2020 Mazda 3 vs Mazda CX-3

What's the difference?

You get exposed to a lot of cutting-edge technology doing this job.

We get to drive new drivetrain technology all the time as manufacturers are racing to get their emissions down – usually it has to do with electrification or hybridization.

What’s especially rare about the new tech sitting under the bonnet of this unassuming Mazda3 is its sole purpose seems to be extending the life of the combustion engine beyond its previously imagined use-by date.

It does so by blending some of the principles of diesel combustion technology with the latest in computer-controlled fuel-injection methods.

It’s a distinctly different approach to the future from the Japanese brand, so what’s ‘SkyActiv-X’ all about? Will you notice a difference? Does it drive well? And, what else is in the box?

We tested a Mazda3 SkyActiv-X for several days at its Australian launch to answer these questions, and more.

At one point in the past few weeks I was testing two cars at the same time: one was a big, hardcore seven-seat SUV and the other was a Mazda CX-3. Both were sitting out the front of my flat in Sydney’s Inner West but do you know which was my go-to car just about every day?

Yep, the Mazda CX-3. See, I live in the city and as much as I love tough, go-anywhere trucks I didn’t really want to take the hardcore seven-seater when I was just going to the shops, or doing the preschool drop off, or anywhere I needed to park. The tiny Mazda SUV was just easier to drive because it was smaller.

So, is that it for the urban review of the CX-3 Maxx Sport, then? Small = good urban car? Case closed? Let’s hit the showers? Not so fast, there. Here’s what you should know, plus a few things I learned about the CX-3 Maxx Sport when it came to stay with me.