the Ford’s 375 litres make it possible to plan ahead for how much you can expect to carry.

The same, more emphatically, goes for the interior. While a tall driver in the Focus will be able to maintain a good relationship with an equally tall rear-seat passenger, the same can’t be said of Mazda3 or Corolla. In both cases a comfortably-seated, tallish driver will have most rear-seat occupants struggling to get their knees in place, not to mention their feet, as they squeeze in.

No such problem with the limo-style Focus. Unlike the Toyota and particularly the Mazda, passengers won’t feel the pressure of just-adequate headroom, claustrophobic, up-sweeping side window lines and the concomitant lack of glassware.

Big ticks in terms of interior real estate and luggage-carrying practicality for the Ford Focus.

Talking comfort, there’s a slightly different story to be told. Mazda3 and Corolla front seats – which marginally favour the Toyota in terms of all-round comfort – feel immediately supportive, well-cushioned and inviting, and so do the rear-seat cushions.

And, assuming some of the give-and-take between the front and rear of the cabin that’s not necessary in the Focus, there would be few qualms, what with their soft fabric door armrests and adequate head/shoulder room, about undertaking a long road trip in either.

Although there’s way more space to lounge around in, and the all-round headroom is beyond reproach, the Focus’ seats border more on the acceptable than the exceptional. They aren’t the most cushy, or laterally-supportive.

In the immediately-impressive Mazda3, what you see is what you get: From the meticulously-designed dash with LCD instruments, head-up display, copious use of real stitching throughout and the large centre bin with its soft-padded, sliding cover, to trim levels that almost rate it a class above either Corolla or Focus, the Evolve-spec car from Hiroshima, with its exquisite choice of trim materials and no sign of compromise in the normally-unnoticed areas, is almost-sensuously inviting.

And, while the Corolla matches it with a drop-down centre rear-seat armrest (complete with two cup holders), only the Mazda3 comes with a centre rear air vent.

The Ford doesn’t get a rear vent either but, unlike the Corolla and Mazda3, there’s at least a 12-volt socket – as well as a neat rotary-dial shift selector on the centre console.

Dual-zone climate-control is standard in Mazda3 and Corolla, while the Focus shows its more proletarian nature with basic, manual air-conditioning only and key-activated, rather than push-button starting (both of which feature in the ST-Line model).

The Corolla SX sits somewhere between the Mazda3 Evolve and Focus Trend with no Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and hard-touch plastics applied wherever the interior designers can get away with it (like the rear door sills). On the other hand, it does come with wireless (inductive) phone charging.

The team working on the Ford Focus apparently saw rear-seat passengers as second-rate. The door trim back there is Soviet-era basic and to compound things further, there’s no centre armrest.

The Focus Trend does get mesh pockets behind both front seats though, where the others make do with just a single pocket on the front passenger side. An all-round plus is that Mazda, Toyota and Ford all come with four auto-down/up windows.

Out on the open road, the Ford Focus was the king, the Corolla was not far behind and the Mazda3 was slightly off the pace.

It's ironic that the Mazda3 has dropped off its perch, because in the past it has been pretty tough to beat. The reason for its fall from grace? The Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus are new vehicles from the ground up, with all-new platforms to match, where the Mazda3 is more of a top-hat, retaining its ageing undercarriage.

What that means is that the engine, gearbox, suspension and brakes have been massaged, rather than overhauled and what was once the dynamic leader simply just doesn’t cut it anymore.

The steering, handling dynamics and especially the powertrain of the Mazda feel underdone compared to the Corolla – which was a surprise – and especially the Focus, which is best-described as a charismatic dynamo.

Where the surprisingly refined CVT of the Corolla is excellent at measuring out the right amount of revs (and doing so with alacrity) and the Focus snicks through its eight gears like a zippy dual-clutch gearbox, the Mazda's six-speed cog-swapper takes an extra millisecond or two to change gear.

The Mazda3's 2.0-litre engine is unchanged from its predecessor and has the least power of this troika. This shortfall is felt; the curvaceous Mazda struggles up some hills with three adults on board. Response improves in 'sport' mode but the simple fact of the matter is the Mazda has been overtaken, in a dynamic sense, by its rivals.

While the Ford Focus has the best engine and gearbox combo, its 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo delivering personality and force in equal measure, it's the chassis that really excites.

The steering is crisp, the suspension is very well sorted and the body is rigid, which together with the most potent engine of the trio – by a significant margin – conspires to make this a very lively and engaging hatchback.

Our testers felt it manages the weight transfer through corners the best, while turning response was excellent, although we did lament the lack of feel. It has a lot of power assistance which is great around town, but masks any meaningful feedback through corners.

The Corolla was probably the biggest surprise. It has the best ride comfort, soaking up undulations and cracks in the road more seamlessly than the other two, but also has really good mid-corner manners. We liked the steering in the Corolla the most: the smaller wheel feels great and there's a modicum of feel coming through as well.

The 10-speed quasi-manual stepped mode of the CVT is also super-rapid, giving the car a sportier edge than the Mazda, helped along by the extra herbs from its new 2.0-litre engine.

Referencing the claimed consumption figures against what we achieved on test shifted the fuel economy order a bit. Our recorded figure of 6.5L/100km in the Corolla, like the officially-claimed 6.0L/100km, kept it in the lead, but on test the Focus swapped places with the Mazda3, consuming 6.6L/100km against the official 6.4L/100km while the Madza3’s on-test figure of 7.1L/100km fell well short of the official 6.2L/100km.

None were inexcusably inconsistent however. As for fuel recommendations, Ford asks that the turbocharged Focus be filled up with a minimum 95 octane rating, while Mazda and Toyota ask for regular unleaded only so there’s a bit of a saving there.

In terms of overall warranty provisions, all three cars march to the beat of the same drum. But if five years and unlimited kilometres of warranty are common to all, there’s some devil in the detail that effectively creates a division that should mean something to customers.

Servicing for example... Toyota and Ford require that the vehicle be presented every 12 months, or 15,000km, whichever comes first, and, while Mazda also lists 12 months as the maximum time period, the request is that you bring your car in at no more 10,000km between services.

Fixed-price servicing applies across the board, although Ford will hold the cost for the lifetime of the car. This compares to 16 years/160,000km for the Mazda3 and five years/75,000km at $175 per service for the Toyota Corolla. Another big plus for the Focus is that a free loan car is provided when the car is being serviced. Neither Toyota nor Mazda match that deal.

Roadside assist, an important provision, applies for the Ford’s lifetime while the Mazda is covered for seven years and the Corolla is covered for six years – at a cost.

Also of great significance to any new-car buyer is how well it retains its value: According to Redbook private-sale figures, the Mazda3 scores best here after three years and 75,000km by retaining 66.3 per cent of its original value, followed by the Focus at 65.3 per cent and the Corolla at 61.2 per cent.

We wouldn’t be truthful if we said the outcome of this three-way comparison test was clear-cut, or apparent from the beginning. The fact is it’s the most closely-contested comparison we can recall ever conducting.

But, in the end, the big decision had to be made and our test team decided that the vote had to go to the new Mazda3.

Sure, it lacked the spacious packaging and outstanding road behaviour that elevated the Ford to impressive levels, and it didn’t have quite the cushy comfort or seamless driveline of the Corolla but, in the end, it won our judges’ hearts with its enhanced safety technology, its resale value, its meticulous quality and its almost unbelievably sumptuous, well-equipped and quiet (who ever thought we’d be saying that about a Mazda?) cabin.

One gets the feeling, in the knowledge that Mazda’s new compression-ignition SKYACTIV-X engine technology is on the way, that the fourth-generation Mazda3 as it stands right now is a teaser for what’s yet to come.

The Ford Focus, although it excelled in terms of its packaging, engine performance and road-going alacrity – and some compelling servicing initiatives – was let down not just by the pricing, but also by some disappointingly low-rent aspects of its interior. Yes, it’s a sleeper that gives the impression of not yet being fully awake.

The Toyota Corolla, as we’ve said before – as have many others – just doesn’t cut it terms of space utilisation with its paltry boot and tight interior. This is a sad letdown for a car that, in its latest iteration, has come so far.

The vexing thing for Toyota is that the Corolla hatch has the sort of issues that are difficult, short of actually making it physically bigger, to fix. Maybe the longer-wheelbase sedan version due to arrive later in the year will help.

Yes, our judges struggled with – and fought over – the conflicting pros and cons of each of these small hatchbacks but, in the final outcome, we were a united team.

How much does the 2019 Ford Focus Trend cost?
Price: $25,990 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 134kW/240Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.4L/100km (ADR Combined); 6.6L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 240/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

How much does the 2019 Mazda3 Evolve G20 cost?
Price: $27,690 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 114kW/200Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.2L/100km (ADR Combined); 7.1L/100km (as tested)
CO2: N/A
Safety Rating: N/A

How much does the 2019 Toyota Corolla SX cost?
Price: $26,870 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 125kW/200Nm
Transmission: Continuously variable
Fuel: 6.0L/100km (ADR Combined); 6.5L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 139g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP