The 2006 Mazda 3 GS is a Front-wheel drive Sedan. It can accommodate up to 5 passengers. It has 4 Doors and is powered by a 2.0L L4 DOHC 16 valves engine which outputs 150 hp @
6500 rpm and is paired with 5 speed manual transmission gearbox. The 2006 Mazda 3 GS has cargo capacity of 322.8 Liters and the vehicle weighs 1223 kg. In terms of ride assists, the 2006 Mazda 3 GS has stability control and traction control in addition to anti-lock brake system (ABS). The vehicle has an optional engine as well It offers and. Safety features also include Driver side front airbag and Passenger side front airbag. The front suspension is Front independent suspension while the rear suspension is Rear independent suspension. The car also features a It has 15" alloy wheels as standard. Electronic features include Cruise Control. For convenience, the car has Power windows and Power door locks. There is also a remote keyless entry feature. Moreover, the car has. The steering wheel has audio control buttons. In terms of performance, the car has 164 N.m of torque and a top speed of 195 km/h. The 2006 Mazda 3 GS accelerates from zero to 60 mph in 8.6 seconds and hits quarter mile at 16.2 seconds. Fuel consumption is 9.1 L/100km in the city and 6.4 L/100km in the highway. The car price starts at $ 17,895
Estimates based on a driving average of 12,000 miles per year
Used Condition
Trade In Price
Private Party Price
Dealer Retail Price
Outstanding
$ 1,781
$ 2,704
$ 3,202
Clean
$ 1,605
$ 2,443
$ 2,896
Average
$ 1,253
$ 1,923
$ 2,285
Rough
$ 901
$ 1,403
$ 1,674
Entertaining yet sophisticated in demeanor, the 2006 Mazda 3 doesn't look, feel or drive like an economy car. If you're shopping for a small, inexpensive sedan or hatchback, this Mazda car should be at the top of your list.
Following in a long line of zippy compact cars from Mazda, the Mazda 3 replaced the Protege as the entry-level car in Mazda's lineup. It's available in both four-door sedan and five-door hatchback body styles. Mazda backs up the 3's sporty image with a pair of strong, refined engines. All i trims use a 150-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, while all s models use a 2.3-liter four-cylinder that bumps the horsepower number to 160 while offering significantly more torque.
Both engines are equipped with variable valve timing to improve response and efficiency. The Protege had a well-deserved reputation for superior ride and handling compared to most economy cars, and the Mazda 3 builds upon that tradition with the help of a few parts from the more expensive Mazda 6 midsize sedan. Spot-on chassis tuning results in quick turn-in, hardly any body roll and lots of grip on twisty blacktop. At the same time, the highway ride is smooth enough to please most commuters.
While most economy cars serve up generic interior designs with little or no concern for aesthetics, the 3's cabin has a cohesive layout that injects some style into the equation. From the individually recessed gauges to the symmetry of the center stack controls, the attention to detail is evident. Satellite steering wheel controls are a nice touch for a car in this price range, as is the tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel. Build and materials quality is outstanding for this class. There's plenty of room for taller drivers to get comfortable up front, and the rear seats are acceptably spacious for a car in this class. With all the personality of its predecessors along with more powerful engines and a sharp new interior, the 2006 Mazda 3 is an economy car that puts the "zoom-zoom" back into driving.
The Mazda 3 is available as a sedan in i, i Touring, s, s Touring and s Grand Touring trims. The four-door hatchback model comes in s, s Touring and s Grand Touring trims. All i sedans have a tilt-and-telescoping steering wheel, a 60/40-split-folding rear seat and a CD stereo. The i Touring adds 16-inch wheels, cruise control, an upgraded stereo and power windows, mirrors and locks. Air conditioning is optional on i models. The s models come with all of the above, plus alloy wheels, a height-adjustable driver seat and a leather-wrapped steering wheel with satellite audio controls. The s Touring adds 17-inch alloys to the mix, while the top-line s Grand Touring provides heated leather seats, auto climate control, rain-sensing wipers and a trip computer. Options include an in-dash CD changer, satellite radio and a moonroof.
The i sedans use a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine rated to produce 150 horsepower, while the s models use a 2.3-liter four-cylinder that bumps the horsepower number to 160. Both engines come standard with a five-speed manual transmission. A four-speed automatic transmission with an automanual mode is optional on i models, while s models upgrade to a five-speed automatic.
All Mazda 3 models come with four-wheel disc brakes. Antilock brakes with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) are standard on s models and optional on i trims. Front-seat side-impact airbags and full-length side curtain airbags are optional on all models. The 3 earned four out of five stars in NHTSA frontal-impact crash tests and was named a "Best Pick" for its performance in the IIHS frontal-offset test. In side impacts, the Mazda earned just three stars from NHTSA and a "Poor" rating (the lowest) from the IIHS, but neither agency has yet to test a 3 with side airbags.
The 2006 Mazda 3 has refined road manners that will likely surprise shoppers expecting the typically flabby ride and handling of many economy cars. The Mazda car feels nimble and tightly controlled during cornering and its steering provides rewarding feedback. For everyday driving, both of the available engines are suitable, though the larger 2.3-liter offers stronger low- and midrange pull.
Unlike most economy cars, the Mazda 3 offers a distinctive and upscale interior design. The sharp-looking gauges are housed in individual binnacles, while beautifully choreographed textures, nicely damped controls and tight-fitting panels give the cabin a top-quality feel. There's enough room for taller drivers to get comfortable up front. The rear seats are also comfy and supportive, though legroom is a little tight for 6-footers. Sedans offer 11.4 cubic feet of trunk space; the hatchback offers 17.1 cubes behind its rear seat and 31 when it's folded.
Born as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co. in 1920, Mazda started out as a machine-tool manufacturing plant but quickly turned to making vehicles. The first Mazda car, called the Mazda-Go, a three-wheeled truck appeared in 1931, which a year later began exporting to China. This was the only car that was in production until the Second World War broke out when Mazda factories began making rifles.
After the war, part of the Mazda plant served as the Hiroshima prefecture for a short while. Production and export resumed in 1949 with the same 3-wheeled truck. The first 4-wheel truck was the Mazda Romper, introduced in 1958.
The first pasenger car came in 1960, the Mazda R360 Coupe. Mazda's first partnership with a foreign company was the one in 1961 with NSU/Wankel with which it produced and developed rotary engines. This was done in order to differentiate Mazda from the other Japanese companies. To this day, Mazda is the only manufacturer of Wankel rotary engines as the other companies (NSU and Citroen) gave up on the design sometime during the 70s.
Mazda's paid off because its models quickly gained a name as being powerful yet light vehicles. The most successful series for Mazda were going to be the R100 and the RX models which eventually led to the company's development.
Starting with 1970 Mazda began eyeing the biggest market for its cars, the United States. It opened up a North American branch under the name Mazda North American Operations and it proved to have the winning recipe. In fact, Mazda models were so successful that the company even produced a pick up truck based on the rotary engine.
With 1973 and the oil crisis, the thirsty rotary engines that Mazda used caused a drop in sales but the Japanese company hadn't really given up on piston engines so it was able to use a 4 cylinder model on its cars. The smaller Familia series and Capella were born.
But Mazda wasn't about to give up on its sporty cars and it decided to develop a parallel plant that would produce cars outside the mainstream. In 1978, they came up with the very sporty RX7 and later with the RX8. The piston engine also showed up on Mazda's line up with the MX-5 or Miata.
In 1979 Ford Motor Company became an investor in Mazda with a 27% share after the financial decline of the company. Later on, in the 80s, Ford acquired 20% more of the company after a few joint ventures like using the Familia series platform for the Laser and Escort models as well as building the new Probe and the Mazda plant in Flat Rock, Michigan.
The 90s started off with another joint venture with Ford on the 1991 Explorer which turned out to be a bad investment for the Japanese while the Americans reaped all the benefits. Following its fascination with alternative engine designs, Mazda started developing the Miller cycle engine in 1995.
The latter part of the 90s proved to be not so profitable for the Japanese as the financial crisis hit in 1997, during which Ford acquired 39.9% of the company. From that point on, the collaboration between the two marques intensified, sharing engine design and even some platforms (Ford Escape with Mazda Tribute and the new generation Ford Focus with the Mazda Axela).
For the future, Mazda intends to maintain its forward thinking and experimental technology, by developing a hydrogen-powered car. The prototype has so far reached a 200 kilometers autonomy.
2006 Mazda 3 Consumer Reviews
conclusiongigabyte, 04/02/2016
i 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
The little Mazda that could
I'm leaving my original review below (followed by the stars) as I still believe and stand by everything I've written about this car in the past. Now, in 2019 with 96,000 miles on the clock I'm scheduled to do some more maintenance that I've been putting off for a while. A noise developed in the front right corner of the cars suspension that I believe is a weak upper strut mount, and I've purchased KYB Quick-struts that I'll be installing in a few weeks. There's also a rattling noise coming from the rear right corner that's only evident when driving over certain road surfaces and I've yet to find the source. The exhaust system is another area of concern, with the pipes, mufflers and catalytic converters all being still in good shape, but all of the iron hanger brackets have rusted and broken. Instead of replacing the whole system I've been systematically repairing the broken brackets as best as I can (by now you may have guessed that I work in a shop and have access to a lift and welding equipment).
The source of the PO171 lean code was found to be one of the plastic EVAP lines that's at the front of the engine. A new replacement couldn't be found, so a judicious application of sealant was applied to the outer sealing edge to prevent air from being ingested and the code hasn't returned in over a year.
The engine is still running like new, with no oil consumption or other issues causing a loss of confidence in this fine powerplant. Two years ago I changed all of the cooling hoses and thermostat as a matter of routine maintenance, but to get at the PCV valve the plastic intake manifold needed to be removed since the valve is mounted to the engine block and can't be accessed any other way-I think that's a pretty poor design that came from the Ford camp.
***I'm not quite sure if I would have been as happy with a lower level of trim, but since my concern was having a dedicated onboard GPS system as opposed to an add-on unit I found myself having to purchase my Mazda 3 with the Grand Touring option package. I thought leather seats (heated) were a waste of money until I used them for a while, then i found the material quality and heat feature to be worth the cost.
The upgraded Bose audio system is superb, out performing sound systems in many costlier cars I've been in. The four cylinder engine performs flawlessly and although it isn't the most powerful plant on the market it is adequate for the size of the Mazda 3, only being taxed when climbing long inclines. My car is equipped with the standard 5 speed manual transmission so I can't speak to how the 2.3L engine performs when backed by an automatic transmission. My only complaint about the powertrain is that the hydraulic clutch is too soft for my taste. Having other manual transmission cars with conventional and cable actuated clutches presents no problems for me, but after having owned my 3 since new in 2006 I STILL occasionally stall the car when coming off the clutch from a dead stop, making me feel like a newbie (which I certainly am not).
Above all, the BEST feature of this car, and another one I thought would be insignificant, are the rain sensing windshield wipers. A friend had told me that this feature on his BMW seems to think faster than he does, actuating the wipers when a truck splashed him in traffic. I didn't quite believe this until it happened to me, and I'll be damned, those wipers really DO come on at high speed just as your brain tells you to hit the switch. Having this feature in an economy classed car is fantastic, and needless to say I've been spoiled now and want these wipers in every car I own from here on.
I've driven 85,000 event free miles in my Mazda 3 with only oil changes, front struts and tire replacements in those miles. The front struts needed replacement around 50k along with the lower control arms, which I thought were worn out way too early. Shortly following those repairs the car needed rear brakes, and I changed the fine wire spark plugs at that time also because I feel weird letting them go to 100,000 miles.
Recently the car needed lower control arms again, and something in the rear of the car is making a clunking noise over bumps that was traced to a worn sway bar mount. The car has developed a nasty habit of randomly setting a P0171 (lean fuel trim) code that I haven't been able to track down, but the car drives and performs well otherwise.
Overall this car is a solid performer, handling and braking very nicely, and returning great gas mileage when driven on the highway. As with the other Asian cars in my household I'm dismayed to find the rubber products like engine mounts and suspension components wearing too quickly, but guess this is how money is saved in the long run by car companies.
Buy a Mazda 3 and enjoy ease of parking, a decent hauling capacity, and the Zoom Zoom thrill of driving excitement while your money stays in your pocket as you avoid expensive repair costs.
barberpickle, 07/03/2012
Best Car Out There
I bought my 2006 Mazda3 Grand Touring Hatchback new when it first came out in '05 and drove it for about 78,000 miles before a guy lost control of his car on a highway, hit the driver side of my car causing the airbags to deploy and spinning us into a ditch. Because of the high safety standards, we were all able to walk away from the accident with minor injuries, when looking at my car, we should have been on stretchers. My car saved our lives. I loved this car and will be buying a new one just as soon as I can find one. They are so great that no one wants to part with theirs. I recommend this car to everyone. Fun to drive, safe, and reliable.
sistonalumni, 01/25/2012
Awesome Sedan, Great Value
I have had this car for a year and a half now and I really like it a lot. It feels like I'm driving a sports car because of the pep and the great handling. It has 90k miles on it and in the time I've had it I haven't had to do anything other than regular maintenance. It is very reliable and I don't mind that it doesn't get great gas mileage (I average 25 - 28 mpg with a mix of city/highway) because it is so fun to drive. The sporty/luxury mix is perfect.
In the snow and ice, one must be careful of the pep and be easy on the gas pedal when accelerating after stopping, but other than that, I've had no problems driving it in the snow.
charityanchor, 03/08/2016
i 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
Very impressed!!
This is my first Mazda that I have ever owned, and words cannot express how pleased I have been with it. I bought the car with 52,000 miles on it, and now have 180,000 miles. I have only had to put on one set of tires, 1 set of front rotors and 2 sets of front brake pads. Outside of that, just oil changes. This car has been very reliable in every aspect. I can honestly say that I don't have any complaints about it at all. I drive 120 miles round trip to work, and this car has been a joy. I avg 31-32 mpg with winter gas and 33-35 mpg with summer gas. I have been doing some early searching for my next car, and a newer Mazda 3 will definitely be on my list of vehicles to consider.
Electro-hydraulic power assisted rack and pinion steering
Rear Anti-Roll Bar
Rear stabilizer bar
Rear Suspension
Rear independent suspension
Spare Tire
Compact spare tire
Wheel Type
15" alloy wheels
Wheel Type (Option)
16" alloy wheels
Critics Reviews
Motor Trend reviews the 2006 Mazda Mazda3 where consumers can find detailed information on specs, fuel economy, transmission and safety. Find local 2006 Mazda Mazda3 prices online.
Discussion and Comments
Share Your Comments