Mazda3 Sports High Fuel Economy and Low Emissions

The all-new Mazda3, which recently debuted at Mazda showrooms, is available in four- and five-door body styles and in three iterations powered by 2.0- and 2.3-liter engines. It is one of the longest, widest, and tallest vehicles in the compact vehicle segment, designed to be sporty yet comfortable and with a fun-to-drive character. Handily, the Mazda3 also features design attributes allowing it one of the roomiest interiors among its peers.

No doubt, the Mazda3 is going to generate a lot of attention and sales at Mazda showrooms. But we feel compelled to point out this vehicle’s most attractive feature – a Mazda3 four-door variant that comes with an MZR in-line, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine featuring linear, lively power combined with high fuel economy and extremely low emissions.

In California and Northeastern states that have zero emission vehicle regulations in place, this engine offers 144 horsepower, features near-zero evaporative emissions, and comes with a 150,000 mile emissions system warranty. All this allows the vehicle to be certified as a PZEV (Partial Zero Emission Vehicle), bringing Mazda partial credits toward these states’ ZEV sales requirements. Other states that don’t require such stringent emissions find this MZR engine producing four additional horsepower, a nod to slightly less complicated plumbing and some changes in engine management computing. A 160 horsepower 2.3-liter engine is also available.

Both engines are coupled to either an electronically-controlled, four-speed automatic transmission with Sport A/T manual shift or a redesigned five-speed manual transmission. The 2.0-liter powerplant features 26/34 mpg city/highway fuel economy with the automatic trans and 28/35 mpg with the manual, while the 2.3-liter engine offers 24/29 mpg city/highway ratings with the automatic and 25/32 mpg with the manual transmission.