School me on Mazda 3's

[Spoonfed]

Highway economy of some later 4cyls doesn't seem all that impressive. 1st hand 09 lancer managed only 8.3l/100 (4 people) on the same trip (4 people) an 07 XR6T managed 9.1l/100km (on E10 too boot). Same trip 1994 2.4l 4cyl bluebird managed 7.3l/100km.
Not to mention the lancer was by far the slowest, and loudest exhaust/engine noise wise. lol. Bloody things sound like a Kazzo is playing in the exhaust lol.

[smellytofu]

Really? I didn't think many cars in the small-mid zone got appreciably less, now they're all ~1300kg & quite upright?

I got into the mid 6's in a current Corolla 4 speed slushbox from Sydney to Melbourne in my holiday. 2 up and mildly loaded.

[smellytofu]

i think the benchmark is the diesels and light hybrids like the Prius C which will do 4-5 litres

small B segs are in the ~5-6 lt bracket, maybe even some C segments

Even the larger Prius will do 4-5's without resorting to pulse and glide techniques and still take on board 3 large suitcases without invading the rear seats. I've done 5 people (1 in a child seat) in a Prius + 3 large suitcases + 2 smaller hand carry (1 on the floor where the child seat was, 1 in the back). Still had room for some hand carry. Certainly couldn't do that in the Corolla I had previously.

If nothing else, get the hatch/wagon of whatever you're buying. Sedans suck for load carrying stuff like prams and bags. Father in law's C Class couldn't take more than 1 large suitcase in the boot. Pram was a tad too large to even fit in the boot and the only way to get home from the airport with 70+kg of luggage was to forget the C Class and ask a friend with a previous gen Forester to take us home.

[ButtaS15]

Even the larger Prius will do 4-5's without resorting to pulse and glide techniques and still take on board 3 large suitcases without invading the rear seats. I've done 5 people (1 in a child seat) in a Prius + 3 large suitcases + 2 smaller hand carry (1 on the floor where the child seat was, 1 in the back). Still had room for some hand carry. Certainly couldn't do that in the Corolla I had previously.

If nothing else, get the hatch/wagon of whatever you're buying. Sedans suck for load carrying stuff like prams and bags. Father in law's C Class couldn't take more than 1 large suitcase in the boot. Pram was a tad too large to even fit in the boot and the only way to get home from the airport with 70+kg of luggage was to forget the C Class and ask a friend with a previous gen Forester to take us home.

We had one of those 3 wheel Valco prams for the kids when they were small. Folded down it fitted in the boot of the sedan no worries even with the wheels on. The floor space in the hatch was a lot shorter with the rear seats up. I reckon it's be harder to squeeze in.....if it fitted at all. Boot space in the sedan is far more advantageous than the hatch for a family car where you can't really put the seat down because of the kids in the back seat. Without folding the seat down, you'd still get more luggage in the sedan than the hatch. For DINK's the hatch wins every time. Used to love my N14 Pulsar SSS. Could fold the seats down, remove the parcel shelf and get both our mountain bikes in there no worries.

[smellytofu]

Oh, 3 wheeler prams also suck dogs balls unless they are the ones you can run with. 4 wheelers you can stand them up on the side against the backrest of the rear seat and obstruct a bit of the rear view if the boot space is too short.

I'll disagree that in everyday living, you can fit more in a sedan. The only time it happens is if the objects you're stuffing in fits in with the dimensions of the sedan boot without much air left over. Otherwise, hatch every single day.