2026 Mazda Mazda3 G20 Pure review

What each grade costs and what the step up buys

All prices are RRP before on-road costs, and the spread from bottom to top is $18,000.

G20 Pure ($26,490). 16-inch alloys, LED headlights, an 8.8-inch Mazda Connect screen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, sat nav, DAB+ radio, eight speakers, the head-up display Mazda calls Active Driving Display, single-zone air-conditioning and black cloth seats.

G20 Evolve ($29,990, +$3,500). 18-inch alloys, dual-zone climate control with rear vents, wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, a wireless charging pad, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, a rear centre armrest and height adjustment for the front passenger seat.

G20 Touring ($33,990, +$4,000). Leather trim (with some synthetic Maztex on high-wear surfaces), a 10-way power driver's seat with memory and lumbar adjustment, paddle shifters, keyless entry, heated and auto-dimming door mirrors, and the Vision Technology pack as standard: 360-degree camera, front parking sensors, front cross-traffic alert, driver monitoring, Cruising and Traffic Support, and the larger 10.25-inch screen. On the Pure and Evolve that pack is listed as an option, and Mazda's brochure prints no price for it.

G25 Evolve SP ($36,490, +$2,500). The 2.5-litre engine, cloth seats with red trim, black mirrors, and the Vision Technology kit standard. It drops the Touring's leather, power seat and paddles, so it is the cheapest way into the bigger engine rather than a step up in comfort features.

G25 GT ($40,490, +$4,000). Leather again, heated front seats, the power seat with memory and the paddles back.

G25 Astina ($44,490, +$4,000). A 12-speaker Bose system, a power sunroof, adaptive LED headlights and LED daytime running lights, and the option of burgundy leather.

The rivals at the same money

Against the Toyota Corolla Hatch, the Mazda3 is cheaper to buy and dearer to fuel. The Corolla starts at $32,110 RRP for the Ascent Sport Hybrid, $5,620 more than a G20 Pure, and it claims 4.0L/100km against the Mazda's 5.9. It makes 103kW, has a 217-litre boot in that grade, and also comes with a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

The Kia K4 S hatch is $32,090 RRP with a 110kW 2.0-litre claiming 6.1L/100km and a 438-litre boot. Kia's warranty runs seven years with no kilometre limit.

The Hyundai i30 Sedan 1.6 Hybrid is $33,250 RRP, claims 3.9L/100km and has a 474-litre boot. It is a sedan, not a hatch, and its ANCAP record in our rows is three stars from 2024. At the top of the Mazda range, the Honda Civic e:HEV L is $43,250 RRP, between the G25 GT and Astina, with a 135kW hybrid claiming 4.2L/100km and a 410-litre boot.

Drive-away and cost per week

Our drive-away estimate (RRP plus stamp duty, rego, CTP and a delivery allowance) for the G20 Pure is about $29,070 in Victoria and $28,670 in Queensland. The G25 Astina comes out at about $47,820 in Victoria and $47,210 in Queensland. Estimates, not a dealer quote.

On our cost-per-week model, the G20 Pure starts from $158 a week in Victoria and $157 in Queensland: repayments ($5,000 deposit, five years, an assumed 7.5%), fuel at 15,000km a year, rego, CTP and tyres. Servicing and insurance are left out because we hold no figure for either, and a partial number beats an invented one. The Astina is from $246 a week in Victoria on the same basis.

The fuel figures

The 2.0-litre G20 grades claim 5.9L/100km on the combined cycle, 7.3 in town and 5.0 on the highway. The 2.5-litre G25 grades claim 6.6 combined, 8.6 urban and 5.4 extra-urban. Both run on 91 RON regular unleaded or E10, so there is no premium-fuel cost to add.

At 15,000km a year and $1.95 a litre, the G20 works out to about $1,726 a year on its claim and the G25 about $1,931. That $205 gap is what the extra 25kW costs you at the bowser on paper.

Put the same distance through a Corolla Hatch hybrid at its 4.0L/100km claim and the bill is about $1,170, so the Mazda3 G20 spends about $556 a year more. Over five years that is close to $2,800, which eats about half of the $5,620 purchase price gap to the Corolla Ascent Sport. The Kia K4 S at 6.1L/100km lands at about $1,784, within $60 a year of the G20.

Tank and range

Every grade carries a 51-litre tank. On the combined claim that is about 864km between fills for a G20 and about 773km for a G25. Treat those as a ceiling: short trips and hot days push consumption up, while steady country running sits closer to the 5.0 extra-urban figure.

Warranty and roadside

Mazda covers the Mazda3 for five years with no kilometre limit, and our rows hold five years of roadside assistance. That matches Toyota and Hyundai on the term. Kia's seven years is the one to beat in this group.

Servicing

The service interval is 12 months or 10,000km, whichever comes first. That second number matters. At 15,000km a year you reach 10,000km in about eight months, so a high-kilometre driver is booking roughly three services every two years rather than one a year.

Mazda sells capped-price servicing, but we hold no per-visit price for the current Mazda3, so we cannot print one here. Ask the dealer for the first five service prices for your grade before you sign.

The rating

We have no ANCAP rating on record for the current Mazda3 rows, so the table below reads "no rating on record". If a rating matters to your decision, check ANCAP's site for the current status of the BP Mazda3 before you buy.

What every grade gets

Seven airbags across the range: front, front side, curtain airbags for both rows, and a driver's knee airbag. Mazda's Smart Brake Support covers forward autonomous braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, plus reverse braking and rear crossing braking. Blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist, traffic sign recognition, driver attention alert, radar cruise control with stop and go, rear parking sensors and a reverse camera are standard from the Pure up.

The extras sit in the Vision Technology pack: a 360-degree camera, front parking sensors, front cross-traffic alert, driver monitoring and Cruising and Traffic Support. That pack is standard from the G20 Touring and on every G25 grade, and Mazda lists it as an option on the Pure and Evolve. The Astina adds adaptive LED headlights.

Child seats

There are ISOFIX points on the two outer rear seats and top tethers on all three rear positions. We hold no rear legroom figure, so take a rear-facing seat to the dealer and fit it before you buy.

Seats and boot

Five seats, a 60/40 split-fold rear backrest, and a 295-litre boot (Mazda measures it on the VDA method) with the seats up. We hold no seats-folded figure for the hatch. For context, that is 78 litres more than a Corolla Ascent Sport hatch, 143 litres less than a Kia K4 hatch and 179 litres less than the i30 Sedan. The Mazda3 boot is the trade you make for the shape.

Will a pram fit? It depends on the pram. A compact fold-flat stroller should go in with room for shopping beside it; a full-size pram with a separate bassinet is a squeeze in 295 litres. The boot check widget below lets you test your own pram's folded size against it, which is more useful than any rule of thumb from us.

Size and parking

The hatch is 4,460mm long, 1,795mm wide (2,028mm with the mirrors open) and 1,435mm tall, on a 2,725mm wheelbase. Laden ground clearance is 150mm and the turning circle is 10.6m kerb to kerb. The garage check below runs those numbers against common garage sizes.

Heated front seats arrive with the GT and stay on the Astina; the Touring, GT and Astina get the power driver's seat with memory.

Screens and phone mirroring

The G20 Pure and Evolve use an 8.8-inch Mazda Connect display; the Touring and every G25 grade get the 10.25-inch version. Mazda builds it around a rotary commander dial between the front seats rather than leaning on the screen alone.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard on all six grades. The Pure runs them through a USB cable; from the Evolve up they work wirelessly, and a wireless charging pad comes along with it. There are two USB-C charging ports, DAB+ digital radio and built-in sat nav on every grade.

Head-up display and instruments

The Active Driving Display, Mazda's windscreen head-up display, is standard from the Pure. The instrument cluster carries a 7-inch colour multi-information display.

Sound and connected services

Five grades get eight speakers. The Astina gets a Bose amplifier and 12 speakers. Mazda Connected Services, run through the MyMazda app, comes with a three-year complimentary period from registration according to Mazda's brochure, with annual fees after that.

The Mazda Mazda3 G20 Pure has 80 kW for every tonne of kerb weight, 200Nm of torque. It weighs 1,418kg and turns in 10.6m. These are the figures that shape how quickly a car gets moving and how easily it parks.

Engines, weight and gearbox

The G20 makes 114kW at 6,000rpm and 200Nm at 4,000rpm, and weighs 1,418kg at the kerb. That is about 80kW per tonne. The G25 makes 139kW and 252Nm and weighs 1,417kg (1,429kg in the Astina), which is about 98kW per tonne, a meaningful jump on paper for the extra $2,500 over a Touring. Both use a conventional six-speed automatic with front-wheel drive. Mazda quotes no 0-100km/h time for either engine and we hold none.

Towing and load

Every Mazda3 is rated to tow 1,200kg braked and 600kg unbraked, with an 80kg tow-ball limit, when fitted with Mazda's genuine towing kit. That covers a box trailer, a small camper trailer or a jet ski. The gross vehicle mass is 1,765kg for the G20 Pure and Touring and 1,785kg for the G25 grades, so subtracting kerb weight leaves about 347kg for passengers and luggage in a G20 and about 368kg in an Evolve SP or GT. Five adults at 75kg each already come to 375kg, over that figure, which is worth knowing before a loaded road trip.

The Pure sits on 16-inch alloys with 205/60 tyres; the other five use 18-inch alloys with 215/45 tyres, which cost more to replace. All six carry a temporary steel space-saver spare.

Who the Mazda3 is for

Buy a Mazda3 if you want a well-equipped small hatch for the least money and you are not carrying much. The G20 Pure's list of standard safety and convenience kit is long for $26,490, and the G20 Evolve at $29,990 adds the wireless phone mirroring and dual-zone climate most buyers will want. If you want the bigger engine, the G25 Evolve SP at $36,490 is the cheapest way in.

Who should look elsewhere

Look elsewhere if fuel is your biggest running cost. A Corolla Hatch hybrid saves about $556 a year at 15,000km on the official figures. If you need boot space, the Kia K4 hatch has 438 litres for $32,090 and a seven-year warranty. If you drive a lot, the Mazda3's 10,000km service interval means more dealer visits than most rivals. And if a current ANCAP rating is a must, note that we hold none for this car.

Our pick is the G20 Evolve. It is where the equipment advantage over $32,000 rivals is clearest, without paying for an engine you may not need.

See how the Mazda3 compares in our best small cars guide.