2025 Mazda3

Mazda is one of the few brands still selling a sedan – and it’s one of the even fewer sedans that’s also available as a hatchback sedan – and with a manual transmission – and that’s something as rare to find in anything new today as cigarette lighters.

That one – which is technically two – being the Mazda3 sedan and hatchback.

What It Is

The Mazda3 is a compact-sized sedan/hatchback (five door) and the last car – other than the two-door/two-seater Miata – that Mazda still sells. The rest of Mazda’s lineup – like the lineups of pretty much every other vehicle manufacturer – consists of crossovers, which have been replacing cars as the vehicle of choice for most people. Probably because crossovers have more room inside for cargo than cars of the same overall size typically do.

The 3 competes with the ever-dwindling number of small sedans and hatchbacks offered by other vehicle manufacturers, including the Kia K4 and the Honda Civic as well as the Toyota Corolla.

Prices for the 3 sedan start at $23,950 for the base 2.5 S trim, which comes standard with a 2.5 liter engine, a six speed automatic (italicized because it’s become uncommon to find a new car that has a transmission with less than eight speeds – or none at all, as CVT automatics don’t shift) and front-wheel-drive. The hatchback (five door) version of the same thing stickers for $24,950.

Both the sedan and the hatchback are also available with a turbocharged version of the 2.5 liter engine that touts the highest horsepower (250) in the class, paired with AWD. The sedan version lists for $32,100 to start; the hatchback version lists for $33,250 and both are similarly equipped in terms of their standard amenities, which include a larger (10.25) LCD touchscreen, upgraded synthetic leather upholstery and trim, an 18 inch wheel/tire package and an upgraded 12 speaker Bose stereo and a Heads Up Display (HUD).

But the hatch is available with something else. That being a six speed manual transmission – in the 2.5 S Select Sport trim, which stickers for $25,990.

Rivals such as the new Kia K4 (2025 is the first year for this model) are automatic-only. The Corolla is also automatic only, if you don’t count the manual-only high-performance Corolla GR – but that one stickers for $38,860. The Honda Civic Si comes with a manual but it also comes with a much higher price tag ($29,950) than the Mazda’s and (interestingly) the Si with the manual is a sedan-only deal.`

Unfortunately, you can’t get the sedan version of the Mazda3 with a manual.

A top-of-the-line 2.5 Turbo Premium Plus sedan stickers for $35,80; the same basic thing in hatchback form lists for $36,950.

What’s New For 2025 

Alexa is now available optionally – along with an upgraded GPS navigation system that is capable of receiving over-the-air updates. The hatchback is also available in the more affordable 2.5 S trim.

What’s Good

Sedan or hatchback bodystyles.

Available manual transmission.

“Driver assistance” technology can be mostly turned off.

What’s Not So Good

Manual only offered with the hatchback.

Sedan has a small trunk.

Powerful turbo engine is restricted to $32k-plus trims.

Under The Hood

The 3 is available with two versions of the same 2.5 liter four cylinder engine, one without a turbo and the other with a turbo. The version without the turbo touts 191 horsepower, which is almost as much power as the Honda Civic Si’s optional turbocharged 1.5 liter four, which only makes 201 horsepower – even with the help of a turbo. Probably because it’s so much smaller than the 3’s standard 2.5 liter four – which is paired with a six speed automatic.

In italics because it’s become pretty uncommon to find a transmission with “only” six speeds – and that’s in air fingers quote marks because it’s not a bad thing to have “only” six speeds rather than eight or even ten, as many new-car automatics have. All those speeds are there to eke out fractional gains in fuel economy – at the cost of additional complexity and so potential failure points down the road. Eliminating forward speeds via the use of continuously variable (CVT) automatics  is another method resorted to by other vehicle manufacturers – including Honda – to eke out those fractional mileage gains, not to win over buyers but to placate the federal government and comply with its fuel efficiency regs.

That – plus a smaller (and weaker) standard engine will get you 32 city, 41 highway – in the base Honda Civic sedan, which comes standard with a 2.0 liter four that touts 150 horsepower, paired with a CVT automatic. It’s a fine choice if you’re wanting high gas mileage – at the cost of low performance.

The 3’s mileage is less – 27 city, 37 highway. But not a lot less. On the other hand, its standard 2.5 liter four makes a lot more power and the six speed automatic never feels likes its slipping – which CVT automatics sometimes do, especially when they are paired with underpowered engines.

You can also choose a six speed manual transmission to go with the 2.5 liter engine – but unfortunately, this option is restricted to the hatchback version of the 3. All-wheel-drive is available – or not – as you prefer, with the 2.5 liter engine.

Carbon Turbo and Carbon Turbo Premium Plus trims come standard with the turbocharged version of the 2.5 liter engine. It makes 250 horsepower and 320 ft.-lbs. of torque, output comparable to that touted by 5.7 liter V8s in late 1980s Corvettes. This engine is also the strongest engine that’s available in a compact sedan or hatchback priced under $33k. The already mentioned Corolla GR’s 1.6 liter three cylinder engine touts 300 horsepower (but only 295 ft.-lbs. of torque) and has a base price just shy of $40k. The high-performance Civic Type R has 315 horsepower (but only 310 ft.-lbs. of torque) and has a base price of $45k.

The new Kia K4 comes standard with a 147 horsepower 2.0 liter four – and tops out in terms of power) with a 1.6 liter turbocharged four that makes 190 horsepower – the same output as the Mazdas standard 2.5 liter four, without the turbo.

That makes the Carbon Turbo (and Carbon Turbo Premium) versions of the Mazda 3 the high-performance picks of the litter – for the money.

There is one catch. The touted 250 horsepower is only delivered if you pump the tank full of high-octane premium unleaded. You can use regular (and mid-grade) but if you do, the knock sensors will dial back the boost – and the horsepower – to 227.

But that’s still more power than you can get in the K4 – and more power than you can get for the same money in a Civic or a Corolla.

On The Road

Of the handful of small sedans and hatches you can still buy, the 3 is arguably the sportiest of the bunch and not just because it’s designed to look and drive the part. It is also priced the part.

The base-engined versions of rivals such as the Honda Civic and Kia K4 and Toyota Corolla are under-engined and none of them are available with a manual transmission with their lower-powered engines – which would make up for the absence of power by giving the driver power over the drivetrain that is lost when the engine is paired with an automatic.

it’s just too bad the manual is limited to the hatchback – and just the one trim.

On the other hand, both the sedan and the hatch have that six speed automatic and while that would have been nothing to write home about ten years ago – when five and six speed automatics were the norm – it is now because of the rarity of automatics with only six speeds. That is to say, not too many gears. Or – as in the case of CVT automatics – no gears at all. That plus a powerful standard engine means the transmission isn’t constantly shifting up and down to find the right gear – as is often the case with an underpowered engine paired with a transmission that has too many gears. Or none at all. It’s like riding a motorcycle that you don’t have to gear down when you slow down to keep it from lugging. Only in this case, the transmission handles the gear changing for you. The shifts are quicker when you want them to be, too – because it takes less time to downshift from say 4th to third than from 5th or 6th – let alone 8th or 9th or 10th.

This car still has gauges, too – rather than an LCD display. Analog-style speedometer and tach, with dial and needles. It helps focus on the drive – rather than the display. Another driving plus is that most of the “driver assistance technology” can be fully turned off and without having to dig deep into “menus” to find the Off switch.

Turbo equipped models are quick – zero to 60 takes just over five seconds – but base-engined models aren’t slow (zero to 60 in about 7 seconds). For reference, a Kia K4 with its optional turbocharged engine isn’t much quicker than the base-engined 3 and the base-engined K4 is much slower than the base engined 3. Same goes vs. the base-engined Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla, too.

At The Curb

Though Mazda markets the 3 as one model, it is arguably two – in that the sedan and the hatchback are significantly different and not merely in terms of how they look.

The sedan is much longer – 183.5 inches vs. 175.6 for the hatchback – but has much less room in its trunk (13.2 cubic feet) than the hatchback has in its . . .  hatchback (20.1 cubic feet). Both iterations have the same front and rear seat legroom – 42.3 inches and 35.1 inches, respectively. And – interestingly – nearly identical front and rear seat headroom, which you might think the hatch would have less of in view of its sporty-looking roofline.

The hatch looks sportiest – but looks can be deceiving. In fact , the hatch is arguably the more practical of the two, due to its much more family-friendly cargo capacity.

But there’s more to this little Mazda than sportiness practicality. It has been said the 3 punches above its weight – and that’s certainly (because objectively) true. But it also luxes above its price. Meaning that even though this car is considered “entry level,” it is objectively  higher-end feeling than others cars in its price range, especially vs. the Civic and Corolla. Those are both nice cars – but the 3 comes off as something nicer. It could plausibly be an entry-level Lexus or Audi. In some ways, it is nicer – in that Mazda doesn’t rely on gaudy oversized LCD flatscreens, which look cheap now that everyone has one – but rather on the elegant-looking, neatly stitched and tightly fitting together dash and door panels, what appear to be real chrome accents and just an overall higher-end feel.

It is the kind of car you buy because it appeals more so than because it’s the one you can afford.

The Rest

One of the few things not to like about this car is that you can’t get the manual with AWD – in addition to it not being available at all with the sedan. That’s too bad because if Mazda offered the 2.5 S hatchback with the manual and AWD, it’d be a strong cross-shop vs. the Subaru WRX (which of course touts its standard AWD system). The Soobie would still have the power advantage but a putative AWD-equipped, six-speed Mazda3 hatchback would have a huge price advantage, given the WRX’s $35,750 base price.

The Bottom Line

If there were more sedans – and hatchbacks – like the Mazda3, there’s probably be fewer crossovers.

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