2025 Mazda3 Turbo review: Classy and quick

Mitchell Weitzman
2 days ago
4 min read

An unassuming turbocharged sedan deals the feels

2025 Mazda3 Turbo AWD Premium Plus exterior front three quarter

2025 Mazda3 Turbo review by The Road Beat

Words and pictures: Mitchell Weitzman

Not much has changed since the first time I drove a turbocharged Mazda3 already four years ago. Then again, not much has warranted a change. While an uncommon sight on roads compared to the ubiquitous Corolla and Civic, this powerfully turbocharged and luxurious compact sedan proves that is indeed a shame.

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Did I mention it’s also really refined? Mazda has been leading the way in attainable luxury touches for the better part of a decade now. In this Premium Plus model, the leather is some of the best you’ll find under 40K, and many of the key controls and touch points all have an assured quality and substance that most economy and compact cars lack. If you still, for some reason, haven’t sat inside a modern Mazda, the cabin will not disappoint.

Even though there’s no special naming like Mazdaspeed on its rump, this little sedan packs a serious punch thanks to its familiar 2.5-liter turbocharged engine. Rated at 227 horsepower and 320 lb-ft of torque, 0-60 mph takes just over six seconds, but the real treat is the walloping midrange that makes everyday driving a joy and forward headway extremely easy. Guide it onto a backroad, and the usable, accessible power makes rapid progress dangerously easy for such a modest-looking car. When it comes to comparables, you’d normally look for an Si or GLI—legacy performance models—but Mazda has normalized this kind of aptitude with its simply named Turbo badge on the trunk, and neither of those come even close to the luxury intact.

2025 Mazda 3 turbo exterior rear three quarter

Backroads are where the Mazda3 Turbo shines the brightest. It’s here that you experience its finely balanced chassis and eager reflexes. AWD routes power to all four wheels and completely eliminates torque steer, while also providing extra traction in tricky conditions. Volkswagen doesn’t offer an AWD version of the Jetta, nor does Honda with the Civic. Toyota only offers a very basic and highly mundane AWD Corolla—and if you want a real performance AWD Corolla, you’ll need to jump up to the track-bred GR Corolla for a good premium.

To keep the good beats going, the Mazda3 feels like a proper car behind the wheel, with its weighted and precise controls and tactile touchpoints. You can be aggressive with the steering, too, and chuck it in to corners—the Mazda3 invites you to do so. Thanks to its AWD grip, you can jump onto the throttle early and leave your foot down as you guide the car through whatever band of esses and bends await. Understeer is mostly irrelevant and adds to the flexible and adjustable nature of the car. Without sounding too poetic, it’s just a really damn good driving car.

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There are few complaints with the Mazda3. For most consumers, the number one detractor will be the asking price. That’s not to say the Mazda3 Turbo isn’t worth the money—it is—but over $35,000 and let alone $37,580 is still a tough pill to swallow for a compact car, even one with this level of performance and luxury.

Gas mileage isn’t fantastic, averaging a very average 25 mpg over the week. Let me correct myself: that’s not terrible, but this is a small car, and 25 just isn’t good enough anymore. I just tested a Honda Civic Si with a manual transmission—a similarly powerful car—and that averaged an astounding 34 mpg on the same roads.

Though Apple CarPlay is offered and has full touchscreen capability at all times, the native infotainment system itself is dated and slow in operation. If you choose to listen to regular radio, pulling up the list of stations can take seconds, and the system’s startup time also lags behind other modern systems.

2025 Mazda3 exterior front three quarter at sunset

I like Mazda’s six-speed transmission for its smooth shifts, but having only six ratios means they’re leaving some room on the table for more grunt via shorter gearing as well as improved fuel economy. For example, if there were one or two more gears up top, then cruising rpm could drop, resulting in better highway mileage. It works for what it is, but does feel like a bit of a relic here.

Not the obvious choice, but still such a good choice

Despite some criticisms about its age and lack of meaningful updates over the past Presidential term, the Mazda3 Turbo is still a total class act. Combining all the traits car enthusiasts and consumers like—performance, fun-to-drive character, and a luxurious interior—there just isn’t another car that does all those things together unless you're talking and spending German. It may not be the car or combination for everyone, but for the select few who appreciate these precise traits at this price point and niche, the Mazda3 Turbo remains kind of unbeatable.

2025 Mazda3 Turbo AWD Premium Plus

As-tested price: $37,580

Pros: Great to drive, luxurious interior

Cons: Getting too expensive

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