2010 Mazda3 Lives Up to Zoom-Zoom
By Courtney Caldwell
People are surprised when they hear me say I enjoy testing smaller vs. larger cars. Actually, I enjoy testing all cars because I love driving and experiencing the different emotions that each car brings out. Yet, there’s something about cars that handle like street legal go-carts that float my boat. This week’s test car was all that and more.
The 2010 Velocity Red Mazda3, 5-door Grand Touring was all it was cracked up to be in its television tagline ‘zoom-zoom’ commercials. It zoomed through traffic and around corners like it was the only car on the road. Its sporty handling and 17” alloy wheels made it easy to forget it wasn’t a high-end sports car nor did it have the high-end sports car price tag. Our fully-loaded Mazda3 rolled in under $25K, half the price and twice the fun.
For those leaning towards more eco-friendly rides, the Mazda3 did well in environmental performance with a 7 out of 10 score, and especially significant, a nine out of 10 smog score. Gas mileage was better than average for its class with approximately 29 MPG highway, and 21 around the city. And while loaded with a gaggle of great safety and security features it had not yet received its government safety ratings for front, side and rear impacts at the time of our test drive. Check with www.safecar.gov for the final answer, or go to the Mazda3 website to learn more about all of its zoomlicous and zoomlacious features.
This sweet thing inspired all sorts of emotions from feeling like a young rebel to feeling socially responsible for driving around in a car the planet can live with.
For more 2010 Car Reviews from RTM, click here.
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