The updated 2017 Mazda CX-3 crossover has arrived in Australia,
bringing additional active safety tech, some cabin design tweaks, and claimed
improvements to the ride, handling and noise-suppression.
This is in exchange
for price hikes of between AUD 200 and AUD 500 across most of the range, which
remains one of the widest in its segment by comprising four spec levels, petrol
and diesel engines, manual and automatic transmissions, and front- or all-wheel
drive.
The key changes are the fitment of autonomous
emergency braking (AEB) forward and reverse across the whole range, as well as
the adoption of Mazda’s now-familiar G-Vectoring system that improves handling
by cutting engine torque delivery and changing the weight balance in corners.
The cabin gets a new steering wheel and instruments,
and options such as a clearer head-up display, adaptive LED headlights and
digital radio. There’s also more sound-deadening insulation to improve NVH, new
suspension bush design and fine-tuned dampers.
Mazda has not changed the engines, which remain
a 148 Hp/192 Nm 2.0 petrol (fuel use 6.1L/100km) and a 105 Hp/270 Nm 1.5
turbo-diesel (4.8L/100km). The CX-3 remains just 4275 mm long, still has a tiny
264L boot and offers only 155 mm of ground clearance.
