Mazda is set to prove that its third-gen Mazda3 is one pretty robust car – the automaker will be sending eight of its new hatchbacks on a 15,000 km drive direct from its factory in Hiroshima to the Frankfurt Motor Show.
The cars will be part of the Mazda Route3 – Hiroshima to Frankfurt Challenger Tour 2013 adventure; driven by bloggers, journalists and Mazda dealers, the eight vehicles will cross nine time zones, five countries and two continents
After taking a ferry across the Sea of Japan, the endurance test drive will begin in the Russian port city of Vladivostok on August 3. Ten legs are scheduled, with the cars making their way through Russia, Belarus and Poland before arriving in Frankfurt on September 7, three days before the IAA opens its doors.
All eight Mazda3 hatchbacks will be 120 PS and 210 Nm 2.0 litre SkyActiv-G versions, paired with a six-speed SkyActive-MT manual transmission.
It’s not the first long distance adventure the company has undertaken. In 1977, German reporters drove two Mazda 323 hatchbacks from Japan to Frankfurt, while in 1990, four Mazda 626s crossed the former Soviet Union. Third time continues the charm, then.
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“Only Mazda can catch with Korea’s cars’ design”
*ROFL*
Korea? You mean European?
Catch? Korean can’t even smell dust that are left behind by Mazda.
Korean car r beautiful but still cheap about the exterior and interior! is pretty weird…
i tot mazda3 hatch still being bash..now ok oledi or oledi feloget..hehe
Ambitious plan, but why only send manual cars ?
Mazda should send diff version of powertrain to showcase. And wondering if all can make their way to Frankfurt.
coz auto trans is seriously under-powered except with i-ELOOP, that’s why lol
Best in class looks, handling, fuel efficiency, quality, gadgets and reliability. No reason not to buy this car.
money, I don’t have the money for this car.
This is only same price with Suprimau in Langkawi. Money is not the problem, Proton is.
No big deal!
my kancil oledi clocked 300,000km from kuala lumpur to singapore to thailand since 15 years ago, now on board a ferry heading to kota kinabalu. 15000KM so what?
ppl take probably a week but u took 15 years
try use ur so strong kancil to run 15000km straight… doubt u can even reach half of it… overheated…
Weird, 2.0 Skyactive only producing 120ps. Kinda underpower inefficient move. Heard from Bermaz that November will debut in 1.5 and 2.0 Mazda 3. Salesman predict 1.5l Mazda 3 will delling at 110k +/-, will u consider 1.5l at this price range?watever it is, i just hope it come to showroom fast.
preve turbo only 73k
Preve is like plastic. The same quality you get when you buy a plastic pail.
say that to previous mazda3 interior
come to showroom fast with that pricetag u mentioned?..so what?..just for the sake of make u syok?…and u think u will buy it??
come on la bro. horsepower is not everything. torque is. for example bmw 320d vs 320d effiecient dynamics. same 380nm of torque but efficient dynamics have less horsepower at 164 if im not mistaken compared to 184hp on normal 320d. so its not underpowered and its not inefficient. torque is everything. 210nm just nice lah. thats pulling power. horsepower is for top end high speed power. just saying btw. peace out.
120 hp can do around 190km/h top speed. Minus the full load, it only can reach 180km/h, worse if do climbing. It’s under-powered a lot, pity.
Where you get this calculation from? your assumption?
Don’t look at the power in isolation. Also look at the torque ~ 210 nm is very good for a non-turbo with only 120 ps.
By comparison:
Forte 2.0 ~ 156 ps but 194 nm of torque.
Civic 2.0 ~ 155 ps but 190 nm of torque.
Focus 2.0 ~ 170 ps and 202 nm of torque
Better drop it by air to Antarctica or Arctic just like Proton
Just like Proton? Drop the car there and get frozen? Exactly our Malaysian govt mentality. Go for shortcut.
Put it in refrigerator lah, why go so far away?
I remember Mazda did the same run in the 1970s with the first Mazda 323. It was quite an event.
wow. how old are u?
Orang tua. hehehe….
The first Mazda 323 was a rear wheel drive hatchback, manual gears and comes with a 1.3L carburetor engine. The current Mazda 3 is the third generation successor to the 323.
The same run back then was a test of reliability and got the brand very good publicity. The current run should yield a better result because of the technology and engineering of today.
hmm.. the Skyactive engines are GDI. I wonder if the fuel quality in Russia’s heartland is better than ours.
Wondering why more marques are not bringing in their GDI engines.
prolly can sell older cheaper engines here and get more profit
It’s not just GDi. Skyactiv is a high compression petrol engine giving it the high torque characteristic of a diesel engine. You can see from a miserly 120 ps it can churn out a torque of 210 nm.
new m3 is bigger n lighter so 120 kuasa kuda maybe can punch decent performance
it’s truth
……but the auto drivetrain bogs it down
15000km onli beh. Any car even proton oso can do it la.
They should do 150000km. Then its a different story.
But… besides the reliability. Will the test on the fc as well?
But your proton need to stop 3 times for service winthin 15000km.
preve already has 10,000km service interval
Can’t afford a Ferrari FF? No problem people of the world, buy a Mazda3 Hatchback, it looks just as beautiful!
Both are ugly, nowadays modern cars can show off their techs by shorter fronts. Smaller bay but more powerful engine. And mazda3? Sigh, it fails.
Mazda 3 vs Cerato
Looks good but slow like a snail. Any Mazda 3 cars suitable for girl only.
Actually it should more accurately be called “Vladivostok to Frankfurt Challenger Tour 2013”. The boat trip from Hiroshima to Russia, where the cars sit still for the entire duration, should not count.
You dont know what? The new mazda 3 is “amphibious”…1st in the world… Can “swim” in the Sea of Japan.. (just kidding)
Proton should do this too. Preve la. Global car what.
Power window also global what.