When it comes to midlife makeovers, many car makers' efforts smack of desperation. Their attempts to prop up a model as its sales figures disappear down the gurgler are often pitiful to behold and only serve to draw attention to quite how fast things move in the automotive industry. Every once in a while, there's an exception and when Mazda announced that their 3 family hatch and compact saloon was getting a nip and tuck, most of us were left scratching our heads and playing spot the difference.

As much as I pride myself on my product knowledge, I can, with hand on heart, admit that were I not furnished with a press release detailing how many changes Mazda had wrought upon the 3, I'd probably have been none the wiser that I was driving the revitalised car. After a few miles, paranoia set in and I began to suspect that Mazda was playing an elaborate joke by sending us out in the old car and hearing us coo about how much it had been improved. To tell the truth, you'd need to look at and drive the old car and new model back to back to notice any substantive differences.

The press launch Q&A session is usually the opportunity for plants in the audience to ask cringingly sycophantic questions and for car bores to keep journalists from their evening meal with a litany of queries about re-valved dampers or the needle valve suppliers but on this occasion, Mazda were bombarded with questions that, briefly summarised, asked why we had been brought all the way to Sardinia to drive a car that seemed ostensibly the same as the old one. Why the lack of alteration? After several attempts at the party line, the truth eventually slipped out from one of the Japanese developers, and it was like a breath of fresh air. "Because it's still selling like hot cakes" is a rough translation and with demand far outstripping supply for the 3, it's as good an argument as any.

While the Mazda3 isn't the most ubiquitous car on British roads, it's nevertheless a global success story. Since its launch in 2003, nearly a million have rolled from the Hiroshima plant and sales are on the up, Mazda expecting to sell 300,000 next year alone. It's Canada's best selling car, for what that's worth, and if all the Mazda3s sold in Europe in a month were parked nose to tail, you'd end up with a traffic queue that would stretch from London to the outskirts of Birmingham. Perhaps now you can appreciate the significance of this car.

"The Mazda3 is the most significant car of the Hiroshima company's recent crop"

Although the changes are difficult to spot, they're extremely extensive. The exterior benefits from tiny changes to the front grille, lights, alloy wheels and colour palette while the cabin gets more equipment, a higher quality feel for the instrument panel and revised trim materials. All the engines bar the 1.6-litre petrol have also been tweaked and there are improvements in terms of emissions and fuel economy right across the range. The 2.0-litre petrol unit gets sequential valve timing (SV-T) that boosts torque, while the entry-level 1.4-litre car also gets improved valve timing gear. The 2.0-litre also gets an electronic throttle and a six-speed manual box. If required, there's also the option of an uprated four-speed auto.

Much of the development budget has been spent on targeting the three issues identified by existing Mazda3 customers as requiring attention, namely refinement at speed, fuel economy and luggage capacity. The refined aero package has helped to reduce fuel economy by up to 6 per cent, a revised boot on the saloon model has eased access to the luggage bay but these are small improvements. The area where Mazda can really award themselves a gold star is refinement at cruising speed. Although a 1.4 decibel reduction in cabin noise may sound like pretty small beer, the scientifically-minded amongst you will know that 3 decibels represents a doubling of noise, so this model really is way quieter than its predecessor. There's additional soundproofing in the roof and under the bonnet, the car's generator has been replaced by a quieter unit, the tyres have been redesigned to run in a more hushed manner and the wheel rims have been revised to reduce noisy harmonics. The suspension has been modified to make it stiffer and allow the shocks absorbers and dampers to keep the tyres better planted on the tarmac. The geometry has been altered to reduce understeer during fast cornering and the Mazda3 does at last feel closer to the Ford Focus, a car which shares many of its underpinnings.

Prices start at £11,415 and six engines are available at present, with 1.4-litre, 1.6-litre, 2.0-litre petrol versions joined by the 2.3-litre turbo unit from the MPS plus a pair of MZ-CD common rail diesel powerplants. These oil-burners are 1.6 and 2.0-litre in capacity developing 107 and142bhp respectively. The 150bhp 2.0-litre petrol engine will be of most interest to those subscribing to Mazda's whole 'zoom-zoom' philosophy who don't want to go the whole MPS hog and it's a pleasantly peppy unit, zipping the Mazda3 to sixty in nine seconds flat. A fuel economy figure of 36mpg is a decent return for an engine with this much go, and the emissions figure is a reasonable 189g/km. The manual gearbox is one of the slickest in class.

The Mazda3 is a very mature and self-assured proposition. A good all-rounder, it doesn't grab the headlines yet the overwhelming impression is of a quality, eminently buyable car. Appealing to a more mature market than the Ford Focus, it makes a capable alternative to the Volkswagen Golf in terms of quality although us badge-obsessed will still prefer the German car. The old car's motto was "The Dynamic Sports Compact That Exceeds Your Expectations." Not a lot needed changing with the car and the mantra hasn't changed a great deal either. The Mazda3 is now "The Dynamic Sports Compact That Exceeds Your Expectation? Even More." There's a great deal to be said for not messing with a winning formula.

TOP 5 3 DEALS

The results below show the top 3 deals on buyacar

	Mazda 3 1.6d Takara 5dr Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £1,404	Price £13,686
	Mazda 3 1.6d TS2 5dr (Pre-model) Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £266	Saving £2,264	Price £13,461
	Mazda 3 2.3T MPS 5dr [Aero sports kit] (Pre-model) Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £326	Saving £1,355	Price £18,240
	Mazda 3 1.6d TS2 4dr Saloon
	ETR	Mthly £268	Saving £2,264	Price £13,461
	Mazda 3 2.0d TS2 5dr (Pre-model) Hatchback
	ETR	Mthly £287	Saving £2,294	Price £14,461

typical 10.56% APR

PCP finance quote over 48 months,  10,000 miles pa,  deposit of £1000