The 2-litre petrol Mazda 3 is the manufacturer’s first car to benefit from stop-start fuel saving technology, paving the way for its introduction across the next few years.
Thanks to its intelligent ’shutting down’ at traffic lights, and significant engine improvements, the 2-litre i-stop uses 14 per cent less fuel than its predecessor.
Pull to a stop, shift into neutral and take your foot off the clutch and the engine dies. Then, as soon as you dip the clutch to select first it fires up again and you are away. Why waste fuel when you aren’t going anywhere?
Stop and start systems are a great way of cutting emissions and fuel economy significantly and simply.
But does it work well in the Mazda, or do you feel as if you are about to be stranded in the middle of the road?
It might be a little disconcerting at first, but once you get used to the silence and begin to trust the technology to restart the car reliably, the Mazda stop start system is the best we’ve tried.
Mazda’s engineers have worked extremely hard to make it the fastest operating and safest system of its type; and it shows.
When you press the clutch it takes just one third of a second to get the engine running, and the Mazda 3’s ‘brain’ is clever enough to work out when stopping the engine would be a bad idea.
Unlike other, less successful executions of the technology, it won’t cut out when you pull to a standstill on a steep slope, when the engine is cold, when the car is creeping or when you are trying to demist the car or have the heater or air conditioning turned up high.
Take off your seatbelt, or open a door and the engine will not restart either – for obvious safety reasons.
Mazda claims the restart is twice as fast as competitors systems, as it uses the new direct-fuel injection technology fitted to the 2-litre, whereby combustion of the fuel and air in the cylinder fires the engine to life almost instantly, and with hardly any intervention from the starter motor.
On a combined cycle the i-stop technology and new direct injection fuelling contribute to overall fuel economy of 42mpg and emissions of 159g/km.
Power is good too, with 149bhp and 141lb/ft of pulling power on tap. Acceleration from 0-62mph in 10.4 seconds is a little disappointing, but it’s a smooth and quiet engine and its slick gearbox help to make it a reasonably fun car to drive.
It might seem odd to introduce i-stop in a 2-litre petrol. Mazda explained this was because direct injection components were already available for this motor, and Mazda told us they were keen to act as fast as possible.
Once the direct fuel injection has been designed for the more economical 1.6-litre it will be fitted with i-stop too.
Expect a diesel i-stop in the next couple of years as well; Mazda have a few issues with ultra-fast restart in its diesels which still need to be solved.
i-stop is expected to be standard across the Mazda 3 range within two to three years.
Model tested: Mazda 3 2.0 DISI i-stop
Date tested: July 2009
Road tester: Andy Goodwin
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Fuel consumption (extra urban)Please note
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Please note
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Cupholders - 2 in rear centre armrestDriver's seat height adjustmentDriver's vanity mirror with cover/ticket holderFront centre console with storage box with tray, lid + 2 cupholdersLeather wrapped steering wheelPassenger sunvisor with vanity mirrorRear grab handles with coathooksTilt/height adjustable steering wheelSingle play CD/radio with MP3 compatabilityDigital exterior temperature gaugeElectric heated rear glass windowElectric operated/heated door mirrorsWide angle drivers door mirrorPlease note
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3 point ELR front seatbelts with pretensioners3 rear 3 point seatbelts with ELRABS+Electronic Brake force DistributionFront and rear curtain airbagsSeatbelt reminder front and rearPlease note
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