Category: Mazda

The latest iteration of the Mazda MX-5 compact two-seater sportscar has won more than 65 major international awards, including the prestigious European Red Dot “Best of the Best” award, which recognises exceptionally ground-breaking design, the UK Car of the Year, and the 2015-2016 Japan Car of the Year. The fourth generation MX-5, coded ND, was first seen in Australia with a 1.5-litre engine hooked up to either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. Now a 2.0-litre version has been added. With either engine it comes in two variants –… Read more

In a world where connectivity is king and social media, like a hatchback, can lay bare through the ‘rear window’ even the most personal information, there are people, usually older, who prefer to hang on to their privacy. In automotive terms the latter are the sedan folk who like to lock away possessions out of sight in a car boot. Mazda has tipped its cap to them by introducing a sedan version of its popular Mazda2, leaving the hatch to attract the younger, more connected, buyer. Available in Neo and… Read more

As fussy Nannas do with grubby grandsons, Mazda has gone to work on its BT-50’s face as if with a spit-soaked hanky, and has also cleaned up the bum of its popular ute. With the straighter front grille, a re-design of the front and rear lights and stylish new 16 and 17-inch alloy wheels Grandma Mazda now has the workhorse looking much better. With 23 variants to choose from in either diesel powered two or four-wheel drive, the BT-50 comes in single cab, freestyle cab and dual cab format in… Read more

For the first time in Australia the brilliant little Mazda MX-5 is offered with two different engines. That’s chiefly to permit the importer to have a price leader (at $31,990) to tackle the Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86. However, some drivers relish using their driving skills to get the best from small engines so the 1.5 has been selling well. A few weeks back we tested an MX-5 with the 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine that produces a relatively modest 96 kW and 150 Nm. Now we have just spent a very… Read more

The Mazda CX-3 might have been beaten to the market by Nissan, Renault, Honda and Holden, but its late arrival doesn’t seem to have done it any harm at all. The mini-SUV joins a Mazda line-up of cars that is handing out bloody noses to its rivals using a combination of looks, pricing and specification. The CX-3 fits right in with the rest of the range while hopefully bringing with it the CX-5’s superior dynamics in a smaller package. VALUE There’s a slightly bewildering array of CX-3s, powered by either… Read more

Mazda’s new ‘2 landed this year to almost universal acclaim, something that generally happens only when a truly impressive new car comes along. In the hard-fought small car segment, it’s doubly hard. In an SUV-mad market it’s now mildly surprising when a small car gets a sedan variant and more surprising still when a carmaker goes through the aggro of getting it ready for sale in Australia. The Mazda2 sedan doesn’t have a lot of competition but when the small sedan segment is tiny to start with, the Japanese company… Read more

At last we’ve had a chance to spend a week in a Mazda MX-5. We were a bit slow at putting up our hands to borrow one to drive on our home territory after the successful media launch drives early in the year. When we say slow, we are talking about being a few seconds late off the mark. The tiny Mazda roadster has proven as popular with the motoring press as it has with owners. Close to 200 MX-5s with the ‘big’ 2.0-litre engine were sold before the first… Read more