The below-$30,000 sport-sedan market is populated by an astonishing abundance of well-powered, well-rounded offerings from manufacturers both foreign and domestic, Japanese and European. The field of fast four-doors—designed in part to compromise between pedal-to-the-metal driving and traditional family values—is currently so crowded that it's become increasingly difficult for even big-name brands to make a splash whatsoever. A sports sedan that's baby-seat compatible, you say? Yawn.
But, Mazda's managed to make waves with its excellent MAZDASPEED6 sedan, which starts at $28,555. The company has of late all but proven the efficacy of staying on message, happily letting its "zoom-zoom" campaign stand in as shorthand for "we make dependable cars that don't drive like cardboard boxes." And, given that rep, a superpowered version of its mainstream sedan, the Mazda 6, was a no-brainer.
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