The 2015 Mazda 3 S 5-Door Grand Touring. |
2015 Mazda 3 S 5-Door Grand Touring. |
The Zoom-Zoom in the Mazda 3 S 5-Door Grand Touring comes from a Skyactiv-G 2.5-liter four that makes 184 horsepower and comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission. Thankfully, our tester came that way, too...making the week we spent in it just that much more fun. The stick maximizes power, and we found the EPA-estimated mileage of 26 city/35 highway to be easily attainable. And the handling is just sublime. A complete and total blast to drive.
Base price for the S Grand Touring is $25,545. It brings that powertrain as well as 18-inch alloy wheels, rain-sensing windshield wipers, heated power side mirrors with integrated turn signals, fog lamps, dual exhaust with bright outlets, an anti-theft engine immobilizer, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, tire pressure monitoring, dynamic stability control, traction control, hill launch assist, anti-lock brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution and brake assist, and a full complement of airbags.
2015 Mazda 3 S 5-Door Grand Touring interior. |
That all adds up to one seriously well-equipped sport compact for $25,545. Still, the Mazda press fleet folks found a few options to fold in...$70 for a cargo mat, $200 for special snowflake white pearl paint, $100 for a rear bumper guard, $125 for scuff plates and door sill trim plates and $1,700 for the Appearance Package, which adds a front air dam, door mirror caps, a rear hatch spoiler, rear bumper skirt and side sill extensions.
Bottom line with all of the above plus $795 delivery, processing and handling fee: $28,585. Not cheap, no. But that's for a seriously loaded example of what is, so far, the best compact we've driven. If we were playing with our own money over a four or five-year new car loan, this is the one we'd take.