Compare the2023 Mazda 3VS 2022 MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Transmission
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Mazda 3 have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Mazda 3 are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

The Mazda 3 has standard Whiplash Reducing Headrests, which use a specially designed headrest to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash Reducing Headrests system moves the headrests forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tests front crash prevention systems. With a score of 6 points, IIHS rates the Smart Brake Support in the Mazda 3 as “Superior.” The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door scores only 4 points and is rated only “Advanced.”

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Mazda 3 Turbo Premium Plus has standard Smart Brake Support that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Mazda 3 offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

The Mazda 3 Turbo Premium Plus has a standard 360-Degree Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

The Mazda 3 Select/Preferred/Carbon/Premium/Turbo’s blind spot warning system uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a system to reveal objects in the driver’s blind spots.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Mazda 3 Select/Preferred/Carbon/Premium/Turbo’s standard rear cross-path warning system uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a cross-path warning system.

Both the Mazda 3 and the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and driver alert monitors.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Mazda 3 its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 93 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door has not been fully tested, yet.

Warranty

Mazda’s powertrain warranty covers the 3 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than MINI covers the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 5 years or 60,000 miles. Coverage on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door ends after only 4 years or 50,000 miles.

There are over 5 times as many Mazda dealers as there are MINI dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the 3’s warranty.

Reliability

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Mazda vehicles are more reliable than MINI vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Mazda first in overall reliability. MINI is ranked 23rd.

Engine

The Mazda 3’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 57 more horsepower (191 vs. 134) and 24 lbs.-ft. more torque (186 vs. 162) than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder. The Mazda 3’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 2 more horsepower (191 vs. 189) than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door S’ standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder. The Mazda 3’s optional 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 61 more horsepower (250 vs. 189) and 114 lbs.-ft. more torque (320 vs. 206) than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door S’ standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Mazda 3 Hatchback 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder Manual FWD gets better fuel mileage than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door S Manual (26 city/36 hwy vs. 23 city/33 hwy).

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Mazda 3 (except Turbo)’s fuel efficiency. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

The Mazda 3 AWD’s standard fuel tank has 1.1 gallons more fuel capacity than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (12.7 vs. 11.6 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Mazda 3 FWD’s standard fuel tank has 1.6 gallons more fuel capacity than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (13.2 vs. 11.6 gallons).

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Mazda 3 higher (7 out of 10) than the MINI Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (5 to 7). This means the Mazda 3 produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door every 15,000 miles.

Transmission

The Mazda 3 comes standard with an automatic transmission, for driver comfort, especially in the city. Automatic costs extra on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Mazda 3 has larger standard tires than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (205/60R16 vs. 175/65R15). The Mazda 3 Hatchback/Select/Preferred/Premium/Turbo’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (215/45R18 vs. 205/45R17).

The Mazda 3 2.5 S’ standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s standard 65 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Mazda 3 2.5 S has standard 16-inch wheels. Smaller 15-inch wheels are standard on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

Suspension and Handling

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Mazda 3’s wheelbase is 6.2 inches longer than on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (107.3 inches vs. 101.1 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Mazda 3 is 2.9 inches wider in the front and 3.4 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

For better maneuverability, the Mazda 3’s turning circle is 1.4 feet tighter than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s (34.8 feet vs. 36.2 feet).

Passenger Space

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Mazda 3 a Compact car, while the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door is rated a Subcompact.

The Mazda 3 Sedan has 9 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door (92.8 vs. 83.8).

The Mazda 3 Sedan has .9 inches more front legroom, 4.5 inches more front shoulder room, 2.8 inches more rear legroom and 3.9 inches more rear shoulder room than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door.

Cargo Capacity

To make loading and unloading groceries and cargo easier, especially for short adults, the Mazda 3 Turbo Hatchback has a standard power trunk, which opens and closes automatically by pressing a button. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a power liftgate.

Ergonomics

The Mazda 3 Auto offers a remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

When two different drivers share the Mazda 3 Preferred/Carbon/Premium/Turbo, the memory seats and mirrors make it convenient for both. Each keyless remote activates different, customized memories for the driver’s seat position and outside mirror angle. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a memory system.

The Mazda 3’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door has a lever-type parking brake that has to be strenuously raised to engage properly. It has to be lifted up more and a button depressed to release it.

The Mazda 3’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Mazda 3’s headlights were rated “Good” to “Acceptable” by the IIHS, while the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s headlights are rated “Acceptable” to “Poor.”

The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door’s cornering lamps activate a lamp on the front corner when the turn signal is activated. The Mazda 3 Premium/Turbo’s standard adaptive cornering lights turn the actual headlight unit up to several degrees, depending on steering wheel angle and vehicle speed. This lights a significant distance into corners at any speed.

The Mazda 3 Select/Preferred/Carbon/Premium/Turbo has a standard center folding armrest for the rear passengers. A center armrest helps make rear passengers more comfortable and it can provide a boundary between children. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer a rear seat center armrest.

For greater rear passenger comfort, the Mazda 3 has standard rear heat vents to keep rear occupants more comfortable. The Cooper Hardtop 4 Door doesn’t offer rear vents.

Economic Advantages

The Mazda 3 will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Mazda 3 will retain 49.31% to 50.91% of its original price after five years, while the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door only retains 39.35% to 49.52%.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Mazda 3 is less expensive to operate than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door because it costs $127 less to do the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance for 50,000 miles. Typical repairs cost much less on the Mazda 3 than the Cooper Hardtop 4 Door, including $184 less for a water pump, $77 less for a muffler, $33 less for front brake pads, $219 less for a starter, $1 less for a fuel pump, $150 less for front struts, $357 less for a timing belt/chain and $641 less for a power steering pump.

Recommendations

The Mazda 3 has won recognition from these important consumer publications:

	Mazda 3	Cooper Hardtop 4 Door
Consumer Reports® Recommends	TRUE	FALSE
Car Book “Best Bet”	TRUE	FALSE