Secret Mazda draws the crowds

Oct 8 2008 Bill Caven

SOMETIMES even the best laid plans can go strangely awry.

Initially it was all going swimmingly for Mazda as it carried out secret road tests on the next generation 3 model.

The two prototype cars costing upwards of £100,000 had been shipped to Iceland in unmarked containers, then transported to a remote location more than an hour's drive north west of the island's capital Reykjavik.

The purpose of the trip was to carry out a series of stringent ground work trials on the undulating road surfaces in the area that strangely resemble those found around most of Europe.

I was invited to become the fist European journalist to join the Zoom Zoom brand's team of expert engineers and development specialists to put the car through its paces.

Accompanied by Yoshiyuki Maeda - the man entrusted with the task of delivering the new Mazda3 early next year - we set out on a carefully chosen route.

For nearly an hour all was going according to plan as the prototype seduced the variety of different road surfaces in a highly refined manner.

As we stopped to discuss the many merits of the car disaster struck.

A single-decker bus carrying a party of sightseers emerged from around the corner.

Immediatley clocking the car which was covered in more black protective padding than a Gladiators' convention they were off the bus like a shot.

Forgetting the stunning waterfall the tourists let off more camera flashlights than you normally get at a Big Brother eviction!

Like me it was probably the first time they have ever encountered a six-figure costing car without actually seeing it in the flesh.

Worse still, I have actually driven it without knowing exactly what it looks like.

What I can say is that it handles and rides beautifully.

Think BMW 1 Series when it comes to refinement. Think Audi A3 when it comes to that razor sharp precision handling and you are almost close to the next Mazda3.

Add to the fact that the interior plastics have improved beyond recognition - and they aren't that bad at present - and it gives you a flavour of the new Japanese family concept.

Mazda knows the importance of the car to the family finances as it has sold almost one and a half million of them worldwide.

And with the new Vauxhall Astra and Volkswagen Golf on the way it has to get it right at the first time of asking.

Furthermore the brand is also eagerly watching developments in the States where more and more families are being forced to downsize.

With reasonable sales already in Uncle Sam land, Mazda believes it can cash in further with the next generation model which will weigh 25 per cent less than the current car.

Naturally, Mazda is not giving away too much at this stage other than to confirm two new engines - a 2.0-litre 150hp injection and a 2.2-litre 185hp turbo are nearing final testing.

Both will be highly fuel efficient helped no end by the dramatic weight loss on the proposed car.

Final fine tuning of the car as still to be undertaken but the early indications are definitely encouraging.

There is greater rigidity about the car, more composure and the enormous sense of fun now widely associated with the brand.

Having spent the last 18 months developing the project Yoshiyuki believes it is moving in the right direction.

He said "We laid down strict benchmarks from the beginning and knew what we wanted it to be like.

"In terms of development we are 90 per cent completed but he remainder can be equally important in the long term future of the car.

"I am happy with the way things are moving on and I hope that it will ultimately whet the appetite of the people who got an unexpected glimpse of it".