The small car sector is where you’ll consistently find the real market action. Open Road’s five-strong test panel pits three new sedans against Toyota’s small car champ
Words Andrew Kerr // Photos Chris Benny
With large cars out of fashion and medium-sizers often overlooked, the small car segment has been going gangbusters. It now accounts for nearly a quarter of all new vehicle sales.
The reasons for the rise in popularity are clear: small cars are becoming increasingly spacious and economical, their safety and equipment levels are much improved and extensive chassis development has resulted in better ride and handling. They are also cheaper to buy and run, depreciating less than larger cars and generally costing less to insure and fuel.
There has been little change in small car performance too, with transmission improvements and modest increases in power and torque largely offset by the weight of larger bodies and extra equipment. Today’s small car has evolved to be roughly the same size as a medium car from previous years.
We chose to compare four-door sedans with petrol engines and automatic transmissions. The second-generation Mazda3 and Holden Cruze are both new to the market in 2009, prompting this comparison. The Subaru Impreza sedan arrived late last year while the Toyota Corolla – the volume king – dates from 2007.
The cars are all manufactured in Japan except the Cruze, which is currently built in South Korea but will be made in Australia from next year.
All are fitted with ESC and at least six airbags (including rear passenger protecting curtain airbags as standard) and each sedan is designed for two adults to sit in reasonable comfort in the rear. Three adults can be seated at a pinch.
We tested our small car quartet on five very different sections of road and over a total distance of 300km. The cars were mostly unladen with just a driver on board. If they were to transport three extra passengers, based on our findings we concluded that only the winning vehicle would have provided sound performance.
You need only drive a hundred metres in the Holden to realise that it’s battling for the runner-up spot at best. The 1.8-litre four is a dated and coarse unit with some modern technical features but they don’t do enough to provide healthy response throughout the rev range. The first-in-class six-speed auto also fails to improve the driving experience, too often hunting around for the right ratio and failing to provide the slick changes required in an underpowered vehicle tipping the scales at over 1400kg.
In its favour, the 4.6m-long Cruze seems big for a small car. There’s ample room up front and even tall drivers will find a very good seating position thanks to a full range of adjustment. Those seated behind will find access and foot room okay, while rear leg room is average and the sloping roofline causes problems for six-footers. A fair amount of road roar saw the Cruze rate second-worst for cabin noise.
The body is a well-proportioned, handsome shape with a strong grille, bold wheel arches and large lamps at the front and rear. The boot is capacious and 17-inch wheels fill the arches nicely.
The Cruze cabin has a modern look but you sense it’s trying hard to look funky. Some of the materials are eye-catching but feel rather tacky. Pleasant contours and vent shapes predominate, oddment storage is plentiful, and visibility is mostly good.
The CDX spec is generous with leather upholstery and steering wheel, front fog lights, heated front seats, useful rear parking sensors and flashes of fake chrome in the interior. A central digital display is also worthwhile but irritates by reflecting on the top of the windscreen at night.
On the road, the Cruze impresses with taut suspension, good body control, decently accurate steering and good grip from broad 215/50 series tyres. The brakes also do the job but some pedal feel is lacking. Over our test route, we recorded 9.1L/100km, well down on the official 7.5L Green Vehicle Guide figure.
Overall, a mixed bag. The Cruze is very well equipped and appears good value for money but its performance is disappointing, economy is mediocre and buyers ought to be a bit nervous about future value retention.
The Cruze scrapes into second spot by the skin of its blunt teeth.
What you see is what you get with the Corolla. It doesn’t thrill but it doesn’t pull any nasty surprises either, and inspires confidence as a result. Now with stability control as standard, the Corolla Conquest matches the competition with a five-star ANCAP safety rating.
Equipment includes 16-inch alloys, fog lights, leather steering wheel and gear lever, cruise control, Bluetooth, a six-CD stereo and seven airbags (including driver’s knee bag). There’s a full-size spare wheel to boot.
Apart from unattractive white-dialled instrumentation and awkwardly located seat levers, our four testers found the durable Corolla cabin to be very user-friendly if somewhat bland. Controls and compartment lids have a solid, simple action and the plastics are of good quality. A generous-sized twin glovebox is a highlight up front.
The front seats feel as though they will last a lifetime but no one was overly impressed by their comfort. Under-thigh padding was good but a lack of lumbar support was just as noticeable. Access to the rear seat was fine and rear passenger space acceptable.
Like that in the Cruze, the Corolla engine is only a 1.8-litre but it offers greater flexibility and refinement than the GM unit. Toyota was only able to supply a manual transmission for this comparison but in previous testing we’ve found the motor to be well suited to the tried and tested four-speed auto.
The cabin is well insulated from engine and road noise and the Corolla recorded the lowest decibel reading. However cabin ambience was let down by distracting wind roar around the driver’s door. The brakes also copped some criticism; the pedal has a spongy feel to it and the Corolla was the slowest to reach a halt in emergency braking tests, outbraked by over two metres by the Mazda3.
On the road, the Toyota gets the job done without fanfare; the balance between comfortable ride and secure handling is perfectly acceptable and although the steering is quite dull, it is consistently weighted and accurate.
A well-built, dependable car with anonymous styling, the Corolla is big on reputation but it does nothing to exceed expectations.
The sharp-looking Mazda3 photographed for the feature is actually a Maxx Sport model with extra body kit, front foglights, upgraded 16-inch alloys and a more upmarket cabin. The mid-spec Mazda3 Maxx we are comparing has 15-inch alloys wheels (the smallest of the vehicles here), cruise control, metallic paint, a six-stack CD player and a multi-function steering wheel.
It also comes with a sharp-witted five-speed automatic that contributes to lively performance and helps lower fuel consumption. In real-world driving, our return of 7.5L/100km comfortably bettered the official GVG figure of 8.2L, making the Mazda the most economical car of the four.
We found the engine to be smooth and flexible and on-the-fly acceleration, aided by the sedan’s modest 1292kg weight, is strong. The Mazda3 will overtake with greater authority than the other three cars, meaning occupants are exposed to danger for shorter periods. Strong brakes also help it stop more quickly and brake pedal feel is first-rate. The steering feels quite light but is ever-alert and communicative. Like its predecessor, the new Mazda3 is a dynamic benchmark in the small car class and rewards with a spirited drive.
The sedan has a fresh, distinctive look, sharing its ‘smiley face’ front end and intricate headlight clusters with its hatchback sibling. The profile is dynamic; a high shoulder line rises up to the boot and the tall body is partially offset by a shin-height swage line. Unfortunately the wheel arches look undernourished with 15-inch wheels but the highish-profile tyres fitted to the Maxx at least impart a compliant ride. The tall rear end adds to boot space but significantly impedes visibility through the steeply raked rear window, making rear parking sensors a wise investment. Small children may also find it hard to see out of the rear windows unless they’re in booster seats.
The dashboard has a fresh but functional look with a range of sweeps and curves and circular vents and instruments. The trip computer is in a new digital display in a cut-out beneath the base of the windscreen. Some drivers will find the location a bit distant.
Tall drivers might also find that the pedals are set too close for comfort but the driving position is generally very good and the front seats are both comfortable and supportive. However rear seating is compromised by a lack of leg room and the narrow rear door aperture means tricky entry and egress for teens and adults.
Road noise is also disappointing, proving intrusive both in town and on the open road. And some of the soft-touch plastics in the cabin might look good in the showroom but are too easily scuffed by shoes and marked by fingers.
Still, despite these shortcomings, the Mazda3 emerged as a unanimous winner in this popularity contest.
The only all-wheel-drive offering in the class, the Impreza sedan arrived on the market some time after its hatchback sibling. Its horizontally opposed ‘boxer’ engine allows a lower bonnet line and also lowers the car’s centre of gravity, for better handling. In profile, the body rises quite sharply to the bootline and lengthy front and rear overhangs result in a slightly awkward look. But overall styling is not without appeal.
The boxer four delivers character, displays good torque and is relatively smooth until it is revved hard. That’s often how it needs to be driven when coupled with Subaru’s ageing but adequate four-speed automatic. It does a smooth job around town and shifts down early on inclines.
The Impreza is prone to understeer when provoked and tyre grip is not great, although good ride quality and steering do compensate.
The AWD system adds to the car’s weight and dulls performance, and the Impreza proved the least economical of our four cars, returning 9.6L/100km.
The interior is neatly presented with some classy touches and durable materials. Instrumentation is large and clear but other controls are a bit fiddly and infotainment buttons are small. Outward visibility is good but the driver’s seat does not extend back far enough for drivers 1.85m or taller and the seat base is the shortest out of the four, again penalising tall drivers. Space in the rear is adequate with foot room and leg room both a bit tight.
The broad boot has good capacity but the shape is a problem – it is not deep enough and the aperture is small.
The Impreza is an honest car with a quality feel to it but it’s a pricey one that is ultimately off the pace in this test and risks being easily overlooked.
Open Road November/December 2009
Car reviews
