How Well Does the Mazda 3 Hatchback Road Trip?

 We take the upscale compact on a series of journeys to find out.

Time with our long-term test of the 2020 Mazda 3 coming to a close, and we're just a few thousand miles away from hitting 20,000 on the odometer. A couple staffers happily took the keys to the 3 for long-distance journeys lately, and both reaffirmed that Mazda's hatchback is a comfy and competent road-trip car.

First up was associate online editor Alex Leanse, who racked up 1,500 miles during his trip to Northern California. As our resident tall guy who stands at 6-foot-10, we wondered how the 3 would accommodate a driver of his stature. "The Mazda 3 hatchback has once again proven itself to be a sweet road trip machine," Leanse said. "The driver's seat remained comfortable on long slogs." He also gave high marks to the Bose sound system, fuel economy, and rear cargo space.

Leanse was less enthused with the 3's driver assist technology. The adaptive cruise control (ACC) detected and reacted to objects that weren't on the road, most notably on curves. He also noted that after accelerating to pass with ACC engaged, "it'd brake quite strongly to return to the set speed." Hopefully some software updates can rectify those issues.

While he was enjoying twisty canyon roads east of San Jose, Leanse unfortunately ran into some bad luck with a pothole that slashed a tire. On the upside, he discovered that our 3 is equipped with a compact spare tire (which I prefer over repair kits with the sealant solution that gets messy and makes me second-guess their effectiveness).

Following Leanse's trip, our director of editorial operations, Mike Floyd, headed east to Phoenix. Floyd also appreciated the Mazda's spacious cargo area that was more than adequate for his and his mother's luggage.

"I was pleasantly surprised by its quiet, composed nature," Floyd noted. "At freeway speeds its NVH was better than I expected it to be, the engine note was almost too muted, and road noise was kept to a dull roar."