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Light Rail Service

The long-serving Mazda CX-3 compact SUV has again received some subtle upgrades but the flagship Hikari (it means “ray of light” in Japanese) version, while attractive, is now more about “chug-chug” than “zoom-zoom”, writes long-time Mazda fan Jim Freeman.

“Chug, chug, chug. Puff, puff, puff. Ding-dong, ding-dong. The little train rumbled over the tracks. She was a happy little train for she had such a jolly load to carry.”

So begins the children’s classic The little engine that could and it is the first thing that goes through my mind as I turn the pearl-white Mazda CX-3 Hikari into the gates of the Winelands Light Railway outside Stellenbosch to watch the miniature trains toot-tooting along the small track. “I think I can. I think I can.”

This was the third CX-3 I have driven since the model was introduced in 2015 and, frankly, I have developed a soft spot for the Mazda … given that it is what it is.  Mazda calls it “a compact crossover SUV” but the company is exercising a vast amount of advertising licence in this description. 

Pure and simple: it is a biggish, good-looking hatchback that will not get your juices flowing in terms of out and out performance but will let you feel sexy – and safe – while driving it around town or on top-quality tarred roads.

As for the “SUV” appellation I have always thought a sports utility vehicle to be one that you can at least traverse dirt roads of the relatively innocuous ilk of Seweweekspoort and the main loops of Addo Elephant National Park. The ground clearance of the CX-3, however, is so low it would beach itself on the back of a dung beetle.

I previously took a CX-3 to Cape Columbine Nature Reserve outside Paternoster on the West Coast but suspect this might be a bit of a tough ask for the 2022 model despite the fact there has been no deterioration of the roads in the park in the interim.

A Ray of Light

So, why am I at Winelands Light Railway and am I still as enamoured of the CX-3 as in previous years? The first is a lot easier to answer. Hikari is the Japanese word “light” (as in a ray of light) but it is also the name of a high-speed train service in Japan running on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen “bullet train” lines.

The Mazda CX-3, let me tell you, does not reach anything near the speeds attained by the bullet trains, and its size is more on a par of the little narrow-gauge locomotives trundling around the 700 m track on the R304 between the Eikestad and Malmesbury. (Sorry to belabour the point, but your butt is just about as close to the ground in both modes of transport.)

However, the comfort and interior sophistication of “the little Mazda that could” have nothing for which it needs to feel inferior. Still, the Hikari derivative seems somewhat overpriced at R532 600, while the model one step down, the CX-3 Individual, seems similarly cheekily priced at only R20k less. 

Perhaps the most accurately priced model in the range is the entry-level 2.0 Active (manual) with its base price of R390 500 but, again, be aware that a lot less luxury and comfort features and still the same lack of driving excitement. So, back to the Hikari, what are you getting for half a bar of spend?

Well, product enhancements include the Mazda MZD Connect infotainment screen increased from seven-inch to eight-inch, to “improve the user experience and comfort” and for better safety, seatbelt warnings have been introduced on the rear seats as well. Wireless charging for smartphones is now also included, and a new colour, Platinum Quartz, has been introduced.

As flagship model, the Hikari also comes with adaptive LED headlights, a host of safety systems (blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning, driver attention alert, front and rear parking sensors, reverse camera, and head-up display), a Bose sound system, integrated navigation, a sunroof and 18-inch alloy wheels.

Yet, even with Skyactiv technology, the 2.0-litre engine is now old and dated compared to the power units in other compact crossovers and is found wanting in terms of power delivery and efficiency. It feels somewhat sluggish but not lethargic in normal drive mode (especially with the air-con turned up) and switching to dynamic mode means that fuel-efficiency plummets.You know what, though. I still like the top-of-the-line CX-3 for all its – pardon, the train pun – bells and whistles. And like The little engine that could it will still get over the mountain … provided there are no big potholes in the road.

Text & Images © Jim Freeman