Next Mazda3 to grow up, but not out

MAZDA will implement much of the lessons in weight reduction it has learnt from the current MX-5 and new-generation Mazda2 light car for its next-genration small car.

According to the chief project manager for the new DE-series Mazda2, Shigeo Mizuno, assessing every aspect that goes in creating a new model is now the norm for all future Mazda vehicles, including the top-selling Mazda3 replacement.

The fruit of this philosophy was first witnessed when the NC-series MX-5 was announced in the middle of 2005, and has since gained favour within Mazda as it seeks solutions to cutting CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.

However, Mr Mizuno told GoAuto that the next Mazda3 – due to be unveiled as early as at the Paris motor show 12 months away in September 2008, although the Geneva show in March 2009 might be just as likely a venue – will grow larger and roomier than today’s BK-series.

This is the key difference in the weight-saving philosophy between Mazda’s small and light-car offerings.

Mr Mizuno said that consumers now demand that C-segment (small-car class) vehicles be roomier and more practical than ever.

Speaking via an interpreter, he added that as new-car buyers respond to higher fuel costs and increasing environmental concerns by downsizing to smaller vehicles, models such as the Mazda3 must be larger if they are to meet people’s demands for more space.

Mr Mizuno also agreed that aspirational German cars such as the Volkswagen Golf have created a situation where small cars must “feel” solid in order to meet high quality expectations from both consumers and critics alike.

From top: Current Mazda3, Mazda2 structure and suspension.

Both of these factors conflict with the goal of developing a small car that does not grow in both size and weight, creating a huge challenge for Mazda’s engineers who are committed in striving to make each successive model lighter than the one before it.

At the new Mazda2 launch earlier this month, Mr Mizuno revealed that up to 20 per cent of the 100kg mass reduction recorded on the latest ‘2’ is a result of making the vehicle physically smaller.

So while downsizing the next Mazda3 is out of bounds, Mr Mizuno hinted that there are plenty of other ways to skim this particular cat, so to speak.

Chief among these is the fact that the next Mazda3 will be only the second model – after the Mazda2 – to employ both ultra-high strength and high-strength steel in its body and platform.

However, Mr Mizuno has ruled out the use of aluminium and/or plastic materials to cut the kilos.

He said that not only are some of these properties expensive to make, they are incompatible with Mazda’s production system and would necessitate new infrastructure to be instigated at the factory source at great expense.

Meanwhile, with the next Mazda3’s front-wheel drive underpinnings likely to be a development of the current C1 platform base that is also the development basis of the Ford Focus and its derivatives, Mazda may have limited scope to save weight in the chassis department.

Yet its engineers may still be able to mirror some of the Two’s calorie-counting strategies in the form of a lighter MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension system.

The sophisticated independent suspension, along with body strengthening, are core to Mazda building on the reputation the ‘3’ has for sporty dynamic capabilities.

Weight savings may also come with the increased use of bodyshell blanks, the fitment of lighter auxiliary items such as reduced-mass wiring harnesses, and the gram-by-gram weight-loss regime that Mazda famously devised for the MX-5.

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