Mami's Mazda 3 Review: Fuel Efficiency Heaven!

Disclosure: I was provided a vehicle for 1 week in order to write this review I'm an SUV girl. I'm not going to lie. I always think there's more room for all of the non-existent things that I could possibly/maybe/perhaps need to carry.

When I was asked to review the M3, I was leary. I said yes thinking that I'd be giving it a lukewarm review and sending you guys on your way to SUV land.

Well, not so much. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Mazda 3 roomy, easy to handle, sporty AND fuel efficient.

My vehicle was the Mazda 3 i Grand Touring, in case you're wondering.  I like to name my vehicles so most of you got to hear all about this on Instagram as I fretted on a name. I settled on Max and decided my car was a boy (these are the important things one must decide when driving a vehicle, people).

I could list all the standard features but, I won't because you really don't want to read that, do you?  Here are some of the highlights:

• Skyactiv-G 2.0L engine
• Skyactiv-Drive 6-speed sport A/T with manual shift mode (I totally enjoyed driving manual!)
• 5-passenger seating (same as my SUV)
• Leather trimmed seats & doors (front seats were heated. Wonder if they can make an ice feature for the hot Florida days?)
• Dual zone climate control (because 78 degrees is acceptable to me and not others)
• Latch child safety seat anchors (BIG one for me & my Britax)
• 60/40 split fold-down rear seat (for when you need to transport a body dresser)
• Mazda advanced keyless entry & start system (which now means I'm looking for buttons & forgetting I need keys when I step into cars. Thanks, Mazda)
• Advanced dual front and front side-impact airbags
• Front & rear side air curtains
• Blind spot monitoring system

That blind spot monitoring system came in VERY handy and on 2 different occasions while I was driving, prevented an accident. The first was literally the very first time I drove it. I was heading in to the office and was on the expressway when a car came around another car 2 lanes over as I was trying to merge on to the middle lane. I heard a beep and immediately saw the cars (invisible during any other time) light up on the side mirror.

The next time this came of use was while I was driving through downtown. A car was trying to merge into my lane and I was in his blind spot. I saw the light go off and immediately pressed the horn, alerting the driver. A mile or so down, while we were at a stoplight, he pulled up next to me to apologize. I was happy we were both okay but thought: you need this blind spot monitoring system! I was with the frog princess that day and so it was a little scarier to think of what would've happened if he had crashed into the side of my car.

What impressed me

The blind spot technology is definitely one that I appreciate in newer vehicles (why hadn't they thought of this before?). I was also happy to see how much room there was in the trunk. I was able to go grocery shopping without having to worry about whether there would be room.

Hands down without a doubt the thing that impressed me the most about this vehicle though? The mileage. When I was doing the walkthrough and Luis was taking me through all of the functions. I noticed something on the display. "Is that the mileage I'm going to get from this?" I asked. Luis smiled and said yes. I didn't believe him.

Well, I kept taking pictures of the mileage because I couldn't believe my eyes. I drove 315 miles total and still had a quarter of a tank remaining! It's because of the Skyactiv technology. There was a lot of explaining but I'm not going to lie, my eyes glazed over. The only thing I got from all of it is that the way that Mazda is building its engines now make them lighter and thus more fuel efficient. That's about all I needed to hear. That and a combined 33 MPG (28MPG city & 40 MPG highway!).

The car drove beautifully, I felt safe in it and I felt fuel efficient (never thought that would be a feeling for me but, my pockets understand).

I hadn't thought I could go back to a car after having an SUV but now that I have driven Max, the possibilities are endless.

The frog princess enjoyed the car as well. Here are some of her quotes:

Have you driven a Mazda lately? If you haven't, now would be a good time to start!

Disclosure: I was provided a vehicle for 1 week in order to write this review. All thoughts, fuel efficient dreams and frog princess commentaries are purely our own