MY MAZDA EVOLUTION:
After my initial Mazda lease -- a sleek but conservative and comfortable 6 cylinder 2000 626 family sedan -- I entered life as a newly single man in 2004 by stepping up to the stylish, sporty and peppy 6 cylinder Mazda 6s.

By the time that lease was up in March of this year, however, I had to face reality: budget constraints meant I would have to "step down" with my next lease if I was going to be able to keep my promise to myself -- not to spend more in carrying costs on the new car than I had for the old one. (I tried to get another 6, but the car had improved so much since I leased my old one that its sticker price had gone up considerably. Add to that that 2008 was the last year of the original Mazda 6 body styling before a 2009 makeover -- meaning fewer of them coming off the assembly line -- there just was no room for haggling because so few were available.)

But to my delight, I have found that my "step down" hasn't been as "down" as I expected because the 4 cylinder 2008 Mazda 3s sedan I leased has stepped up big-time. It would appear to be a vehicle that embodies where budget sense meets emotional sensibility. In fact, a couple of guest riders have told me they assumed I actually bought "up" from the Mazda 6.

I wanted to stay with Mazda because of the pleasant experience I had had with my previous two, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to do my due diligence. After checking out the Mazda 3 series, I found that its comps in class among major Japanese automakers were the Nissan Sentra, Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic. The difference in looks was immediately apparent. The boxy Sentra, overly-sensible Corolla, and unappealing-looking Civic just smacked too much of 2008 model year econo-boxes to me no matter how excellent they are rated as vehicles.

The 2008 Mazda 3 sedan, on the other hand, as Edmunds.com put it, "...doesn't look, feel or drive like an economy car. If you're shopping for a small, inexpensive sedan or hatchback, this car should be at the top of your list....The 3 brings a lot to the table in terms of driving excitement and available luxury features while also providing the roominess and thrift expected from today's economy cars. If a sporty drive and getting a lot for your hard-earned cash are top buying priorities, the Mazda 3 should be at the top of your test-drive list."

Car and Driver chimes in with: "The 3s are nicely made, look terrific, have excellent handling and steering, and are fun to drive."

And the Consumer Reports reliability ratings on the latest Mazda 3 sedan model year are uniformly excellent.

What I noticed is that since its inception five years ago, Mazda has ever-so-slightly (and to its advantage) "chiseled" (as Edmunds.com puts it) the body of the 3 over the years to give it just barely enough sleekness that it can be mistaken for a brief moment as a more expensive Nissan Maxima with its rear-end raised and truncated a bit. There is a tautness to the look that is appealing and grows on you the more you look at it -- the mark of a well designed vehicle -- especially if you opt for the richer classic darker colors rather than loud, bright designer colors that "cheapen" the look to my eye as a car ages because they tend to look tinny over time.

THE CAR:
I went with the mid-level Mazda 3s Sport class sedan instead of the entry-level 3i sedan because it offered a 2.3 liter 4 cylinder engine with 156 horsepower instead of a 2.0 liter with 140 horsepower, as well as more standard safety equipment such as ABS anti-lock brakes, stability control, and front seat side and full length curtain airbags. The s class also has more trim and option selections including leather interior and moonroof. I decided against the high-end 3 Touring class purely on the basis of cost, and the hatchback, though very cool, is just too sporty and youth-skewing in styling for me as a mature adult in my mid 50s; I didn't want to look like a case of arrested development.

The front of my 3s Sport is accented by a monochrome grille that matches the elegant Galaxy Gray body color I selected (by far my favorite of the colors, it has a creamy dark gray coat livened by the barest hint of a barely perceptible reddish hue within that gives it a touch of class); the unified look is more sophisticated than the lower-end 3i model's chrome grille. The black leather interior, black plastic exterior molding around the windows, 17-inch allow wheels, and moonroof round out a surprisingly rich look.

The dashboard is pleasant and easy to read. The dials are lit in red and lavender blue, providing a warm glow at night. The 3 has the same steering wheel controls for the sound system as my 6 had. And I have a connection and power source for my iPod that feeds into the main sound system.

From a performance standpoint I get what I need: decent torque, very nice acceleration for a 4 cylinder, and my 14.5 gallon capacity gas tank gives me 25 miles per gallon in combined street and highway driving in overly-congested Los Angeles, and a nice 30 miles per gallon on cruise control on the open highway. While admittedly not in the league of the Civic's gas mileage, it matches the Subaru Impreza and Mitubishi Lancer. I have been pleasantly surprised by the 3's tight turning radius which is a vast improvement over the 6 that required more 3-point turns than I want to think about.

The car handles well: tight steering, good balance on curves, a solid feel for the road, confident braking. It adds up to more "fun" than you might anticipate from a car in this class.

Nits? Oh, yeah. Where the "step down" is most apparent to me is in the ergonomic design of the interior. Yes, it's very handsome looking. But functionally the 6 had far better use of space than this model for conveniently storing peripherals such as cellphones, PDAs, loose change, garage door openers, CDs and such. The huge glove case is nice, but doesn't make up for that lapse.

Also, inexplicably, the electronic key fob that governs the remote door locking doesn't have a button to electronically open the trunk. Huh? You have to use the interior latch, or if you're outside just do it the old fashioned way -- insert your key into the trunk lock. It's a pain in the butt. Oh, and when you do get it open, the trunk is smaller than I would like.

As far as comfort is concerned, the 3 is not as cushy as the 6 was. That's because the 3 is built as a more athletic vehicle with a harder-riding, sturdier feeling, closer to the road literally and figuratively, rather than with a luxurious sense as you drive. It took me a couple of weeks to get used to that, and now I'm fine with it, even on longer drives. The exterior noise is more than I would like, though it's likely par for the course for this class of car.

IN SUM:
If you have to go cheap and step "down" from a mid-tier vehicle as I did, or if you are in the market for an entry-level car that's a step up from an econo-box, the Mazda 3 is very worthy of consideration, especially in the slightly more expensive Sport and Touring classes where options, trim levels and small comforts make a big difference in overall appearance and experience over the i class.

My 3-year lease on a nicely-equipped leather interior 3s with allowance for 18,000 miles a year was a net cost to me $20,162, down from a gross cost of $21,961 after incentives, cap cost reduction, and some in-and-out of the dealership haggling on my part. After only $1,500 down, I'm carrying $341 a month through Mazda Credit with a purchase option of $11,600 at three years and 54,000 miles.

I'm already 3,500 miles in, and very, very happy.



Amount Paid (US$): 20,162
Condition: New
Model Year: 2008
Model and Options: S Sport, leather, automatic, moonroof, multi-CD changer, iPod plug in