Mazda CX-3 2021 review: Neo Sport

The CX-3 Neo Sport front-drive auto starts from $24,890 before on-road costs (ORC) or $26,990 driveaway – or $2000 less if the excellent six-speed manual version is preferred.

When launched back in 2015, the base Neo auto equivalent barely cost any less ($23,700 in today’s money, adjusted for inflation), yet includes heaps more features, like Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), reverse camera, 7.0-inch centre touchscreen with Apple Car Play/Android Auto connectivity as part of Mazda’s MZD Connect multimedia system, centre console bin/armrest, electric park brake with hill-hold function, electric folding mirrors and digital radio, among other items. 

The 7.0-inch touchscreen comes with Apple Car Play/Android Auto.

This is on top of six airbags, engine stop/start, rear parking sensors, cruise control, air-conditioning, Bluetooth phone and audio streaming capability, internet radio integration, steering wheel-mounted audio controls and two USB ports. Steel wheels ride on 215/60R16 tyres, with a space-saver spare wheel.

Underneath the boot floor is a space-saver spare wheel.

Key auto-equipped rivals are the Kia Stonic S at $21,490 plus ORC/$22,990 driveaway and Hyundai Venue from $22,710 plus ORC/circa-$26,200 driveaway.

The bad news for the competition is that the CX-3 is powered by a powerful 110kW/195Nm 2.0-litre engine while the Stonic and Venue are lumbered with a 74kW/133Nm 1.4-litre and 90kW/151Nm 1.6-litre four-pot atmo units respectively – and both without stop/start tech. All drive the front wheels only, via six-speed torque-converter automatic transmissions.

Key spec differences? The Stonic misses out on a digital radio, auto high beams and middle console bin with armrest, but returns fire with a two-year longer warranty (at seven years) and wireless for the Apple CarPlay/Android Auto tech (base grade only though, weirdly). The latter is also standard in the Venue, as are alloys (albeit tiny 15-inch hoops) and console bin, but also loses the digital radio. 

Snowflake White micas is a no-cost colour option.

We’d put it as a win for the Mazda, when all things considered.

Mazda charges $495 extra for Machine Grey, Polymer Grey and Soul Red Crystal metallic paint, leaving the Deep Crystal Blue, Eternal Blue, Jet Black and Snowflake White micas, as well as Ceramic Metallic, as no-cost colour choices.

Remember when the company used to crow on about never charging for premium paint?

The CX-3 is a truly compact crossover, and very literally a Mazda2 on stilts. Sharing around 70 per cent of parts, both have an almost identical footprint.

The world of difference separating the two lies in the fact that it’s taller so no hassle at all to get in and out of, with loftier seating that also makes it easier to see out of.

Seventy per cent of the CX-3's parts are shared with the Mazda2, which includes the dashboard.

Once ensconced on firm but supportive front seats, the CX-3’s smallness is palpable, but it isn’t cramped, even for this tester’s 200cm-tall partner up front. That has to do with the wide range of seat height and slide adjustability, range of tilt and telescopic steering movement and a decent level of available space. Result? The driving position is excellent.

The front seats are firm but supportive.

The dash architecture is also shared with the Mazda2, down to the oddly deco-style central speedo flanked by the world’s tiniest tacho to the left and a trip computer/fuel-gauge info to the right. The controls have a quality, well-oiled feel to them, the stylised turbine air vents are reminiscent of the old-shape Audi A1's (no bad thing) and 2018's upgraded centre console – with its fixed armrest, plentiful storage and twin USB-A, 12-volt and SD card outlets – vies with the push-button start, sporty little gear lever, power folding mirrors and bottle-gobbling door bins for surprise-and-delight bonus points. Thought has really gone into this interior.

Up front are twin USB-A, 12-volt and SD card outlet.

As mentioned earlier, over the years, the Neo grade has accumulated extra equipment, to the point where the ‘Sport’ suffix more-or-less aligns with the earliest versions of the mid-level Maxx. This means that the latter’s central screen has been standardised since the Series II update, allowing for a camera and associated multimedia goodies like the digital radio, as well as the inclusion of a BMW iDrive-style controller for the MZD Connect system – a quality touch not expected at this price point. And while the attractive three-spoke wheel remains free of leather-like sheathing, the entire presentation is still an appealing, minimalist monochromatic charcoal that’s quite nicely served up.

The CX-3's controls have a quality, well-oiled feel to them.

And guess what? The CX-3’s rear still holds up today. Entry/egress is unexpectedly easy due to doors that open almost 80 degrees; the seats are a little short in length for longer thighs but well-padded, nicely angled and promote a natural posture, so are comfy; and there are overhead grab handles with coat hooks, a single map pocket and a small bottle receptacle. Your 178cm tester can sit behind themselves with lots of shoe room and enough knee and head clearance too.

However, squeezing three adults out back would be a desperate move; the ambience is funeral-black attire; the rear windows don’t go all the way down despite their shallowness; and there isn’t enough storage nor electricity access for today’s connected travellers, zero beverage holders and nil reading lamps. On the other hand, it’s all beautifully put together. 

Squeezing three adults in the back would be a desperate move.

Note that while the 60/40 backrest splits and fold individually, they do not recline as in some other SUVs, while the base is fixed, so doesn't slide to increase rear-seat legroom or luggage capacity.

Further back, the boot is as you’d expect – deep and wide but fairly short due to the stubby rear. The loading lip is a little high, but there’s a very useable amount of space, with a space-saver spare wheel living beneath the floor. Speaking of which, there are two of those – one that offers extra protection from prying eyes. 

Cargo capacity is rated at a fairly meagre 264 litres, or 1174L with the 60/40 rear backrests folded. The thing is, it looks larger and more practical than what the volume numbers suggest.

Other disappointments might include poor side and rear vision, but at least a camera and big exterior mirrors go some way in addressing this shortcoming; otherwise the CX-3’s cabin has weathered the years almost as well as the sporty dynamics. Particularly at its price point.

At between 1266kg (manual) and 1297kg (auto), the Neo Sport isn’t that light for a light SUV, but it is the least heaviest vehicle Mazda builds that uses its ubiquitous, near-decade-old 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine.

Dubbed SkyActiv-G, this 1998cc double overhead cam direct-injection unit delivers a healthy 110kW of power at 6000rpm and 195Nm of torque at 2800rpm to the front wheels, courtesy of a six-speed torque-converter automatic transmission. Thus, the power-to-weight ratio here is a very competitive 90.5kW per tonne.

The 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine produces 110kW/195Nm.

In Neo Sport guise, the auto features a tip-shift function that allows drivers to manually select one of the six ratios on offer. The gearbox changes up automatically once the engine approaches the red line, unless the traction and stability controls are turned off... in which case, it bounces off the rev limiter. What a sports car!

There is also a Sport mode that holds on to each ratio for longer, which is in keeping with the engine’s high-rev power delivery.

With just 800km, our Neo Sport was box-fresh and barely run-in, but nearly doubling that tally saw the CX-3 return a commendable 7.1 litres per 100km at the pump, in a mixture of urban, suburban, freeway and country-road driving. The latter also included performance testing. No doubt the standard stop/start system helps out somewhat here.

Mazda, meanwhile, claims a combined average of 6.3L/100km, for a carbon dioxide emissions average of 143 grams/km. Urban and Extra Urban figures are published as 7.7L/100km and 5.5L/100km respectively, so our tight little CX-3 is close to delivering on its fuel-economy promise in the real world.

Note, it requires just 91 RON unleaded petrol, though 94 RON E10 ethanol petrol can also be used – and that’s often the cheapest.

Fitted with a 48-litre tank, some 760km between refills is possible.

Mazda offers a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty plus roadside assistance on all CX-3s, as well as capped-price servicing, scheduled at every 12-month or 10,000km intervals.

The servicing prices for the Neo Sport vary between $330 and $390 annually over the first five years, while perishables like cabin air filter ($97 after 40,000km) and brake fluid ($71 after 40,000km/two years) are also listed online.