2022 Kia Cerato vs Mazda 3

What's the difference?

Three years after the fourth-generation Cerato small car rolled into Australian dealerships, Kia launched a mid-life facelift for the sedan and hatch range in mid-2021.

It ushered in styling tweaks including new headlights and Kia’s new logo, as well as more safety tech and a multimedia upgrade.

At the top of the range sits the warmed-up Cerato GT. It’s not quite Hyundai i30 N-level performance, more i30 N-Line. In other words, more than enough performance to keep most people satisfied and enough poke to get away quickly at the lights.

But is the updated version of Kia’s Cerato trying to be something it’s not, or is it a performance bargain?

Read on to find out.

If you’re having trouble finding stock of a small SUV or even a hatchback in 2022, I’d strongly recommend you look at a sedan.

The majority of buyers will engage in puzzling mental gymnastics to convince themselves they need to pay more for a trendy small SUV.

Yet, it'll have a smaller boot than the Mazda3 sedan you see here. Yes, this car and other attractive small sedans sit, ignored on dealer lots.

You don’t have to wait six months for it. You don’t have to pay more for less, and you might see why being lower to the ground means better driving dynamics.

For this review, we’re specifically looking at the mid-grade Mazda3 G25 Evolve SP, sitting above the base G20 Pure and packing the larger of three engine options.

Is it the sweet spot in the Mazda3 range? Does it have the right ingredients to lure you from a small SUV or out-of-stock hatch? Let’s take a look.