2010 Mazda3 sedan spied

The new Mazda3 will showcase the new styling direction that will eventually spread to the entire Mazda lineup, Laurens van den Acker, Mazda’s design chief, said recently.

Although still covered in a bit of camo, we can see an impressive pair of projector headlamps up front and angled tail lights in back. Overall, once the camouflage comes off, we expect a much more sporty design to be revealed.

From the interior photos, we can see this 3 sedan is packing a 6 speed transmission. That’s one more gear than the current model. We can also see buttons for heated seats, satellite radio and an MP3 hard drive. That probably tells us we’re looking at a Grand Touring sedan prototype.

The new Mazda3 will ride on the next-generation global Ford Focus C1 platform and is expected to be longer and wider than the current model.

Under the hood, Mazda’s MZR line of motors will get a bump in power and further tweaking for fuel savings. Expect the current 2.3L motor to be bored out to around 2.5L. That should give it a 20-30hp bump from the current 156hp rating. The 2.0L base motor probably won’t see an increase in displacement, but a 10 to 15 horsepower increase is likely.

This all new sport compact was originally due to go on sale sometime in the last half of 2009, but will now hit showrooms in the summer of 2009 as a 2010 model year car.

© Source: leftlanenews
We need your comments below >>