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Cars of this class are not for nothing called "lighters" - despite the lack of additional training, they have powerful engines, well-developed elements of the chassis, as well as optimal steering settings, allowing you to get maximum pleasure from driving. At the same time, both the Mazda 3 and Honda Civic have had such a reputation for quite some time. Although Honda still has more experience in creating drivers' cars - the first Civic, which gained huge popularity among fans of active driving style, appeared long before the Mazda 3 name appeared. However, it is no secret that with the change of generations cars can lose even its most important advantages, including excellent dynamics and balanced character. Therefore it is necessary to conduct a comparative test to find out which car is more suitable for drivers who prefer to feel their superiority on the road - the Mazda 3 or Honda Civic.

Cars Mazda 3 and Honda Civic — седаны для активных людей

The Expendables

Power units

Over the long years of the model’s existence, the Mazda 3 engine has hardly changed - except for its environmental safety class, which has nothing to do with dynamics - or does it have? Immediately after the start, the car rushes forward quite vigorously - you can be sure that 90% of city cars will lose you to the “traffic light race”. However, with moderate pressure on the gas pedal, the Mazda 3 quickly switches to a higher gear, which allows lagging rivals to close the gap. Maybe you need to push harder - but this time the car from Mazda is hampered by an electronic limiter, which monitors the amount of harmful exhaust gases thrown out. How can you not remember the first Mazda 3, which did without all these conventions and gave its owner complete freedom of action.

Читать далее о сравнении автомобилей Mazda 3 и Honda Civic-->Теперь стоит опробовать характер машины на загородном шоссе — и здесь «тройка» наконец-то попадает в свою стихию. Автоматическая трансмиссия выбирает оптимальную для Mazda 3 ступень, которая позволяет экономить топливо и полностью сгладить рывки, которые почти неизбежно возникают при использовании достаточно мощного мотора. Разрыва в потоке мощности почти нет — вот только если вы захотите совершить активный манёвр и сильно нажмёте педаль газа, «автомат» примерно одну секунду помедлит, а затем перейдёт сразу на две ступени вниз, обеспечив бурное ускорение. Однако, даже когда режим «kick-down» не задействован, Mazda 3 позволяет передвигаться без малейших ограничений благодаря уверенной тяге мотора на низких оборотах. Необходимо обязательно отметить ещё одну особенность Mazda 3, на этот раз относящуюся к категории негативных — When driving around the city, you are unlikely to keep fuel costs below 10 liters per 100 km, and on the highway this figure varies from 6 to 8 liters, depending on the nature of driving.

Specifications

Car model:	Mazda 3	Honda Civic
Producing country:	Japan	Japan (Build - Turkey)
Body Type:	Sedan	Sedan
Number of places:	5	5
Number of doors:	4	4
Engine capacity, cubic cm:	2000	1798
Power, l. c./about min .:	150/6500	140/6500
Maximum speed, km / h:	210	200
Acceleration to 100 km / h, from:	8,9	10,8
Type of drive:	Front	Front
CAT:	6 automatic transmission	5 automatic transmission
Fuel type:	Petrol AI-95	Petrol AI-95
Consumption per 100 km:	In the city of 10.7 / Out of town 6.5	In the city of 8.4 / Out of town 6.4
Length, mm:	4585	4557
Width, mm:	1795	1753
Height, mm:	1450	1435
Clearance, mm:	150	165
Tire size:	205/60 R16	195/65 R15
Curb weight, kg:	1270	1244
Full weight, kg:	1835	1635
Fuel tank capacity:	51	50

Answering the question of which car has retained more of its “family features” - the Mazda 3 or the Honda Civic, is quite difficult. When Honda only introduced its latest i-VTEC system on the Civic, many experts noted that the motor seemed to have two different characters, which manifest themselves in a certain rpm range. However, now this stage has been greatly smoothed - of course, at about 3,500 revolutions per minute, a slight increase in power is felt, but an unknowing person, keen on holding leadership in the stream, may not notice it at all. But the Honda Civic engine with a volume of 1.8 liters appeared what he clearly lacked earlier - namely, the stock of thrust at low revs. Thanks to this, the Honda Civic engine is now not at all necessary to bring up to high revolutions in order to safely ride in the city without becoming a hindrance to the rest of the traffic.

However, all the sensations from a good study of the motor can ruin the hopelessly outdated machine, which has been installed on the Honda Civic for several generations. The five-speed Honda unit allows you to keep high speed, rarely switches before it is necessary, and adapts to the driving style of a certain person, but has very strong delays when switching. Of course, from the outside it is unnoticeable, but the driver all the time seems that the Civic slows down slightly when changing the gear ratio, losing precious milliseconds. Outside the city, the Honda Civic is in no way inferior to the Mazda 3 - the car provides the same smooth movement without any unpleasant sensations. In addition, when considering fuel consumption, the professionalism of Honda engineers involved in refining the Civic engine becomes noticeable - to bring fuel consumption up to 10 liters in the city and 8 liters on the highway, you need to try very hard, since the normal fuel consumption of a car is 2 liters less in any mode.

Test race track

You can feel how well work has been done on the chassis only on the race track - and it is she who will give the answer, who claims to be the most dynamic car in the middle price category - Honda Civic or Mazda 3. Once on the Mazda 3 you pass the first turn, at first you don’t even believe in your feelings - the car is controlled so easily as if the real steering wheel was replaced with a computer manipulator, which allows you to get a strictly linear connection between the angles of the steering wheel and the front wheels. And the longer you drive Mazda along a winding road, the more fun you start to get. When the “treshka” passes the next road figure, you slow down before the next one less intensively, trying to find the limits of the vehicle's chassis. In this case, the Mazda 3 is driven by the above-mentioned two-liter engine with a large number of restrictions - you can imagine how fast the Mazda 3 MPS will be with a turbo engine that develops 260 horsepower.

However, there are no obvious advantages without obvious disadvantages - and Mazda is no exception to this rule. While there is a smooth asphalt under the wheels, the car shows its best and does not annoy the passengers with any unpleasant feelings. but as soon as any small bumps appear on the road, such as roadway joints or asphalt cracks, the Mazda 3 begins to shakeaccompanying every movement of the undercarriage with a distinct thud. On the frankly bad road, these same knocks and vibrations of a short-stroke suspension are a natural speed limiter, forcing the driver to slow down the pace of driving to maintain the health of his vestibular apparatus.

In the video, a comparative test of Mazda 3 and Honda Civic cars:

The wheel of the Honda Civic is also similar in its properties to a computer manipulator - however, this time, connected to an old PC, which is slightly delayed in reactions to a change in its position. In normal driving conditions on the Civic, this can be overlooked, but when driving out to the race track, the driver begins to get nervous, trying to find the optimum angle of rotation and unwittingly slowing down before each maneuver. In addition, the lack of a Honda Civic can be called the lack of normal feedback, which also does not contribute to maintaining composure when driving at high speed.

But the power of Civic is in the ability to pass all road irregularities, without letting people inside know about it. If you make a comparison Mazda 3 vs. Honda Civic is not on the racetrack, but on a suburban road dotted with holes, the latter will go far ahead without disturbing the passengers. Honda wants to praise and for the increased ground clearance of the car, which is 165 millimeters - an additional 1.5 centimeters compared with Mazda does not make the car an SUV, but significantly increase confidence when entering the curb. Of course, even the suspension of the Honda Civic is not omnipotent - the passage of such artificial obstacles as railway tracks and “speed bumps” causes prolonged vibrations that can be felt behind for a few seconds.

Design comparison

Heaven and earth - the inner space of cars

If before the interior of the Mazda 3 was called futuristic and talked about its similarity to the cockpit, now these times are completely gone. It is difficult to find a more classic interior design than the one that Mazda offers to consumers - there are now more straight lines in it than extravagant bends and complex design forms that attract the looks of people around them. The center console has become almost vertical, the deflectors of the blowing system are rectangular, and in the middle of the front panel of the Mazda 3 the large screen of the multimedia system has grown, whose design in the style of a smartphone looks completely alien here. Of course, Mazda stylists made an attempt to “refresh” the resulting interior with a large inset of silver plastic, but it doesn’t please the eye at all against the background of its straightforward simplicity. The only "greetings from the past" Mazda 3 are the steering wheel with the instrument combination, which still looks very stylish and sets the driver to an active mode.

But Honda never took a great interest in the design of aircraft interiors - its stylists immediately thought of the spacecraft, which we will see only in the distant future. If you arrange a comparison of the Honda Civic vs. Mazda 3, then the first car will clearly win on the quality of the internal space. The center console is deployed to the driver, which can significantly improve the usability of the climate system and a large multimedia monitor. Directly in front of the driver of the Honda Civic is a dashboard located in its place, only it can offer ... only a tachometer! Everything else is under the long visor located in the upper tier of the front panel - on the one hand, this solution looks very original, and on the other, it weakens the attentiveness of the owner of the Honda Civic, who has to constantly translate his eyes between three different levels of height.

Spaciousness

Arguments about the exterior design, which has long been going on among fans of Japanese brands, will never subside, so it’s better to go straight to the practicality of the internal space of both vehicles. From this point of view, the Mazda 3 looks far from the best - the back sofa is not only very cramped, but also located a short distance from the front seats. Because of this, it is suitable only for transporting children or adults who are willing to suffer a couple of hours of inconvenience in order to get an unforgettable experience of active driving. Front seats Mazda 3 should not be scolded for anything - they have the optimal geometric parameters, as well as large ranges of adjustments. However, you should pay attention to the trunk of the Mazda, to understand that the car is not designed for cargo transportation at all - a small volume, barely exceeding 400 liters, combined with huge protruding wheel arches that limit the width of the transported objects.

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In the Honda Civic after the next update the trunk has grown to 455 liters thanks to the rationalization of the use of internal space. Of course, its opening is not too wide, but the wheel arches do not protrude as strongly into the center as on the Mazda 3. There are enough spaces in the back row, however, the following claims can be made to the Honda Civic salon:

• Too hard front seats.
• Small headroom for rear passengers.
• Insufficient range of adjustment of the front seats, limiting the convenience of the Honda Civic for people of large build.

Mind choice

When you look at these cars, I remember the classic dilemma about the choice of mind and heart. The latter wants to give preference to the fun "lighter" Mazda 3, which is characterized by excellent suspension settings, powerful engine and elegant design. However, the mind recognizes that it will have to put up with perceptible discomfort, and says that the choice should fall on the Honda Civic, which offers a softer and more energy-intensive suspension, as well as a roomy interior and trunk.