Exploring Ontario: 2021 Mazda3 Sport GT 6MT to Wasaga Beach

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Wasaga Beach has long been a destination for Southern Ontarians seeking sun, sand, surf and… parties. With a 2021 Mazda3 Sport GT at my disposal, and good friend/ace bass player and photographer Paul Pasmore living within a frisbee’s throw of Wasaga Beach, I pointed the Mazda’s sleek snout northward from Oakville and worked my way through a checker board of side roads and small towns to the sandy shores of Nottawasaga Bay.

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Resplendent in new-for-2021 Polymetal Grey Metallic ($200) and sporting 18-inch wheels and piano black grille, this Mazda3 hatch is a quietly graceful piece of automotive sculpture — long of hood and curvaceous of rump. And it’s not just me who thinks this car is a looker. The Mazda3 won the 2020 World Car Design of the Year Award which is pretty much the highest design honour any car can hope for.

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And bonus: this Sport GT tester (MSRP $28,300) is equipped with a third pedal and a lever with which to manually select the six-cogs within its gearbox. How quaint! But it surely is a sweet shifting box, bragging short positive throws and easy clutch take up. There’s more than a hint of Miata DNA baked into this sleek hatchback.

I soon find myself cruising through the town of Acton and stop into Vinyland — a wonderful shop full of records, musical equipment, and other various quirky odds and ends. And oh yes, the requisite counter-culture T-shirts that resonate with hippies old and new alike.

It’s a good day for a drive, and this sporty Mazda3 is a delight. Sure, I could wish for more curves in the endless grid of B-roads that criss-cross this part of rural Ontario, but what bends I do find are dispatched with poise and laser accuracy. Mazda touts its G-Vectoring Control system as a key to the 3’s handling. When entering a corner, engine torque is reduced, resulting in slight deceleration which shifts weight to the front tires, enhancing turn in responses. It basically mimics what a good driver would do, but with more precision.

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The 186 horsepower, 186 lb-ft naturally aspirated 2.5L four is a smoothy, and while there isn’t much urge below 3000 rpm, it’s the rowing of the gears that gives a connection to the proceedings. This car is a cohesive, highly-engineered piece of kit whose beauty goes far beneath its award-winning skin.

The farms and wee hamlets whiz by as I make my way east to Airport Road, and from there I head north to Wasaga Beach. Airport Road is an entertaining stretch of tarmac, wending its way north through Hockley Valley and just bypassing Creemore. I make note of some farmer’s markets to visit on the way home, but there is no stopping now. There’s a steady north wind (warm, thankfully) that brings the promise of good waves and body surfing at Wasaga Beach.

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On arriving at Pasmore’s, I view some of his spectacular nature and abstract photo art  and then head to Beach 6. The sun is shining, the kite surfers are whipping across the white caps and there’s a healthy surf. At 14 kilometers in length, Wasaga Beach is the world’s longest freshwater beach. It attracts about two million visitors a year, with Beach 1 being the most touristy with bars, surf shops, etc.

In years past Wasaga Beach was actually used as a roadway, and in 1934 it made international headlines when a plane dubbed the Trail Of The Caribou lifted off from the flat sands, making the first overseas flight from mainland Canada to England. And why this beach? At the time there was no official runway long enough for the twin-engine bi-plane of James Ayling and Leonard Reid, laden down with extra fuel tanks, to get airborne. This beach proved the perfect spot — after being leveled by horses dragging barn beams and picked clean of sticks and stones by local children.

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Nothing quite that exciting this day at Beach 6, but we did catch some rays and a few good waves.

Heading back down Airport Road, I’m struck by how far the Mazda3 GT Sport distances itself from its obvious competitors — The Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra, Nissan Sentra, et al. Indeed, those are all fine cars, but this hatch seems to be dropped in from an alternate reality. The interior design and build quality are leagues ahead of anything in the class — all the controls and touch points are tactile delights. The drivetrain works with silken precision, and on the move, the Mazda3 blends refinement with engaging driving dynamics.

I drop in to the Schaapples Market where a homemade raspberry pie and some local asparagus are purchased. Further down the road I snag some maple syrup.

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Despite its sporting nature, this well-equipped Mazda3 GT Sport makes for a fine cruiser. The ride is compliant and quiet, the comprehensive head up display keeps me informed and the 12-speaker Bose audio treats my ears. I do have a few complaints — this hatch’s stylish rear architecture makes for woeful blind spots, and while the BMW-esque rotary interface controller has the best intentions, a simple thing like trying to scroll from a SiriusXM station you’re listening to turns out to be an obtuse and maddening endeavour.

I am loving the large, clear major gauges in the backlit instrument cluster and the indicated 6.5 L/100 km of fuel usage which handily beats the Natural Resources Canada rating of 8.4 L/100 combined. Sure, I’m hardly thrashing the 3 on these secondary roads, but this does lend credence to Mazda’s overarching Skyactiv engineering philosophy that obsessively incorporates all elements of the vehicle into an efficient whole.

This fiercely independent Japanese automaker marches to its own drummer, and kudos to Mazda for still offering manual transmissions in the Mazda3 (sedan) and Mazda3 Sport (hatchback). Overall take rate for the six-speed stick is ten per cent in Canada. If you’re in the market for a premium hatchback with a stir-yer-own gearbox, the Mazda3 Sport GT 6MT is a peach.