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The next generation Mazda 3 is here, revealed as a 5-door hatchback first simultaneously at three events around the globe. It shares its handsome looks with it's larger Mazda 6 sibling, and the sedan that will probably come later will look even more like a mini Mazda 6.

The new Mazda 3 is on average about 60kg lighter than it's predecessor, despite being a larger car. It's wheelbase has grown 60mm to 2,700mm, and it's now 4,465mm long, 1,795mm wide and 1,450mm tall, which represents a growth of about 5mm, 40mm and 20mm respectively.

It's worth noting that the 2014 Mazda 3 now has a longer wheelbase than the Mk3 Ford Focus - other than the Mazda 2 and the BT-50, there's not much platform sharing going on any longer. The car rides on MacPherson struts at the front and a multi-link suspension at the rear.

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Four new engines have been unveiled at launch - a new 1.5 litre SkyActiv-G engine, two different tunes for the 2.0 litre SkyActiv-G engine, and a single 2.2 litre SkyActiv-D diesel motor.

The 1.5 litre SkyActiv-G slots in between the 1.3 litre and 2.0 litre versions and outputs 100 PS at 6,000rpm and 150Nm of torque at 4,000rpm with direct injection and a compression ratio of 14.0:1.

The lower powered version of the 2.0 litre SkyActiv-G engine produces 120 PS and 210Nm of torque, curiously low power for a 2.0 litre engine. It's obviously detuned for fuel economy and emissions purposes because the high power version of the engine with the i-ELOOP system produces 165 PS and 210Nm. Both engines have direct injection and run a 14.0:1 compression ratio.

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The SkyActiv-D 2.2 litre engine produces 150 PS at 4,500rpm and is the most torquey of the lot - 380Nm at 1,800rpm. All four engines can be had with a 6-speed manual transmission. The low-power 2.0 as well as the 2.2 diesel can be had with a 6-speed automatic.

This part of the specs is a little worrying since no doubt Malaysia will want the automatic version and based on these launch specs only the 120 PS version of the 2.0 litre engine will be available. Hopefully the high power 2.0 litre will be made available with an automatic gearbox for our region.