WHEN they introduced the Mazda 3 sedan and four-door hatchback-cum-wagon in 2003, the Mazda people had a spiel that went something like this: “The kids these days! They want everything! They’re paying 16 grand but they want a mini-Mercedes, so that’s what we have to give them. Even though, back in our day, entry-level cars had cardboard steering wheels, and if you wanted a sunroof you had to wait for a rust hole to form above your head  which usually took only a couple of weeks.”

The basic Mazda 3 really does offer everything you’d reasonably need in a daily driver: tasteful, high-quality interior design and materials; plenty of space; and high-end options like a Bose stereo and a navigation system.

The 3 is based on the same platform as the Volvo S40, and it drives like a more expensive car; quiet and refined on the highway, composed and willing on twisty roads. When people tell me they’ve bought a Mazda 3, I congratulate them heartily.

The stock 3, even with its wimpiest engine, is a car that encourages enthusiastic driving. In fact, a couple of years ago I was banned from the test-drive area at a Mazda Rev It Up autocross event when I got a bit too frisky with a 3 sedan and committed flagrant orange-cone-icide.