Mazda3 X20 Astina 2020 Review

Let’s be up front about this. Among other mainstream models in the small-car market segment, the 2020 Mazda3 X20 Astina is not particularly cheap. A manual model will set you back $40,590 plus on-road costs and the automatic costs $1000 more, at $41,590 plus ORCs.

That’s $3000 more than the Mazda3 G25 Astina. The G25 model offers the same level of equipment, but makes do with the 2.5-litre SKYACTIV-G engine rather than the exotic SKYACTIV-X engine and mild-hybrid accoutrements introduced with the new Mazda3 variant.

Standard features for the 2020 Mazda3 X20 Astina are: dual-zone climate control, 18-inch alloy wheels, a 12-speaker audio system with digital radio (DAB+), adaptive cruise control, electric seat adjustment with position memory for the driver, head-up display, leather upholstery, multi-function steering wheel, advanced smartphone integration (Apple CarPlay and Android Auto) and a sunroof.

Premium paint will cost the buyer another $495 on top.

Mazda supports buyers with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and five years of roadside assistance for the Mazda3.

The 2020 Mazda3 X20 Astina can count on a five-star ANCAP crash-safety rating, based on variants tested in 2019 by the safety authority’s European affiliate, Euro NCAP.

To uphold that result, the Mazda3 X20 Astina comes with a full gamut of airbags, including side curtains and one for the driver’s knee, plus mucho driver-assist technology.

This comprises blind-spot monitoring, collision warning and autonomous emergency braking (forward and reverse), auto-high beam assist, LED headlights, driver attention monitoring, traffic sign recognition and tyre pressure monitoring.

At the core of the 2020 Mazda3 X20 Astina is its highly sophisticated powertrain. The label ‘SKYACTIV-X’ suggests the new engine remains experimental, but a brief drive on local roads indicates that this is already mature technology.

What really stands out is the car’s utterly seamless power delivery. The idle-stop system restarts the engine immediately with nary a sign of compression bumps.

Don’t even try to pick the point where combustion changes from ‘diesel’ to ‘petrol’ and back again, either. Or when the ‘air supply system’ (a supercharger, in effect) is weaving its magic.

And you won’t note when the integrated starter generator cuts in to supplement the engine’s output, for that matter, or when it switches to energy-recovery mode. You’ll simply have to rely on a power flow meter in the infotainment system to understand what’s happening with the powertrain... and when.

Otherwise, the four-cylinder feels utterly conventional. That’s a good thing too, if you acknowledge that automotive products have to become greener, but you still like the driving experience of a car powered by an internal-combustion engine.

In fact, Mazda states in its promotional material for the X20 Astina variant that the engine was designed to recall the character of the company’s sports car, the MX-5. The SKYACTIV-X engine does certainly live up to the hype.

In sport mode, the responsive four-cylinder unit does deliver power and torque all the way to the redline, and that redline is set at 6500rpm, which is a little higher than the maximum revs for many of the Mazda’s competitors. It gets there quickly too, and does so with a soundtrack that could be straight out of the MX-5 songbook.

Switched back to normal mode, the engine doesn’t feel quite as sprightly, of course, but it has the torque where it’s most needed in a small automatic hatch plodding around town – from low to mid-range revs.

Driven gently, the powerplant is quiet and doesn’t get all cranky at lower revs. It will drop down to below 1500rpm without labouring, and on the open road it’s spinning at just under 2200rpm for an indicated speed of 100km/h.

Over the course of roughly 60km for the drive program, the Mazda consumed fuel at the rate of 7.7L/100km, according to the trip computer. That was from a cold start, and across a range of different driving conditions, including some freeway travel, a lot of suburban stopping and starting and a bit of a fang along some winding country road.

One of the other attendees advised that he had been able to achieve 6.8L/100km on the same route, also from a cold start. Warmed up, the Mazda posted a figure as low as 6.2L/100km, he said. Both figures are entirely within the realm of possibility if the Mazda3 X20 Astina is driven for economy rather than thrashing.

The question remains this, however: Do fuel economy figures like that justify the effort and expense of developing the SKYACTIV-X ‘SPCCI’ technology? Probably not, if fuel economy were to be the only consideration. It is in other parts of the world, for legislative reasons, but not Australia.

There are plenty of other 2.0-litre small cars that will return similar results. That said, few of the rivals can achieve fuel consumption numbers like that and be as entertaining and comfortable to drive as well.

The Mazda3 in its latest generation has been a critical success for the Hiroshima-based manufacturer. And the 2020 Mazda3 X20 Astina lives up to the expectations for it.

Riding on Toyo tyres, the SKYACTIV-X variant soaks up bumps and glides across coarse-chip bitumen with only muted road noise detectable.

Its compliant ride, in fact, doesn’t come at the expense of handling and roadholding, even on glassy bitumen threading its way up into the Dandenongs on a rainy and foggy morning.

Torque steer was noticeably absent, although the four-cylinder powerplant did have the output to push the nose wide on the exit from bends.

The steering was light, but like the brake pedal, quite communicative.

Without rehashing a lot of details already known about the Mazda3 in general, the X20 Astina offers a comfy, practical seating position and the interior looks smart, with red leather throughout the cabin of the test vehicle.

There was some low-level NVH – in the form of vibration – permeating from the engine bay via the brake pedal, but the Mazda3 otherwise impressed with its overall level of noise suppression and refinement.

Price will be a hurdle for the 2020 Mazda3 X20 Astina.

It’s hard to overlook that $3000 premium, but what do you get for that money? There’s a very efficient engine, enhanced by not only the complex combustion process but also a supercharger, plus the lithium-ion battery and integrated starter generator. That’s a lot of hardware, and it places the price premium in context.

Driven sensibly, the car could be quite economical, but won’t leave the driver and passengers feeling like they’re enduring the automotive equivalent of a scold’s bridle.

It’s a very comfortable car, but it’s also enjoyable to drive. So if you place a value of $2000 on the high-tech powertrain wizardry and another $1000 for the driving dynamics and ‘zoom-zoom’ factor, you’ll justify the spend.

How much does the 2020 Mazda3 X20 Astina cost?
Price: $41,590 (automatic, plus on-road costs)
Available: August
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder supercharged-petrol
Output: 132kW/224Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 5.5L/100km (automatic, ADR Combined)
CO2: TBC
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2019)