Beauty through subtraction: Mazda3 Astina review
The Mazda3 Astina originally landed many moons ago (back in 2019) promising to trouble the Audi A3, BMW 1 Series and VW Gold. Revisit it today and that…
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The Mazda3 Astina originally landed many moons ago (back in 2019) promising to trouble the Audi A3, BMW 1 Series and VW Gold. Revisit it today and that ambition still holds true, even if the entire hatch segment is more or less gone. Interestingly, the svelte bodywork hasn’t aged a day and still turns heads wherever it goes …
The Japanese firm calls the Mazda3 Astina design language ‘beauty through subtraction.’ Translation: no fussy creases, just continuous, deliberate surfacing. Granted, some of a cynical disposition still gripe about the low-slung nose making it look like an anteater (not me!). Nevertheless, most people just fix a stare and don’t let it go till it’s out of sight. Impressive for an eight-year-old design.
Climb inside and the maturity holds up, too. MZD Connect infotainment is a none-touchscreen, and a 7-inch screen and heads-up display remain standard across the range. Cabin colours stick to black or red, with silver detailing kept deliberately minimal. It’s still one of the calmer cockpits in the segment, free of the button clutter rivals piled on and then removed entirely over the years.
Sound-deadening and structural work keep noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) impressively low. The standard BOSE sound system, with front speakers relocated behind the firewall, remains a genuine highlight. Few cars sound this good, no matter if its doof, doof or hard rock blaring out!
The mechanical story hasn’t changed either. No diesel, no turbo, no hybrid, just Mazda’s naturally aspirated Skyactiv-G petrol in 2.0-litre form. The Mazda3 Astina you see here accounts for 121 kW and 213 Nm of torque. This top-of-the-pile hatchback remains automatic-only, a six-speed unit doing all the work. No manual option, sadly, at this price point. This bummed us out at the launch, and still does. The ride quality, as ever for Mazda, remains genuinely impressive. It is composed, quiet, connected and unbothered by changing, rough surfaces. As is the inch-accurate steering.
The naturally aspirated 2.0-litre was never really the highlight, despite how bulletproof the engineers say it is. Whether at altitude or sea level, it still feels short of the sort of punch you’d expect from a genuine flagship model. And it leans on the thrashy side of life when asked to work hard for an overtake. It’s been many years since it launched, and we’ve really become accustom to the smooth torque fill of smaller capacity turbos and hybrid assistance.
In conclusion, the Mazda3 Astina still looks like nothing else on the road. Bravo to the designers. However, in the intervening eight years, its price has moved up a cent or two: R629 700. While that sounds like a lot, balanced against inflation, its pricing is admirably consistent, and we still like it, perhaps in a nostalgic kind of way.
Nevertheless, you can always look for a tidy secondhand version and save a few bob. Given the choice, we would have introduced an old-school manual gearbox paired with that old-school…