 This is our first foreign car and she's not too bad. We bought the Mazda 3 i Touring edition. You see we drive a 2002 Vette and a 05 Tahoe so we are used to V8s. We looked all over and went through all the motions in comparing the Civic, Nissa Altima, Cobalt, G5 and G6 and the Mazda 3. In the end we decided that the Mazda 3 looked the best and the gas mileage was nearly as good or better than the others. We like the ride, sporty feel and its pretty comfortable. We also bought the version with the Goodyear tires instead of the Toyo for the winter time. I'm a bit disappointed with the mpg so far around 26 but I hear they need to break in so we will see. 