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Mazda3 Saloon review - Practicality & boot space

"The Saloon boasts a bigger boot than the Mazda3 hatchback"

Carbuyer Rating

3.9 out of 5

Owners Rating

3.8 out of 5

Read owner reviews
Practicality & boot space Rating

4.0 out of 5

Overall, the Mazda3 Saloon is a practical car, but it’s not quite as spacious as its rivals, which all come with bigger boots and a bit more room for rear-seat passengers.

Mazda3 Saloon interior space and storage

Rear-seat passengers should be happy enough in the Mazda3 Saloon, as headroom and legroom are both good for adults - although the sloping roof line will affect the tallest people. The front seats are comfortable, and there are storage compartments all around the cabin.

Boot space

The saloon offers 444 litres of boot space – 90 more litres than the Mazda3 hatchback. The Honda Civic saloon has a boot that’s significantly more spacious, offering 519 litres of luggage room – it’s also worth noting that the boot will be less accessible than the hatchback given its smaller opening. You’ll struggle to load furniture or kids’ bikes into the saloons. That being said, the Mazda’s rear seats fold down to offer more boot space, making this a reasonably practical car for most users.

Towing

The Mazda3 is an acceptable tow car for small and medium-sized trailers, thanks to a maximum towing capacity of 1,300kg. Because of its small size and low weight, it wouldn't make a particularly good tow car for larger caravans. But for normal towing or even a small caravan, the Mazda3 provides adequate power and braking capabilities. It’s worth noting that the more powerful petrol (the only option in the Saloon) offers the same towing capacity as the smaller petrol, but it’ll make lighter work of towing duties.

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Charlie writes and edits news, review and advice articles for Carbuyer, as well as publishing content to its social media platforms. He has also been a regular contributor to its sister titles Auto Express, DrivingElectric and evo. As well as being consumed by everything automotive, Charlie is a speaker of five languages and once lived in Chile, Siberia and the Czech Republic, returning to the UK to write about his life-long passion: cars.

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