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Mazda 3 vs Volkswagen Polo

What's the difference?

VS
Mazda 3
Mazda 3

2024 price

Volkswagen Polo
Volkswagen Polo

$22,490 - $43,880

2022 price

Summary

2024 Mazda 3
2022 Volkswagen Polo
Safety Rating

Engine Type
Inline 4, 2.5L

Turbo 4, 2.0L
Fuel Type
-

Premium Unleaded Petrol
Fuel Efficiency
6.6L/100km (combined)

6.5L/100km (combined)
Seating
5

5
Dislikes
  • Small boot
  • Gloomy rear seat
  • No more manual

  • Solid service pricing
  • No rear centre armrest
  • No adjustable rear air vents
2024 Mazda 3 Summary

Half a decade on, the current-generation Mazda 3 has weathered a world of change.

Cheap cars have vanished. Electric vehicles are commonplace and the small car class it belongs to has been decimated by SUVs. Big names like the Ford Focus, Holden Astra and Mitsubishi Lancer are history.

But while it looks identical to the car unveiled at the 2018 LA Auto Show, today’s Mazda 3 has also evolved, albeit gently.

Let’s see how competitive the latest and improved (as well as more expensive) version is.

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2022 Volkswagen Polo Summary

The hot hatch wars, an on-going automotive conflict, fired up when Volkswagen lobbed a massive, Golf GTI-shaped salvo into an unsuspecting global car market in the middle of 1976.

Peugeot may have run a bold out-flanking manoeuvre with deployment of the 205GTi from the mid-1980s, and other skirmishes broke out soon after with the likes of Suzuki’s Swift GTi, but so far the German maker has retained majority ownership of those three little letters that mean so much.

Fast forward to 1995 and application of the GTI tag spread to the compact VW Polo, which close to three decades later brings us to the current, sixth-generation version.

It arrived in Australia in 2018, and four years down the track it’s time for an update, with subtle cosmetic tweaks and a significant safety upgrade included.

Volkswagen Australia invited us to the car’s local launch including a varied drive program, topped off with a hot-lap track session, to get a first taste of how it shapes up.

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Deep dive comparison

2024 Mazda 3 2022 Volkswagen Polo

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