Mazda CX-3 review: a hatchback in a crossover's clothes
3.5/5MotorsSouq Editorial Team
Buy the CX-3 for the way it drives, not for what it can carry. The boot is genuinely small for the class, rear seats are tight for adults, and the ride is firmer than a CX-5's — all in service of a chassis that changes direction with more confidence than a subcompact crossover has any right to. A single buyer or a couple without children is the honest target market in Bahrain.
Pros
- Sharpest steering and handling in the subcompact-crossover class
- 2.0L Skyactiv-G is durable and well understood by independent workshops
- Soft used values make it a cheap way into a well-sorted Mazda chassis
- Simple, unstressed six-speed automatic
Cons
- Boot space trails even a small sedan
- Rear seat is tight for adults over 175cm
- Ride is firmer than most rivals its size
- Mazda's own CX-30 outsells and out-spaces it, hurting future demand
The CX-3 shares its underpinnings with the Mazda2, and it drives like it knows it: quick steering, a chassis that turns in with real enthusiasm, and a ride firm enough that Mazda clearly prioritised handling over comfort when they tuned it. In a segment full of crossovers built to feel like tall hatchbacks and not much else, the CX-3 is the one that actually delivers on that promise.
The space compromise
The trade-off is real. Boot space at 351 litres is smaller than a Mazda2 sedan's own trunk, rear headroom for anyone over 175 cm is tight against the sloping roofline, and the rear doors are narrower than a CX-30's. This is not a car for a growing family, and Mazda has never really pretended otherwise — the CX-30 exists specifically to be the CX-3 with room.
What you get in exchange is a driving experience that a Kia Stonic or Hyundai Venue does not match: precise steering, a stable feel through Bahrain's roundabouts, and a 2.0-litre four that is willing to rev rather than just tolerate it.
Buying one used in Bahrain
The 2.0-litre Skyactiv-G is a durable, well-understood engine shared with the Mazda2, and independent workshops handle it without fuss. Values have softened as buyers gravitate to the larger CX-30, which means a well-kept used CX-3 is currently one of the cheaper ways into a genuinely well-sorted small Mazda chassis — provided you have already accepted what you are giving up in space.