I have had a Mazda 3 to drive for over a week. I have enjoyed it thoroughly. The car was provided by Mazda so that I could experience all the car had to offer. Opinions are 100% my own. #DriveMazda

There were a bunch of great features that a commuter like me would use every day. Driving it was a dream. The ride was really smooth and whenever I wanted a little boost of power I had it. No matter what speed I was a at, I could still get a little more power. I don’t have the confidence in my current car to know that it will give me that boost to pass when I want to pass. I never felt that way with the Mazda 3. I always had what I needed to pass when I wanted to pass. When you drive far and often you don’t always want to hang out behind someone putt-putt-putting along in the left lane.

the car also had some nice safety features and one that I failed to mention in the video below. The sideview mirrors had blind spot monitoring. I know that you shouldn’t totally rely on them and you need to use your mirrors and also turn but it is nice to know that If I forgot to do any of those things I would quickly see that there was someone in my blindspot from the light on the side mirrors. That is also a commuter’s dream feature.

I liked that there was a rearview camera, too. We have a small driveway and because of that I often have to park part on the grass so that there is room. When it snows my door is by the snow and it is slightly sloped so I occasionally slip. With the rearview camera I can back into my spot with complete accuracy. It is fun to watch, too.

I liked driving a car that had the advanced keyless entry system. I just have the key fob in my pocket, walk up to the car and push a button to open the car. Push it twice and it opens all the lock, push it again and it locks everything. You don’t even know how much I would have loved to have had this for the past year with my current car where I have to get Andrew in and out and then fumble with keys. Yeah, my 2015 car doesn’t even have keyless entry and that is standard on this edition of the Mazda 3. The the push to start button was excellent. It was so easy to get on the road and just drive.

My favorite feature, though had to be the Multi-Function Commander Control in the center of the car. I could do everything one handed and never have to take my eyes off the road to switch music, make calls, turn on navigation. Everything would display on the 7″ Color Touch-Screen Display. I didn’t even realize that it was a touch screen until today, and I’ve had the car over a week. I did everything with the control knob in the commander center.

Overall I give this car a really high rating. I’ve enjoyed driving the Mazda cars ever since my trip to Joshua Tree last April. While I drove those cars on a fantasy road trip, it is nice to know that the same cars have great real world practicality.

I always forget to take images the minute I get these cars. they are always perfectly shined up and ready to go. Then it snows here and the car gets covered in road salt and such. So, I went and washed the car today.

I had to wash it up to get some nice photos and video.