A 9,300-mile test drive has been completed by all-new Mazda3 hatchbacks.
The new Mazda3 hatchbacks have passed their test drive – and this is all the more impressive when you take into account just what this journey involved.
A collection of the cars completed a massive 9,300-mile marathon trip from Hiroshima to Frankfurt, taking in two continents, five countries, nine time zones and 30 cities along the way.
Those in the market for new car deals may be interested to learn that some of these vehicles will be exhibited at the Frankfurt Motor Show, which gets underway tomorrow (September 10th). The cars proved their mettle by overcoming numerous challenges throughout the trip, including huge potholes, rocks, herds of livestock and overturned trucks.
Four European capital cities were taken in by the drivers – Minsk, Warsaw, Moscow and Berlin – while they also got to take in sights such as the Kungur Ice Caves, the Altai Mountains and Lake Baikal.
Jeremy Thomson, managing director of Mazda UK, said: "What an adventure! If I had to single out the one aspect of the Tour that was most impressive, I'd say the interaction – of the people along the way, with the Mazda Route3 participants, with the support team and of course with the cars."
He added the care "were such a joy to drive and at the same time so tough and so reliable", explaining the vehicles were able to take all that Eurasia could throw at them, with their 120ps SKYACTIV-G petrol engines and six-speed SKTACTIV-MT manual transmission giving them the power needed to see them through.
Journalists, members of the media and Mazda dealers drove the cars, while fans of the brand who saw the motors passing through decided to show support by taking to the road in their own Mazdas and following the group, while in every country there were smiles and waves for the convoy to encourage the drivers to reach their end goal – something that they did after 9,300-miles behind the wheel.
Posted by Emma Grange