2019 Mazda 3 vs 2022

What's the difference?

If you will indulge me, I'd like you to cast your mind back to the mid-90s. If you're too young, ask your parents or Google to do the same.

Have a peek at the pretty but not especially amazing 323 Astina. Some folks call it a four-door coupe, but it's a sedan. It was not nearly as attractive as the more adventurous hatchback.

The 323 went dull for almost a decade and then when the 3 arrived, it was the sedan that I thought was the looker. Sure, they weren't completely different like the old days, but the proportions were nicer and it was just a better thing to look at.

Then along came the most recent fourth-generation 3, the BP. The hatch, I think, is the gorgeous one while the sedan is a more sober. And while still made of lovely proportions, it seems to have been... flattened a bit.

Thorough as we are here at CarsGuide, I spent a week with the new sedan to ponder not only its looks, but whether it's much different to the hatch.

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.