• Cramped rear seats
• Claustrophobic and dark
• Boot far from class best

How much space is there?

If you’re after outright practicality, then, look elsewhere. Space in the Mazda 3’s back seats is adequate rather than generous, but your tallest friends will feel hemmed in. It’s not helped by the broad rear pillars, either, which do wonders for the car’s lines outside, but they stifle light in the rear of the cabin.

The sloped roofline doesn’t help either, and legroom behind an average-to-tall driver is lacking. There is an fold away armrest in the middle seat back with space for two cups.

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There’s another issue with the Mazda 3’s thick pillars. They deceive you into believing the car is much wider than it is. In fairness, it actually is wider than a Corolla, Golf or Focus, but not significantly so. The thickness of the pillars can be off-putting when changing lanes on the motorway; you have to heavily rely on the standard blindspot warning.

Boot space and storage

The Mazda 3 has a 358-litre boot with the rear seats in place, which swells to 1,026 litres with the rear seats folded flat. That doesn’t hold a candle to the likes of the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf and Mercedes A-Class – all of which have larger boots both when the seats are up or when they’re down. Adding to the Mazda’s practicality woes is the boot’s high loading lip.

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Is it easy to park?

The Mazda 3 is relatively compact, but it doesn’t really feel it when you’re out on the road. The forward visibility is okay, but the low seating position and chunky pillars mean that your over-the-shoulder view is far from ideal. Front and rear parking sensors are standard on all versions, while a rear-view camera is optional on most – they are needed.

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP achieved 
• Huge list of standard safety kit
• Some of it is irritatingly invasive

Shortly after the Mazda 3 went on sale in 2019, it achieved the expected full five-star safety rating when it was crash-tested by the experts at Euro NCAP. The testers were particularly impressed with how the car protected its adult occupants, so they awarded it 98 percent score in that category.

Every model has autonomous emergency braking, blindspot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, active lane-keep assist and lane departure warning as standard. There’s also an audible speed limiter warning, It has an alarm that activates if you stray just 1mph over the speed limit, which is irritating.

The active lane keep tech was also a little inconsistent, sometimes intervening but sometimes allowing us to drift between lanes without protest. Mercifully, if you don’t like the tech, you can disengage it using the infotainment system. It doesn’t stay off, though. It reactivates every time you start the car, forcing you to dig through the menus again.

Although the rear bench has the usual two Isofix child seat-mounting points in the outer positions, access is poor through the small door openings. Similarly, bulky child seats could prove difficult to fit – or for a youngster to sit in them comfortably – behind a taller driver.

Watch: Mazda 3 Hatchback Euro NCAP crash test video