Mazda 3 Saloon practicality & boot space

• More interior space than the 3 hatchback
• Bigger boot as well, but access restricted
• Less outright versatility than a hatchback

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The 3 Saloon’s longer body translates to a bit more interior space compared with the hatchback. And, despite the more awkward access, the boot is bigger too.

Up front, though, things are the same. Despite the cocooning driving position, there’s plenty of room and some usefully large door bins with a large area beneath the big, squishy armrest. Moving further back and access to the rear seats is slightly easier than in the hatch – the roof isn’t quite as sloping as in the five-door.

Once in the rear seats and there’s a greater sense of space because of this, which is good as the regular 3 can feel quite dark and claustrophobic in the back, even if legroom is fairly good.

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The boot is bigger than the hatchback’s, but less flexible – and we think this is a problem. While it’s much better for carrying lots of smaller items like shopping bags or soft luggage, you’ll soon struggle with bulkier loads.

You can flip down the rear seat backs to expand the space, so there’s ample room for longer items. But unlike a hatchback, you can’t just remove the parcel shelf for taller items, so you’re limited by the saloon’s narrow opening and low ceiling. As a result, you’ll struggle to fit more than two large suitcases in at once.

How safe is the Mazda 3 Saloon?

• Five stars for five-door Mazda 3
• Saloon gets the same score
• Driver assistance kit also available

Tested in 2019, the Mazda 3 hatchback was awarded a full five-star rating by Euro NCAP, with particularly good scores in adult occupant protection – 98% in fact. A full suite of airbags throughout the car help, but there’s also Isofix in the rear seats to help keep child seats in place, while standard-fit autonomous emergency braking (Mazda calls it Smart Brake Support) and lane-assist boost the safety kit count.

Also standard is blindspot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, lane-departure warning and traffic sign recognition. On many more expensive cars you’d have to pay extra for this, but it’s standard across the Mazda 3 Saloon range.

The only kit you don’t get on all models is Smart Brake Support for the rear of the car, front cross-traffic alert and driver monitoring via a camera in the central display. This all comes on top-spec GT Sport Tech cars.