If you were to ask me what my favourite type of music was or my favourite film perhaps, I would find it hard to choose. With most things in life I am fairly open and like things across the board. I’m not really like that with cars. I definitely have a type. If it doesn’t have an elevated seating position then to be honest it is off the radar for me.
We were lucky enough to try out the Mazda CX-3 this weekend and I am always keen to try out new cars as we are still waiting to find something to replace our car. To be honest we need two cars but are trying to decide what each car’s primary needs are. Be that whether one car is a less expensive run around or whether they should be of equal value. Most of the time Si drives to work and I don’t have a car. The school run is walkable and the food shop is always delivered meaning I can hop on a bus if I need to pop anywhere a little further out. More recently however, with the boys attending more clubs and my work commitments getting busier it is harder for me to not have a car of my own.
Mazda’s ethos is Jinba Ittai, which in English means – Man and Machine being at one.
This is why we went on a family bike ride to celebrate that ethos. We rented bikes from Hartwells in Bourton On The Water and although I used to work locally and drive through these villages frequently I had no idea how close it was to bike from one village to another. It was really great to do something that we wouldn’t normally do, so thank you Mazda for organising that for us.
We stopped for lunch at The Slaughters Inn
So let me talk a little bit more about the CX-3. She’s a pretty little thing don’t you think? Sporty appearance and high seating position means we were always going to hit it off. The things that I found most appealing were the heated seats and steering wheel, which really were a welcomed feature after a cold bike ride. The seats also can be programmed to remember two drivers preferred seating positions. Meaning there was no need to get in and fiddle around with adjusting the seat, you simply had to press a button. Si and I sit completely differently in the car, Si sits far back and low and I take the less cool approach with my nose nearly touching the dash, so you can see how this feature struck a cord with me.
If you look on the dash pictured above, you can see it has a little screen that sits above the normal speedo area. This screen displays your speed and the speed limit of the road you are on. This immediately made me drive safer. Without having to look away from the road I was able to monitor my speed much closer than normal. Could this be the end to speeding tickets? (Not that I’ve had one in over 10 year’s but I’d like to keep it that way)
This was such a great opportunity for us to do something that we wouldn’t have normally thought of doing. The boys had the biggest smiles on their faces, both while in the car (because they could see out) and when we were out on the bikes. Having the CX-3 for the weekend has definitely made me think a little differently about what cars are on the top of my wish list. If you are after a small SUV with loads of gadgets then its a bit of a no brainer really!
*This is a sponsored post but as always all opinions are my own.
That’s such a good idea that it displays the speed limit of the road you are on plus the speed you are currently doing! I sometimes drive along thinking “this is a 40, isn’t it? Or is it a 30?” which I should probably know but it’s hard to tell especially when most people are speeding anyway!
Lovely pictures too by the way 🙂
Melissa x
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Thank you Melissa!
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