2006 Mazda 3 Katano review from UK and Ireland

Nothing has gone wrong. I've had to put back the rubber seal at the bottom of the driver's door on a couple of occasions, and the black plastic interior tends to mark easily, but there have been no major problems.

After the dull, but extremely competent Premacy, the 3 is like a breath of fresh air. Worked hard, and using the manual gears a bit more than I'd like, the 1.6 is willing and quite a lot of fun, but no rocket of course. The real fun comes from the handling, which is precise and direct (a vast improvement on the Premacy).

The Katano version has nice grey mica paint, rather fetching red-flecked black seat material, some extra chrome bits, climate control and the Smartnav guidance system... but the price was right, too.

I know the red lights on the audio equipment are not to everyone's taste (reminds me of Knight Rider!), but the rest of the dash is quite stylish and well laid out. I have a serious issue with the non-removable Smartnav touchscreen (an open invitation to car crime, even if it wouldn't be much use to the perpetrator), but the system itself is a must-have on the UK's crowded and camera-infested roads.

I hoovered the interior last week and almost sucked the flimsy carpet up, due to over-zealous use of the crevice tool around the rear-passenger air-con ducts! Be warned-avoid turbo-vacs in this car!

These minor gripes apart, the 3 is a joy to drive and to own. Reliability comes as standard, but not at the expense of enjoyment (cf. the Premacy!). Oh, I almost forgot, it doesn't look bad either, does it.