Mazda3 has been on the market for five years, won 90 major awards and in calendar year 2008 was responsible for 44% of all Mazdas sold in the United States.

This year the 2010 Mazda3 compact was lengthened, given a sporty facelift, improved its engine power and positioned itself to continue aggressively competing against Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra and Ford Focus. Two basic front-wheel drive models are offered: Mazda 3i and the bigger engine Mazda 3s. The four door Mazda 3i comes as SportValue, Sport and top-of-the line Touring (our test-drive). Mazda3s offers Sport and Grand Touring - either four door or five door hatchback. Transmission choices include 5 and 6 speed manual and 5-speed automatic.

To understand Mazda3’s popularity, consider two million have been sold to date and one of every three Mazdas sold worldwide is a Mazda 3. The 2010 improvements will do nothing to hurt its popularity, especially with a nearly $500 decrease in the Mazda3i Touring’s base price that should resonate well in a challenging economy. Mazda’s driving credo is Zoom-Zoom, which was achieved in our test-drive with a smooth-shifting manual transmission giving needed acceleration punch when asked. The Mazda3s gets an extra 19 horsepower and 33 pound-feet of torque. The wheelbase remains the same (three inches were added in length), yielding the same precise handling as before but now on 16-inch instead of 15-inch wheels. The suspension system is relatively unchanged. Outside, the refreshened look raises the beltline front to rear and added some trunk cargo room but not as much as the hatchbacks. The newly designed front grille resembles a big smile with a u-shaped chrome bar atop the honeycombed air-intake. It also helped reduce wind noise six percent in an already quiet interior, Mazda says.

Inside, driver comfort is high with comfortable cloth seats and easily observed information, like the arching cowl on top of the dashboard and two deep, chromed cowls behind the steering wheel. Climate controls are large and accessible and a central audio button is surrounded by blinking lights when changing stations. Mazda uses what it calls a Human Machine Interface to improve ergonomic features. Safety features remain strong with the unibody stiffened seven percent and federal crash ratings tops for front seat occupants in either a frontal or side crash. A neat feature is the opportunity to personalize the car with 29 different settings available, like length of time for illumination after door is opened or unlocking all doors when the ignition is turned off.