There's been a lot of anticipation around the New 2019 Mazda3, so I was pretty chuffed to get into one so soon! This Mazda3 looks absolutely stunning with its battleship grey bodywork; it kinda looks like it is still waiting for its paint job, but that's what makes it looks so cool!
The Mazda3 looks like a seriously fast car on the outside and the dash and driver's seat feel like you're in a cockpit. From all the styling, I was expecting the Mazda3 to rocket but was surprised on my initial drive that although it's a sporty ride, the looks and the speed don't match up. It's not as nippy as you'd think.
The cockpit-style dash wraps around you, which I actually found with the dark and quite small interior made me feel a little hemmed in and cramped. This definitely continues in the back of the car where the roofline is LOW, making installing child seats tricky and getting little ones in and out of child seats difficult too as well as bending in to fasten their harnesses. The rear doors do open nice and widely though, which is good.
Apart from these things the Mazda3 does seem to have swallowed a BabyDrive manual, with a lot of the features inside the car being spot on, like the fuel gauge that shows the distance to empty in kilometres on the actual gauge, THANK YOU… AMAZING!! This is the first time I have seen this in a car and it is perfect!
The distance to empty display becomes extra important as a mum because getting fuel with a baby is a whole new world of difficult. If they are screaming in the car you definitely do not want your journey prolonged with a fuel stop! If they are asleep the turning off of the engine, doors opening and locking and unlocking, then re-opening the doors and closing, starting the engine again, beepers going off because you haven’t got your seatbelt on when you start the car or because you blink in the wrong direction, do you take them out of the car when you go in to pay? If you do will you get them back in the seat again or will they have a complete meltdown and you’ll be stuck on the fuel station forecourt with a screaming baby!! Hopefully you are starting to gather the anxiety that what was once a simple fuel stop can be for a mum!!!!
For this reason the distance to empty display can let you know if you have enough fuel to make it home with bub and then go out and get fuel another time when you will not have to take bub with you.
There is a speed limit sign that shows up on the screen in front of the driver too so you always know what speed you should be travelling.
You can also turn the rear light on and off from the control panel in the front to save you reaching back while driving.
I have found my daughter does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.
Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bedtime and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!
It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.
There is a clear seatbelt removal visual that lets you know which rear seatbelt has been removed.
One of my ultimate favourite features of the Mazda3 is the keyless entry and exit. You can just walk away from the car with the key in your pocket and it will lock itself… AMAZING! This was soooo good when I got home from picking my daughter up from daycare, her legs too tired to walk (aparently!), her lunch box, backpack and 100 drawings in my hands. I really appreciated not having to fumble for my keys to lock the car doors as well!
The sat-nav guidence volume can be turned up and down using the volume controls on your steering wheel which is really easy while driving.
I find on most journeys when I use sat nav I only need directions for the last part of the journey. I know how to get to the area I am going and then it’s just the exact address I need help with. Because I need to input the address before I head off I found myself on most occasions when you can’t mute the sat nav voice having to listen to all the directions, which disturbs your concentration, any conversation in the car at the time or more importantly my sleeping baby! So being able to mute the sat nav voice until you reach the part where you actually need it is gold!
There are air vents in the front and back of the Mazda3, the front ones are in this new style that seems to be all the rage in car interiors as I see it in every car I test at the moment, where it looks like one long vent running the length of the dash but is in fact two small vents and a mock vent between them. I like the styling and think it gives the dash a sleeker look.
The dash of the 2019 Mazda3 is minimal which is lovely and apart from the aircon controls everything is within the media screen which is a great balance.
The new media system in the Mazda3 is excellent, it is much more modern and user-friendly than the previous systems and it has Apple CarPlay.
Although the Mazda3 still has the rotary dial in the central console to control the media screen while driving, it feels much better integrated with the media system and more intuitive to use than the previous design.
You can adjust the sound settings within the screen, which is a great BabyDrive feature, to make all the warning sounds and beeps quieter.
Turning down alert and warning tone volumes.
Easy positioning of which speaker the music comes out of, so you have nursery rhymes coming out of just the speaker near your child.
Installing child seats in the back of the Mazda3 is quite tricky with the low roofline, but I found once I got them in I could comfortably fit two child seats in the back. I could not fit between them though.
The rear doors do open nice and wide, so that is helpful with getting little passengers in and out of the back. Legroom in the Mazda3 we found a bit tight. With a reaar-facing child seat installed, I could sit in the drivers seat and I'm 162cm. With a forward-facing child seat installed we found we could fit a 180cm driver.
Storage is good throughout the Mazda3 and for a small sporty car like this everything is very practical in size, such as the cup holders and door bins. The central console box and glasses case are both lined, preventing lenses getting scratched and things rattling around.
The boot of the Mazda3 is also of good size for a small family, holding 10 shopping bags when empty, which is the same as the same in the Hyundai i30, one more than the Toyota Corolla, and one less than the Kia Cerato GT Hatch.
A small dog would fit in the boot of the 2019 Mazda3 or single, twin and tandem strollers and prams fit in the boot of the with a good amount of shopping bags while using the parcel shelf.
The 2019 Mazda3 is a very nice car inside and out, the styling is beautiful and it has a lot of very practical BabyDrive features. However, I did find the low roofline at the back a consideration with child seats and bending in to do harnesses up multiple times daily was a little tricky.
The boot of the Mazda3 is a good size for a small family hatch. It holds 10 shopping bags from empty, which is the same as the same in the Hyundai i30, one more than the Toyota Corolla which holds nine, and one less than the Kia Cerato GT Hatch which holds 11.
The boot of the Maazda3 is deep enough that with all the prams and strollers I tested the parcel shelf could still be used, which is fantastic. The Mountain Buggy Duet twin stroller fits without any shopping bags although you could put some on top of it.
The Britax Flexx tandem stroller fits with four shopping bags around it. (p.s look at the beautiful paint colour around that boot 🙂
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
The Mountain Buggy Urban Jungle single stroller fits with two shopping bags beside it.
The Mountain Buggy Nano compact stroller fitted with seven shopping bags beside it.
Or you could fit a small dog in there if you remove the parcel shelf.
The boot floor is flat and nicely carpeted all over which is good for an emergency nappy change. Being a hatch you do have to bend down a little into the boot and lift everything over the lip of the boot.
How good is storage inside the 2019 Mazda3?
Storage in the cabin of the 2019 Mazda3 is excellent and very practical. There are two cup holders in the central console that will hold my re-usable Luxey Cup, a disposable coffee cup or large refillable water bottle.
In front of them is a small well for your phone and a USB port.
Inside the central console storage box is a 12V socket and the base is lined so things don't rattle around in there.
The glove box will hold my wallet and iPad with the manual which is great.
There is a small storage space by the driver's right knee too, which I found great for leaving my house keys in.
The sunglasses case in the ceiling is lined so your lenses don't get scratched too and there are lit vanity mirrors in both front visors.
The door bins in the front will hold a large refillable water bottle and an iPad and there are wells in the door handles too.
In the back, there are two cup holders in a fold down armrest in the central seatback that will hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup and a large refillable water bottle fits in them too.
There is a single map pocket on the back of the front passenger seat, that will hold but not conceal an iPad.
The rear door bins are a good size too and will hold a large refillable water bottle.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the 2019 Mazda3?
The 2019 Mazda3 is a fairly quiet BabyDrive, it is smooth and you can't really hear road and engine noise inside the cabin which is great.
The media system in the 2019 Mazda3 is a great improvement on the previous sytem.
It has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
It is still controlled using a rotary dial down in the central console but it seemed more intuitive to use and better integrated with the new look media system.
You can easily adjust the listening position in the car within the media screen for when you don't want to listen to nursery ryhmes!
As well as being able to adjust the volume of the beeps and alarms too.
The reversing camera image is crisp and clear.
You can turn the parking sensors off with a button by your right knee and it keeps the guidence lines on the screen which is good.
You can also turn the i-stop (auto engine cut-out) on and off here, if your child is woken up by that.
I find this function really disturbing for sleeping babies, you have just got your baby to sleep in the car and you stop at lights and the engine turns off sometimes they will stay asleep but when the engine shudders to a start again it shakes baby awake and all your efforts are ruined!! Even coming to a stop at lights with the engine running can be enough to wake a sleeping child so turning the engine off and on again will definitely do it! I have driven routes I know have roundabouts rather than lights just to avoid coming to a stop for any length of time!!
The indicators are not too loud in the 2019 Mazda3 and didn’t disturb my sleeping daughter.
The Sat-Nav is great in the Mazda3 and I found it easy to use.
It is also a fantastic BabyDrive feature that you can adjust the volume of the guidance voice using the volume control buttons on the stering-wheel, making it so easy and not baby waking!
I find on most journeys when I use sat nav I only need directions for the last part of the journey. I know how to get to the area I am going and then it’s just the exact address I need help with. Because I need to input the address before I head off I found myself on most occasions when you can’t mute the sat nav voice having to listen to all the directions, which disturbs your concentration, any conversation in the car at the time or more importantly my sleeping baby! So being able to mute the sat nav voice until you reach the part where you actually need it is gold!
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
The doors and windows are both nice and quiet to open and close, I found the rear doors opened really wide which is great. I found I could come to a stop and get out with the engine running without sounding any baby-waking alarms which is fantastic!
Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
So this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)
The doors and windows can be easily locked in the 2019 Mazda3 with buttons on the drivers door panel.
The Mazda3 is a really nice car to drive, it has a sporty feel which does translate to a harder ride especially for rear passengers. I found the dark interior made it feel a little hemmed in, especially in the back with the low roofline too and as a long-term family car I would probably opt for a lighter interior to give a more bright and airy feel.
There is a great seatbelt removal visual in the screen in the ceiling to let you know who in the back has removed their seatbelt, which is fantastic because us parents don't have eyes in the back of our heads!
One of my favourite BabyDrive features in the 2019 Mazda3 is the fuel gauge, which where your distance to empty in kilometres moves with the tank level graphic… GENIUS!
The distance to empty display becomes extra important as a mum because getting fuel with a baby is a whole new world of difficult. If they are screaming in the car you definitely do not want your journey prolonged with a fuel stop! If they are asleep the turning off of the engine, doors opening and locking and unlocking, then re-opening the doors and closing, starting the engine again, beepers going off because you haven’t got your seatbelt on when you start the car or because you blink in the wrong direction, do you take them out of the car when you go in to pay? If you do will you get them back in the seat again or will they have a complete meltdown and you’ll be stuck on the fuel station forecourt with a screaming baby!! Hopefully you are starting to gather the anxiety that what was once a simple fuel stop can be for a mum!!!!
For this reason the distance to empty display can let you know if you have enough fuel to make it home with bub and then go out and get fuel another time when you will not have to take bub with you.
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child car seats fit in the 2019 Mazda3?
There are three top tether anchorages in the back of the 2019 Mazda3's rear seat backrests. The two outer ones are clearly labeled but the central one is not and they are all within plastic guides and nice and easy to connect to through the boot.
There are ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats. They are within plastic guides and nice and easy to connect to.
The rear seats are quite flat so I was hopeful to squeeze three child seats in but I could only fit two. One in each of the outer seats.
I found I could sit in front of a rear-facing child seat and I'm 162cm. We could fit a 180cm driver in front of a forward-facing child seat. We couldn't sit anyone between the two child seats either.
The roofline in the back is very low and I found this to be a consideration when posting bub into their rear-facing child seat from outside and inside in the Mazda3. It also made reaching in to do up harnesses difficult too. There are handles above both the rear doors to hang a child's toy from.
Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
The rear doors do open nice and wide at the back which is helpful with getting child car seats in and out and with only one car seat installed there is room to feed bub in the back.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the 2019 Mazda3? And How good is the 2019 Mazda3 to drive?
In the front of the 2019 Mazda3, the seats are very comfortable, they are black leather with contrast perforated central panels, so they are not so easy to wipe clean.
There are electronic controls on the side of the drivers seat which made it nice and easy to adjust and you can set two positions too.
For a mum travelling in the back with bub, the outer seats are comfortable. The central seat does have the fold down in the backrest which makes it hard and there is a hump in the central footwell. I did find from travelling in the back that it felt too dark for me and because the seats are quite low and the windows slope up at the back there just wasn't enough visibility for me so it felt claustrophobic. This darkness did have a welcome sleep-provoking effect on our daughter though!!
For the first year of Tulsi’s life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Tulsi so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down as well.
On the right side on the steering wheel are the cruise controls which are very simple and easy to use. The cruise control is quite accurate in the 2019 Mazda3 on both straight, fast motorway driving as well as at lower speeds on undulating roads which is good.
The air vents in the front appear to run all the way across the passenger side of the dash. Actually, there are just two vents, and the panel in between is mock. With two further vents around the driver display. The aircon is easily adjusted with simple controls on the dash.
In the back, there are vents in the back of the central console storage box which are easily reached while driving.
The rear interior lights are located centrally in the ceiling, too far back for me to reach them from the driver's seat while driving… BUT there is a handy button in the ceiling in the front that allows you to turn the rear light on, yipee!
I have found Tulsi does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.
Also if I am traveling home and it is getting near to bed time and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five-minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!
It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.
Visibility out of the 2019 Mazda3 is quite limited, with the low roofline and the rear windows sloping up at the back visibility is difficult, then when you add child seats as well you have to rely on your side mirrors and reversing camera. Being a small hatch you can easily judge where the perameters of the car are and it's pretty easy to park and manouver.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread parking new cars as they take longer in our tight apartment block carpark, but the 2019 Mazda3 Â was easy to park.
The five-seater 2019 Mazda3, is a great fun car that is extremely good looking. It can be practical for a small family with a lot of great BabyDrive features.
Seven airbags come as standard; there are dual frontal airbags, side chest-protecting and drivers knee airbag for front passengers and  side head-protecting airbags (curtains) for the front and rear side passengers.
As standard, all models of the 2019 Mazda3 come with pretensioner seatbelts for front and rear outer seats and seatbelt reminder for all seats.
Also available are adaptive headlights and fatigue detection but not on the base models.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!
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About Tace Clifford
Tace Clifford founded BabyDrive in 2017 after discovering a huge information gap in mainstream car reviews that left new parents and expanding families in the dark when it came to one of the biggest purchasing decisions of their lives.
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