This week, besides wishing you luck in maximizing the remaining federal electric vehicle credits for a quick purchase, let us shift our attention to Mazda – which does not seem to be in immediate danger of merger, restructuring or economic collapse, like so many other late-2024 carmakers.

I profiled Mazda’s full-sized CX-90 SUVs many months ago but had a back-to-the-future experience with the turbocharged, hatchback version of the 2025 Mazda3.

Driving it was an oddly freeing experience, minus the ever-present danger of being crushed by larger vehicles during a northbound I-25 outing in the fall.

This latest rendition of the long-running Mazda3 is a small, comfortable and reasonably sporty vehicle that’s a bit like a tall Miata/MX-5 in character, with a simple interior layout and a more rounded design.

The current Mazda3 is available in seven trim levels and with two different engines, a 191-hp 2.5-liter non-turbo four-cylinder (good for up to 35 highway mpg) and the spicier and speedier 2.5-liter turbo, producing as much as 250 horsepower when filled up with premium gasoline, and capable of 31 highway mpg, with standard all-wheel drive. There’s also a sedan model that can be configured with either engine.

Entry-level, front-wheel-drive models go for as little as $26,000, but my top-of-the-line Premium Plus hatchback edged toward $39,000. That included $600 for the blindingly red-metallic paint job, and the high-end package’s leather seating, an online-updated navigation system, 360-degree camera system and a series of aerodynamic tweaks and a rear spoiler.

The extra power allows you, on paper, to act like you’re driving a modern version of the long-lost MazdaSpeed models, which crested 263 horsepower when they ended production in 2013.

On dry roads near Masonville, west of Fort Collins, I discovered that the 2025 car’s power is really closer to 227 horsepower on regular gas, and that its brakes and stock tires are not exactly high-performance material. But they’re close, and this small, teardrop-shaped machine can still hold corners and cruise along far more aggressively than its full-sized SUV cousins.

If you’d like to mess with the standard six-speed automatic (the manual is only available on the non-turbo models, primarily the 2.5 S Premium hatchback), you have a little added flexibility, but I spent most of my time concentrating on a mixture of over- and understeer and clinging for life with one of the world’s most slippery leather steering wheels.

The Premium Plus’s added air dam helps accentuate the new Mazda3’s evolution into a much rounder form, with lots of black gloss and a bit of chrome on the lower window trim. There’s a very tall beltline and extremely high rear windows, which leaves an oddly smooth and flat stretch of sheet metal in the car’s rear flanks.

The car features a comfortably simple cockpit, with the 10.25-inch central screen discretely positioned low on the dash and controlled largely by a console knob – Amazon Alexa available. The Mazda3 still offers manual temperature control knobs and low-profile vents that are a bit like Honda’s, plus tall, leathery edges to the glossy black console. The rest of it was so black that I nearly missed seeing the car’s open phone charging pad.

The hatchback configuration gives drivers about 20 cubic feet of storage, significantly more than the Mazda3 sedan, though it’s about eight inches shorter overall, at 176 inches total. Rear seat room is at a premium and the oversized headrests and hatchback curve mean somewhat limited rear visibility.

Safety systems are upgraded with the Premium Plus package, including rear cross-traffic automatic braking and noisy front and rear parking sensors, and it took me a full three steps to fully disable both the lane keep system and the lane keep warnings. Programming the radio is still a project far above my pay grade.

Andy Stonehouse’s column “Mountain Wheels” publishes Saturdays in the Summit Daily News. Stonehouse has worked as an editor and writer in Colorado since 1998, focusing on automotive coverage since 2004. He lives in Golden. Contact him at summitmountainwheels@gmail.com.