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Mazda6, Honda CR-V and an Autoblogger's BMW Z3 | Autoblog Podcast #620

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by West Coast Editor James Riswick and Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. First, they talk about the cars that have been in their driveways, like the Mazda6, Lexus UX 250h and Honda CR-V, as well as Riswick's own BMW Z3 (where he actually recorded the podcast from). Then they discuss the news, which includes car dealers moving to digital commerce and other updates about — you guessed it — coronavirus, and how it's affecting the automotive industry. Finally, they take to Twitter to help a follower choose a weekend convertible for long, isolated drives in this week's "Spend My Money" segment. Autoblog Podcast #620 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown Cars we're driving 2020 Mazda6 Signature 2020 Lexus UX 250h Honda CR-V 1998 BMW Z3 2.8 Virtual dealers Coronavirus update Spend My Money Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video:

2020 Mazda6 Signature Driveway Test | A luxury car interior with a non-luxury price

The 2020 Mazda6 Signature is pure luxury on the inside. If one were to remove the Mazda badges and replace them with Audi’s four rings, or LexusÂ’ stylized L, customers may not even bat an eye. Alas, that is the point of MazdaÂ’s range-topping Signature trim. Mazda fancies itself a “premium” car brand at this point, and the Mazda6Â’s cabin does an excellent job of selling that theme. A luxury interior starts with excellent and original design, and then itÂ’s finished with quality materials. Anybody can throw leather, suede and wood around, but if the design itself isnÂ’t moving, the fancy materials look tacked on. Mazda has managed to ace both the design and material quality sections of its test with the Mazda6 Signature. ThereÂ’s beauty in simplicity, and the Mazda6Â’s interior exemplifies that. A wide, sweeping dashboard dominates the view from the driverÂ’s seat. An endless swath of soft-touch UltraSuede is front and center, splitting the climate controls from the vents and infotainment screen above it. Mazda says itÂ’s “adorned with a subtle gold tint,” and itÂ’s made in a similar fashion as ornate kimonos. I found myself staring at the stitching running the full length of the dashboard. ItÂ’s topped by a silver strip that extends from one side of the cabin to the other into the side air vents. Interestingly, the side air vents extend beyond the rest of the dash into the door, so they look like silver metal wings sticking out with the doors open. Above the silver strip is something Mazda calls “Sen Wood.” It looks and feels like real wood, because it is — Mazda says Sen wood is used in taiko drums and Japanese furniture.   And then thereÂ’s the lovely continued presence of physical buttons for vital controls. All of the climate control options are integrated into a classy strip just below the suede in the center of the dash. The buttons themselves are high quality, easy to find and satisfying to use in their action. Same goes for the climate control temperature knobs. They turn with precision and give a clear indication of each degree of change. The ribbed faux metal (it's extremely convincing as real metal) surround on the dials makes it feel like youÂ’re changing the climate control on a car that costs twice as much as this Mazda does. Even some luxury cars donÂ’t offer the same level of tactility and satisfaction in their controls.

2019 Mazda3 pricing starts at over $20,000, 2.5-liter engine standard

Pricing for the 2019 Mazda3 hatchback and sedan has been announced, and the base price has gone up by about $3,000. The new cheapest model is a front-drive, automatic Mazda3 sedan, and it starts at $21,895. The base Mazda3 now has the 186-horsepower 2.5-liter 4-cylinder as the standard engine, whereas the old model came with a 155-horsepower 2.0-liter engine and manual transmission as standard. Compared like-to-like, a 2018 Mazda3 in a similar spec would be slightly more expensive ($22,035) than the 2019 model. Opting for the hatchback on the base trim adds an additional level of equipment, with 18-inch wheels instead of 16-inch ones, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, dual automatic climate control, leather wrapped steering wheel and shift knob. It also gets more safety equipment including blind-spot monitoring, automatic emergency braking, radar cruise control, automatic high-beams, automatic wipers and lane-departure warning with lane-keep assist. That all adds up to a $2,600 price increase over a base sedan. These features are available on the sedan for an extra $1,600 in the form of the Select package. For all other trims, opting for the hatchback adds $1,000. Higher trim levels add features such as better sound systems, real leather, a sunroof, heads-up display and power heated seats. In addition to pricing, Mazda revealed drivetrain options for the Mazda3, and they're not great for fans of manual transmissions. The Mazda3 hatchback with front-wheel drive and Premium trim is the only manual offering, and it starts at $28,395. On the upside, at least Mazda isn't relegating manual transmissions to the stripped out versions, but on the downside, there isn't a cheap manual option for those on a budget. And of course, if you want the sedan or all-wheel drive, the six-speed automatic is your only choice. Mazda has told us that it could match a manual with all-wheel drive, but clearly it doesn't see a market for that in the U.S. But like with the addition of the turbocharged Mazda6 and CX-5, if there's demand, such a combination could become available, but keep in mind the odds will still be slim. You can see the full breakdown of trims and prices below. The 2019 Mazda3 will be available in March.