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Foreboding skies above Grand Marais were no threat for the Mazda CX3, a hot-performing SUV despite compact size. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Our younger son, Jeff, sent us a carefully selected gift combining a birthday (my wife, Joan) and father’s day (that’d be me), which was a pair of well-positioned seats for the Bruce Hornsby concert at Big Top Chautauqua. Located just a few miles south of Bayfield, Wis., spending a summer evening at a concert after an afternoon strolling around the shops and waterfront of Bayfield is always memorable.

It would be more memorable this time, because we’d never seen Bruce Hornsby, but Jeff insisted he has rounded up a high-skilled backup band and he knew we had never seen them, plus he knew we’d enjoy the show. On top of that, it was the perfect opportunity to test my long-standing theory about how small SUVs can often outdo larger vehicles, because my test-vehicle of the week was a glistening metallic white Mazda CX3.

With Mazda selling a large CX9 for those who need to carry three rows-worth of seats-full, and a slick CX5 for those compact crossover types who are shopping Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Nissan Rogue, and Hyundai Tucson SUVs. But the trend is aiming still more compact, and to fit in against new compact crossovers from Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai and Kia, Mazda brought out the CX3.

Parked amid larger SUVs on the streets of Bayfield, the CX3 drew a lot of curious onlookers. Photo credit: John Gilbert

With technology at the forefront of the newest vehicles, Mazda has that covered. Not only does it have a potent 2.5-liter 4-cylinder that works well in the CX-9 with a turbocharger, or in the CX-5 and large-sedan Mazda6, the company also uses that Skyactiv technology on a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder -- which has become my favorite Mazda engine.

It revs quickly, packs a punch beyond what its 146-horsepower and 146-foot-pounds of torque might imply, and it gets fantastic fuel economy. I was warned, however, that the newest CX5 with G-Vectoring and the larger engine, would be a better choice because it is only about 1 mpg off the 2.0. That surprised me, but the EPA estimates confirmed those estimates. But this would be a valid real-world test.

The instrument pod displays everything, including a fuel meter that read 37.6 on its way to an observed high of 38.4 mpg. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Big Top Chautauqua is always a nice trip from Duluth, MN., being just under 100 miles, at an estimated time of just under 2 hours. You travel through lightly populated areas on good highways whether you take Wisconsin 13 close to the South Shore of Lake Superior or the more mainline Hwy. 2 to Washburn and then drive North on 13. The huge blue and white tent at Big Top Chautauqua sits at the bottom of a ski hill and houses amazing acoustics and a schedule filled with impressive performers. We usually take Hwy. 2, but this time we decided to take Hwy. 13 and came into Bayfield from the North. 

With a full tank of gasoline, and some mixed nuts and cans of Perrier, our Mazda Touring CX5 was ready for our test of my personal philosophy, which remains the same as it always has been for SUVs: Anything bigger than big enough is too big.
I’ve never understood why otherwise intelligent folks would buy enormous SUVs and claim it’s because they tow a boat up to the lake, then later explain how they haul the boat to the cabin in the spring, and bring it home in the fall, and for those two days, they spend 363 other days of the year suffering with poor fuel economy and virtual elimination of city parking possibilities. Aside from being cumbersome to maneuver and no fun to drive.

Compact size reduces interior room, but storage space under the hatch is adequate for a compact crossover. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Mazdas, meanwhile are always fun to drive, whether sports car, small sedan, large sedan, or SUV. The CX5 handles like a sports sedan and has the added power of the 1.5, but I can’t imagine anyone accusing the CX3 of being anything but peppy. Unless it is to compliment it on being an incredible over-achiever when it comes to fuel economy.

With Mazda technology, I’ve often found that the numbers don’t matter and they often don’t add up in assessing its engines. We were not flying at 75 or 80, and we stayed comfortably within the 60 or 65 mph speed limit the whole day. We left the house-built 6-speed automatic in “normal” setting; a toggle-switch on the console can put it into “sport” mode which stiffens the suspension, firms up the steering, holds the revs higher in each gear, and blocks out the overdrive and super-overdrive fifth and sixth gears.

The CX3 wears its Mazda signature grille stylishly. Photo credit: John Gilbert

As we drove, I watched the computerized fuel device climb, up to 30 miles per gallon, and then higher, and higher. When we pulled into the trendy little town of Bayfield, that gauge said 38.4 miles per gallon! Thirty-eight point four? And compact or not, this is an all-wheel-drive SUV that could turn hillside climbs up snowy and icy hills a simple and even joyful procedure. And it delivered 38.4.

The front bucket seats are supportive and comfortable, and the driver’s instrument cluster is concise and easy to read, with a large speedometer in the middle, and a smaller tachometer on the left, outlining other instruments. An easily operated switch racks over the information that appears on the speedometer, ranging from tire pressure, to remaining fuel range, to current fuel economy.

Even in normal setting, the CX3 has handling stability and quick-reacting response to steering input. At one point, I spotted a young deer running through a field parallel to Hwy. 13, and I was ready to take evasive action if it decided to veer onto the road.
We had plenty of room under the rear hatch to stow all the stuff we brought along, and I must say that we were pleasantly surprised when our older son, Jack, who is 5-11, climbed into the rear seat and declared that he had adequate headroom, and the leg and footroom was fine as long as we didn’t slide the seats back all the way.

The move to Skyactiv has been criticized by some, and ignored by others, who simply don’t understand the complexities. But it was a move made by Mazda to counteract the obvious technological breakthrough Hyundai made in South Korea back in 2010, designing a superb new engine to win joint-venture competition with Fiat-Chrysler and Mitsubishi, and adding unprecedented features such as direct-injection. It caught the Japanese manufacturers trapped possibly by their own complacency, and Mazda was first to break out, with an entirely new way to build engines.

It's easy to be a parking wizard fitting the CX3 into spaces between larger vehicles. Photo credit: John Gilbert

Carefully redesigning every facet of the engine, Mazda ended up with a gem, combining the sort of high-performance pistons, connecting rods, crankshaft, the best features of Miller-cycle and Atkinson cycle to alter intake and exhaust valves to more thoroughly burn fuel, guided by computerized efficiency and a unique 4-into-2-into-1 exhaust system. In total, the engine operates at an extremely high 14-to-1 compression ratio -- unprecedented for a production engine -- to assure top power production and maximum fuel efficiency.

The 6-speed automatic transmission works in harmony, as does the suspension and stiff chassis, all of which are coordinated to fit into the Skyactiv concept of unifying all elements of building a vehicle. All Mazda engines are Skyactiv, and such over-the-top technical advances make its price seem equally outrageous. In base form, a CX3 can be obtained in the under-$25,000 region, and loading up with all-wheel drive and all the prized options can boost it up to $30,000.

Because there is no Mazda dealer in the Duluth area, the dramatic confluence of contours and accent lines that all come together on the CX3 make a striking departure, back of the large grill opening. Parking on the main street in downtown Bayfield allowed us to wander among the shops and continue to see other pedestrians pause to scrutinize the vehicle as they passed.

Bruce Hornsby, by the way, put on a superb show, with his own brilliance on piano augmented by spectacular lead guitar, drums, bass, violin and electronic keyboard backing. His biggest hit, “The Way It Is,” was the show’s highlight as the band started deceptively then erupted into the familiar refrain, and carried on through elongated solos by the whole band. I want that version on a CD. And I don’t know when I’ve ever seen a band that was having as much outright fun on stage.

Afterward, the drive home took us until after midnight, but it was smooth and comfortable all the way.
The idea of making the shape and the size of a car or SUV work together with the powertrain and interior features such as connectivity and cubicles is not new. It just seems new because nobody seems to pull it off with the coordinated effort Mazda puts into all its vehicles.
When you drive away, or make a sharp turn, or relax on a long drive -- or notice that even with a small tank you don’t need to stop for fuel -- you realize that bringing together the advanced engine-transmission with the suspension and solidly built body and frame, and interior comfort is something special.

And when the fuel economy gauge clicks up to “38.4,” you wonder what the reaction would be of all those people who discount the importance of great fuel economy because of low gas prices. That’s about when you realize that Mazda’s “zoom-zoom” mantra is more than just throwing a Miata around a tight curve.