The UK small family car market is crowded by vehicles like the Ford Focus, Toyota Auris, Vauxhall Astra and VW Golf, with many of them among the top ten best-selling cars in the country. The Mazda 3 has never enjoyed the same success in the UK as some of its rivals but the redesigned 2010 Mazda 3 launched last year is an option that anyone looking for small family car should consider.

The car is available as either a 5 door hatchback or 4 door saloon, with petrol or diesel engines. The 1.6 petrol engine is the smallest and a 2.2 litre diesel tops the range. There are four trim levels - S, TS, TS2 and Sport - as well as a special edition Takuya model. There's also the high-performance Mazda 3 MPS which can do 0-62mph in 6.1 seconds.

This review focuses on the 5 door hatchback version of the 2010 Mazda 3 1.6 TS2.