Car and Driver had the Civic on top comfortably(they tested manuals). The Cruze is a major turd. Really surprised GM can't seem to get small cars right. 
Thanks! Yeah the Cruze doesn't seem like it belongs there. Maybe they're trying to showcase two ends of the spectrum: sporty car in the Mazda 3, and mobile tech in the Cruze. The Civic has a blend of bothMazda needs to bring back the Speed3.
https://www.caranddriver.com/compar...s-chevy-cruze-mazda-3-vw-golf-comparison-test
Oh and welcome to this forum. It's one of the best out there.
I always love mazda for these kind of engineering break through that they do.
Next iteration of the 3 is to have torsion beam rear suspension as opposed to IRS.
It does look like it will be awesome, engine-wise. I'm not sure how the HCC engine will be right off the bat. Between the transition from spark to compression ignition. Also, I know injectors for port injection are (relatively) cheap. I'm not sure about our DI cars. I've had a lot of my Navy buddies who've bought diesels that were relatively inexpensive used and couldn't afford to repair them when they required injector repair. It was prohibitively expensive on a vehicle which, new would cost 2-3x what I assume of mazda3 would cost... so I would be interested since this is a gas engine that does compression ignition, if it will have similar sky high repair costs. I will happily enjoy my 10th gen Civic, my first car with DI which is pretty mature now, but look at HCCI with a lot of interest... and see how the tech works and matures.
Mazda is saying that the torsion beam is being used to address NVH. I think that's BS, though. They're doing it to cheap out. I'm still hoping they'll give that idea up. As far as space, the 10th gen Civic hatch and current Mazda3 hatch have very similar interior dimensions and seat-down cargo capacity. Not sure what you mean there. Anyway, it's a moot point till we see the next gen Mazda3. Honda has done very well sales-wise with the new Civic hatch. There's definitely folks that still want economical, sporty hatches and money to be made. My biggest gripe with Honda is their stingieness with the 6MT. Mazda offers the 6MT in all trim levels and doesn't play upsell games by keeping the 6MT away from those that want it. Honda's 6MT BS cost them a sale (mine). My biggest gripe with Mazda is the sparse dealer network. Nearest dealer to me is 180 miles away. The next gen Mazda3 has to be a slam-dunk over the Civic or customers like me won't go out of their way to buy it.
Any new car is a risk, especially with a new engine, but I think direct injection has been around long enough that engineers know how to design it properly. The Skyactiv X is not that far away from Skyactiv G in design or cost except for the supercharger or "high response air supply" as Mazda prefers to call it. That's definitely a question mark. Most of the rest of the differences between Skyactiv G and X are software and much easier to update/fix than hardware.
The numbers might be similar, in terms of interior space, but the difference is a lot more noticeable in person. The Civic sedan's backseat is approaching the levels of early 2000s Accords. Mazda 3's rear seats felt almost like a Ford Fiesta. Mazda 3 kept closer to the original compact size; whereas, the new Civic is stretching the envelope. Civic hatchback's rear seat is marginally smaller than the sedan.
If you don't mind me asking, what were the electrical problems on the Civic, and what year was the Golf?
The rain sensing wipers don't work properly, and my trip computer's trip history is not displaying any mileage data. I've gone to the dealer twice for each issue and they are still figuring out a solution. The Golf was a 2010.
