MotorMouths

The 2012 Mazda Mazdaspeed3 is a very well equipped hot hatch packing a turbocharged engine. Practicality is a strong suit of the Mazdaspeed3, as it has been since the model’s inception.

Driving the 2012 Mazda 3 on back roads reminds us why it remains a favorite of ours in the compact car class. The fuel mileage is for real with the new drivetrains, and unlike most other approaches to maximizing mpg, they don’t put a damper on the fun.

The Mazda 3 combines fun with frugality like no direct rival. As ever, Mazda’s finely wrought steering and suspension impart a sportiness and sophistication that cannot be faked.

The 2012 Mazda3i Touring Skyactiv hatchback is a pure, simple and fun compact car that gets among the best fuel economy this segment has seen.

As pleasures go, counting mpg isn’t frolicking with wood nymphs. But with the old Mazda3, people who loved the driving were tweaked by the car’s relatively poor fuel economy—pleasure versus wisdom, if you will. With SkyActiv, those clouds seem to have parted.

Happily, squeezing more miles out of every gallon has not squeezed the fun out of the Mazda3 driving experience. The car’s essential goodness remains.

The Mazda3 Skyactiv may be the sleeper story of the year. While other players in this segment offer slicker styling choices and truckloads of equipment, choices are thin on the ground if you want to actually enjoy yourself behind the wheel.

When you consider the efficiency, the driving enjoyment, and level of equipment available, a Skyactiv Mazda3 moves to the top of our compact-car shopping list.

Don’t let its looks fool you. The Mazda3 is addictive, arguably as much fun to drive as a more powerful and expensive automobile. It is engineering magic performed with lightweight materials.

The 2012 Mazda3 with SkyActiv 2.0-liter package is an impressive achievement, with zoom-zoom performance, wonderful automatic and manual transmissions, ideal controls, and 40 miles per gallon on the highway.

To find a car in this class that standardizes such features as heated seats, navigation, Bluetooth and Bose acoustics seems like a far fetched dream. If you’re not a performance freak, you’ll find plenty else to love in the Mazda3 5 Door.

The Mazda3 is practical, it’s fun to drive, it’s comfortable, it can be got with plenty of bells and whistles for such a small car, and it holds its value better than big-sister ’6.