There’s a clear leader emerging in the sub-$16,000 economy car market. The Suzuki SX4 Sport sedan is far and away the most fun car in the segment, and also boasts some of the best features. Suzuki is doing everything they can to raise awareness of this model, and I’m happy to help them out.
Thrifty and Fun to Drive
The SX4 Sport is a different flavor of car from the SX4 “Crossover” hatchback. The main difference is that the hatch features all wheel drive. But the Sport sedan features the same spunky 2-liter engine, sporty 5-speed transmission, and great handling. Plus, the sedan starts at $13,994, and you can get one well-outfitted for under $16,000. The car I tested booked out at $15,834.
Like most parents of teens, I’m often called upon to pick up my daughter and one or more of her friends and deliver them all to their various homes. They have few preconceived notions about what constitutes a desirable car or a premium brand. So it was educational to spend a week driving the new 2009 Hyundai Sonata. The car delivered to me was the upscale Limited V6 edition.
Handsome and Sporty
Now, most folks wouldn’t put Hyundai and luxury in the same sentence. Hyundai was among the first wave of Korean automakers to enter the U.S. market in the 1980s with low-priced economy cars – undercutting the Japanese in the same way those manufacturers had undercut the Big 3 a decade before.
The Mazda3 is the bread and butter car from the Japanese car company whose name is synonymous with amateur racing and motorsports. While big box retailers like Lowe’s may put their names on NASCAR speedways, Mazda put its money into one of the oldest and best road racing circuits in America: Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. With its support of racing from the most basic Spec Miata all the way to Mazda Atlantic formula cars, Mazda has walked the motorsports walk.
Affordable and Sporty
So the Mazda3 comes with a racing pedigree. It also sits at the low end of Mazda’s lineup - under a canopy of great sports cars like the RX-8 and MX-5, but also with its big brother Mazda6 and the CX-7 and CX-9 crossover SUVs. The Mazda3 is also the beneficiary of the proven Ford/Mazda MZR engine in its 2.3-liter configuration. This is the same engine that powers the Atlantic cars.
Sedans (four door) 
