A facelifted Mazda3 arrived at my house this week but the snow meant it didn’t venture out for a couple of days. Its first trip was a late-night run to Farnborough Airport for an early flight the next morning. I got in the car, started the engine, switched on the headlights… and the reason I will never buy a Mazda3 hit me between the eyes. I realise style and design are personal choices, and I accept some people couldn’t give a monkey’s how the dashboard looks. But I’m not one of them; creating the interior should be as much a labour of love as the exterior. Designers will spend months carefully ensuring the windows, bonnet, bumpers and doors all blend together to produce something beautiful. So why on earth don’t they do it with the cabin? What about the Mazda3 so offended me? There are two digital information screens centrally mounted at the top of the dash. One is a trip computer, the other has ventilation and audio details. They are about an inch apart, yet Mazda has somehow managed to make them look totally hideous. Each is completely different to the other. Screen shape, font style, font colour, background shade – nothing is shared. They have quite clearly come from two different suppliers who had no idea what the other was doing. The result is a mess. The Mazda3 might be the best driver’s car on the planet but I wouldn’t open my wallet because that one element would irritate me every time I sat behind the wheel. My gripe may sound irrational to you but I guarantee I’m not alone.
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