2024 Mazda3 G25 Astina Hatchback Review

One of our favourite hatchbacks of all time is the Mazda3. Ever since its launch in 2003, replacing the former 323, the Mazda3 has been a good value, reliable, fun to drive, good quality and stylish entrant into the small hatchback segment and clearly buyers agree, as it’s been quite popular since its release. With the change of direction towards SUVs, small cars are no longer in vogue as they once were and some models have exited the market as a result. Thankfully, the Mazda3 is still around, so is it the hatchback to buy? We tested the top spec 2024 Mazda3 G25 Astina to find out.

For the 2024 model year, the Mazda3 received a mild update with new features on certain grades, a new colour and updates to the 2.0-litre petrol engine, while both mild-hybrid engines were discontinued, as was the manual transmission option for greater simplicity in the range.

Price & Equipment: 8/10

While there are Mazda3 models available for just above $30,000 plus on-road costs, we tested the top-spec G25 Astina, which is priced at $42,230 +ORC (around $47,000 drive away, depending on location). Standard equipment on the Mazda3 Astina includes:

• 18-inch black alloy wheels
• Automatic dusk-sensing all-LED exterior lighting
• Automatic rain-sensing wipers with integrated washer jets
• Keyless entry with push button start
• Heated and auto-folding exterior mirrors with auto-dropping in reverse
• Auto-dimming driver’s mirror
• Auto-dimming interior mirror
• Dual-zone climate control with rear air vents
• Leather upholstery
• Sunroof
• Heated front seats
• Heated leather steering wheel
• 10-way electrically adjustable driver’s seat with memory functionality
• 10.25-inch infotainment screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Satellite navigation
• AM/FM/digital radio
• 12-speaker Bose sound system
• 2x USB-C charging ports
• Wireless phone charger

Safety equipment includes:

• Seven airbags
• Auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection
• Adaptive cruise control with stop and go functionality
• Lane departure warning with lane keep assist
• Lane trace assist semi-autonomous highway driving capability
• Traffic sign recognition
• Driver attention monitoring
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Front and rear cross-traffic alert
• Low speed automatic rear braking
• Front and rear parking sensors
• 360-degree parking camera
• Matrix adaptive high beam
• Heads-up display

The entire Mazda3 range earned a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2019 scoring 98 per cent in adult occupancy protection, 89 per cent in child occupancy protection, 81 per cent in vulnerable road user protection and 76 per cent for safety assistance.

Exterior colour options for the Mazda3 Astina include:

• Soul Red Crystal ($595 extra)
• Machine Grey ($595 extra – on our test car)
• Polymetal Grey ($595 extra)
• Snowflake White Pearl
• Ceramic
• Platinum Quartz
• Deep Crystal Blue
• Jet Black

The Astina’s interior is available in either black or the burgundy of our test car.

While there are still quite a few rivals to the Mazda3 hatchback, we think that the Honda Civic VTi LX ($47,200 drive away) and Toyota Corolla ZR (around $41,000 drive away) are its closest rivals. Over the Honda, the Mazda adds Matrix headlights with adaptive high beam, a 360-degree camera, a heads-up display, full leather upholstery, a wider range of driver’s seat adjustment, a larger infotainment screen, front and rear parking sensors, rear automatic braking, four automatic windows and a sunroof.

While the less expensive Corolla ZR features live services for its navigation system and a fully digital instrument cluster, the Mazda adds adaptive high beam, a 360-degree camera, front cross-traffic alert, full leather trim, memory for the driver’s seat, a larger infotainment screen and a sunroof. While it’s not cheap and its price has increased further with this update, we still think the Mazda3 Astina presents pretty good value for money against its pricepoint rivals, but also more expensive premium competitors.

Performance & Economy: 8/10

Part of the recent upgrade to the Mazda3 range included simplifying the engine range – gone are the mild-hybrid 2.0-litre engines, with just regular 2.0-litre or 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engines now available. In the top-spec Astina, as the ‘G25’ in its name suggests, has the larger 2.5-litre engine, which makes 139kW of power (at 6,000rpm) and 252Nm of torque (at 4,000rpm). Mazda Australia killed the former manual options for this update as well, so a six-speed torque converter auto is now standard across the range.

The engine, part of the company’s ‘SkyActiv’ family, has been around since 2012 when it debuted in the current shape Mazda6. It’s quite large in displacement for the segment and pumps out reasonable outputs too. It’s been nicely refined over the years and is now quieter, while features cylinder deactivation has been added, which works quietly in the background to help fuel economy. While you do have to rev it to get the most out of it, unlike the Civic and its low end torque, it sounds good.

The only transmission available on the Mazda3 now is a six-speed torque converter automatic, which is a generally sweet shifting transmission. It’s used in a lot of Mazda products and it always impresses us with its intuitive nature and unobtrusiveness in regular driving. It’s also quite well tuned and there’s a meaningful difference in sport mode too, plus, it cleverly knows when you’re no longer needing maximum performance in sport mode and happily quietens down.

The Mazda3 G25 Astina is rated at a claimed 6.6L/100km on the combined cycle, with CO2 emissions rated at 154g/km. In our testing, which was purely urban based, we achieved 9.5L/100km – obviously that’s way higher than the combined claim, but not too much more than the urban claim of 8.6L/100km. If you’re doing purely urban driving, we’d suggest checking out the smaller ‘G20’ 2.0-litre variants. Helping running costs is that the 3 can run on 91RON regular unleaded, and it has a 51-litre fuel tank.

Ride & Handling: 8/10

For its intended target market, the 2024 Mazda3 G25 Astina is great to drive. It’s really quiet at speed, it handles quite well and its active safety technologies are nicely integrated and are quite subtle in their operation – plus, there’s a new button that mutes their audible warners as well. The 3’s visibility is not so great, however – over-shoulder checks can be difficult thanks to the window line, while the driver’s side mirror is annoyingly zoomed in, so you can’t see all that’s in your blind spot. Thankfully, the blind-spot monitoring is attentive and the high quality 360-degree parking camera is excellent.

As for the actual driving experience, the Mazda3 offers a nice balance between sportiness and comfort, though we think both the Corolla and Civic are slightly nicer to drive thanks to their independent rear suspension set ups, which allow more flexibility in the ride comfort. If one rear wheel hits a bump, it affects the other, so even smaller bumps can be felt more than in its key rivals. The steering is a bit heavy for our liking as well, though it’s got more feel than rivals. The Mazda3 will still give you a good time from behind the wheel – as you’d expect from the ‘zoom zoom’ brand – though rivals like the Civic and Corolla can be more fun as the Mazda3 is more grown up this time around.

Interior & Practicality: 8.5/10

As we’ve discovered previously with the Mazda3, no matter which model you choose, its cabin is richly presented, easy on the eye and its technology is nicely integrated as well. Not too much has changed with this update, but it’s still one of the best cabins in the hatchback segment thanks to its exotic look and feel – seriously, it feels more expensive than an Audi A3 thanks to the use of quality materials.

Throughout the cabin of the 3 are nicely textured and rich feeling materials, from the leather on the seats and steering wheel to the leather-like trim on the dashboard and the sides of the centre console. The switchgear – like the window switches, air-conditioning controls and air vent adjusters – all feel great to the touch and decidedly premium.

Mazda hasn’t changed the 3’s cabin practicality, but it still offers a few handy storage solutions that we wish would filter down to the smaller Mazda2. Underneath the centre arm rest is a large storage box with two USB-C ports and sectioned storage, while the door bins are reasonable, the cup holders are big, the glovebox is acceptably big and there’s a new wireless phone charger underneath the dashboard.

At the centre of the Mazda3 Astina’s cabin is a new 10.25-inch infotainment screen that’s larger than the pre-updated model, and – finally – it also now offers touch capability, though only for when using the (now wireless in the G20 Touring and above) Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring, surprisingly at any speed. Otherwise, the system is identical to before, with a fairly minimalist layout, classy graphics and a quick processor – but now it’s much easier to use for smartphone mirroring, which we love. Audio lovers will enjoy the 12-speaker Bose sound system too, thanks to its rich aural quality.

Sitting in the back seat of the Mazda3 hatchback is not a great experience, especially for taller folk. Headroom is reasonable, but legroom isn’t great. Thankfully, there are features like a map pocket (but not two), air vents, door pockets and a centre arm rest with cupholders, though we’d like to see charging ports and heated seats on offer too. The seats themselves are quite comfortable, however, and impressively, the soft touch doors continue into the rear seat.

The boot of the 2024 Mazda3 G25 Astina hatchback measures 295-litres with the seats up, which is larger than the 217L boot of the Corolla ZR but smaller than the Civic’s 449L space – Mazda doesn’t quote a figure with them folded. While it is a nicely finished boot with thick carpeting, it doesn’t have any features like hooks or nets. Under the boot floor lies a space saver spare wheel.

Service & Warranty: 8.5/10

Like all other new Mazda passenger vehicles, the 2024 Mazda3 G25 Astina is equipped with a five-year/unlimited km warranty with five years of roadside assistance. Five years/75,000km of servicing costs $2,168 ($433 per service) and the service intervals are now once-yearly/every 15,000km, and not the shorter 10,000km intervals of previous Mazda3s, which matches Toyota.

Both Honda and Toyota also cover their new cars with five-year/unlimited km warranties, though Toyota gives you an extra two years’ mechanical warranty if you service to logbook specifications in that time. Honda gives you five years’ of roadside assistance – Toyota provides none – and both Toyota and Honda have super cheap servicing, with five years’ servicing costing just $995 for the Civic and $1,225 for the Corolla, though Honda’s servicing is to only 10,000km.

The 2024 Mazda3 G25 Astina Hatchback DiscoverAuto Rating: 8.2/10

Overall, it’s easy to see why the 2024 Mazda3 G25 Astina has been one of the longest-running small hatchback nameplates on the market. Despite price rises over the years and that it’s now less practical than before, it’s still a popular offering and if you’re after a hatchback like it, we would be putting it first on your test drive list. It offers a lot: an extensive standard equipment list, excellent interior quality, a fun driving experience, excellent refinement and well integrated technology.

As for the negatives, it’s not very practical on the inside, the switch to a torsion beam rear suspension set up with this generation of Mazda3 means it doesn’t ride quite as well as previous models, it’s not cheap to service and while it’s very well equipped, it does cost around $47,000 drive away. Thankfully, you don’t have to choose the Astina to enjoy the Mazda3 as all the models in the range are great offerings, and overall, it remains a fun, good quality, reliable and safe small car.