Mazda3 G20 Evolve 2022 Review

Full disclosure: I reckon the Mazda3 hatch looks pretty cool. Even the 2022 Mazda3 G20 Evolve auto tested here, priced at $29,590 plus on-road costs (only the G20 Pure is cheaper, at $27,040 plus ORCs in manual form), comes with 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights and tail-lights, an alluring interior design and a premium exterior look anchored around its road-hugging stance.

The only options are carpet floor mats ($202), which are quite cushy, premium paint – polymetal grey ($595) – which lends it a matte-like finish and of course the six-speed automatic transmission.

Equipment levels are competitive, comprising dual-zone automatic climate control, rear-seat air-vents, rain-sensing windscreen wipers, an 8.8-inch central infotainment screen and a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, plus an eight-speaker stereo and a leather steering wheel and gear shifter.

A digital head-up up display with traffic sign recognition creates a convenient driving experience, aided by auto up/down power windows all round, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, digital radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite-navigation and keyless push-button engine start.

The Mazda3 has always been a popular car for the Japanese brand and was Australia’s best-selling new model back in 2012 and 2013. Today customer demands are a little different and the big-hitters are SUVs and utes, in part because the humble small car is no longer a $19,990 bargain-basement offering.

That’s true of the Mazda3 perhaps more than any other mainstream small car, but Mazda’s Corolla fighter still measures up when it comes to value.

The Mazda3 is backed by a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty and comes with five years of free roadside assistance. Capped price servicing will set you back $1732 over five years or 60,000km and service intervals are relatively short at 12 month or 10,000km. That puts the average annual service cost at $346, which means it’s not the most expensive car to service in its class, but not the cheapest either.

The 2022 Mazda3 G20 Evolve’s safety package starts with seven airbags covering both rows of seats and is backed up by several semi-autonomous driving systems designed to keep you out of trouble.

Its autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system can detect cars, cyclists and pedestrians and will hit the anchors – hard – if you don’t, in both forward and reverse gears, while adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist systems make freeway driving very cruisy.

The standard fitment of a real-time traffic sign recognition system and one of the best blind spot monitors you’ll find today – both projected onto the windscreen in your line of sight via the excellent colour head up display – is impressive.

Indeed, the standard features list for safety and technology is very good considering the Mazda3 has been around for a few years now, and especially given the rate at which automotive tech is advancing each year.

However, the lack of a smart proximity key, which means you must take the key fob out of your pocket or bag to lock and unlock the car, can get annoying if you’re a jaded journalist used to such features. But if you’re coming from a 2003 Toyota Corolla it’s not a big deal.

In the cockpit you get reasonable storage along with a 12-volt socket and twin USB-A ports, but no USB-C ports. An 8.8-inch digital widescreen display dominates the cabin and has excellent visual acuity – but it’s not a touch-screen, so you must control everything via rotary dial.

This is fine for the native Mazda menus but a pain in the backside when scrolling through every single permutation of Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Indeed, these phone-mirroring operating systems were not designed to be interfaced with a rotary dial. Not at all.

There’s no wireless phone charger here either but native satellite navigation is a nice bonus and the blend of analogue and digital for the driver’s instrument cluster, which has a central 7.0-inch digital display, functions well and is artfully integrated.

Independent safety body ANCAP awarded the Mazda3 a maximum five-star safety rating back in 2019, and it’s difficult to say whether it would still achieve five stars if tested against today’s more stringent criteria.

The 2022 Mazda3 G20 Evolve is beautifully presented, tastefully finished and shows impressive attention to detail, but its 2.0-litre engine is lacklustre.

There’s nothing particularly shocking about the engine and it performs well for the most part, delivering reasonable performance off the line. But compared to newer, smaller, more efficient and responsive engines in rival vehicles such as the Volkswagen Golf and Honda Civic, it feels a bit lifeless.

The conventional (epicyclic) six-speed automatic transmission does a very good job extracting what performance it can from the aging engine’s outputs (114kW of power at 6000rpm and 200Nm of torque at 4000rpm).

The engine’s sweet spot is at around 3000rpm, delivering reasonable hustle in urban conditions up to 60km/h, but it tends to run out of steam higher in the rev range.

It will happily drink E10 ethanol blended fuel and cheaper 91 octane ‘regular’ petrol, which may help reduce your fuel bill. However, a smaller capacity engine with turbocharging would help reduce fuel consumption.

As it stands, the best we could manage was 7.9L/100km, versus the claimed 6.2L/100km.

There is a more powerful 2.5-litre petrol engine available in the Mazda3 range, which will be a better choice if you plan to do a lot of highway driving, while a mild-hybrid powertrain option should reduce fuel consumption, but both engines raise the purchase price by several thousand dollars.

Cruising around in the 2022 Mazda3 G20 Evolve is a pleasant experience, thanks to a suspension tune that’s ideally suited to urban environments, offering smooth ride comfort and plush bump-absorption.

The front seats deliver good comfort even on longer drives, with above-average levels of adjustability including height and cushion angle.

Smaller touches like the soft pulsing of the indicators – visually and acoustically – add a bit of class when cruising around the ’burbs, while automatic wipers, headlights and high-beams simplify commonly used functions.

Refinement levels are generally pretty good (until you rev the engine to 6000rpm) and while it may not be the fastest or the quietest small car in its class, there is a sense of confidence and sophistication about the way it drives.

It’s a handy rig on country roads, the curvy little runabout’s eager cornering attitude and precise steering making it an engaging and fun to drive car. With reasonably good body control it can be quite a lark to use the steering wheel-mounted paddles to shift gears when tackling twisty roads.

The field of vision is good out of the front and sides, but the wide C-pillars and small rear window make rear vision pretty average. Thankfully it has a very good blind spot detection system.

The cabin is beautifully presented and one of the best in the segment, from the overall design to the control layout (and even the premium way the controls actuate) and material quality. It’s all top-notch.

Boot space isn’t as cramped as the 295 litres listed on the spec sheet would lead you to believe. It’s able to swallow a lot of shopping and several slabs of potting mix. That said, getting a pram in there is a little tricky and there are no bag hooks, no 12-volt socket and only a space-saver spare wheel.

The almost entry-level 2022 Mazda3 G20 Evolve hatch is a safe and reliable purchase and also one of the most complete cars in its class today, offering a very well-rounded experience backed up by a strong equipment levels.

It should come as no surprise we named the Mazda3 our best small car in 2021 and not much has changed in 2022, apart from increasing prices and reduced availability of vehicles.

Indeed, in a market rushing headlong towards SUVs and utes, requiring traditional small cars to evolve and become more advanced and more luxurious, the Mazda3 is a good example of how do it right.

It’s not class-leading in any one respect but the sum of its parts make for a compelling overall product, with a certain vitality informed by its unique design.

Unlike other near-entry-level mainstream small cars, the 2022 Mazda3 G20 Evolve is a vehicle that many owners will be proud to own, as evidenced by countless reader reviews, and a vehicle that we happily recommend.

How much does the 2022 Mazda3 G20 Evolve cost?
Price: $29,590 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 114kW/200Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 146g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (2019)