2025 Mazda 3 Review: A Mature Hot Hatch

Putting a wing on anything just makes it more fun. Even if its aero manipulation is moot, adding a wing lifts the fun levels on just about anything, and the latest Toyota Corolla is no exception. Toyota’s Corolla FX might technically be a nod to a Corolla hatchback of yore but now exists in sedan form with sporty styling. Built on the bones of the Corolla SE, the Corolla adds a wing to the trunk lid, a new set of 18-inch wheels, and some new design elements. While the Corolla FX does get some sporty visual enhancements, the Corolla FX still uses the same 2.0-liter I4 that feeds 169 hp and 151 lb-ft of torque through a continuously variable transmission and to the front wheels.On this episode of Quick Spin, host Wesley Wren hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Toyota Corolla FX and puts it through its paces. Wren takes you on a guided tour of the Corolla FX and highlights some of his favorite features. Later, Wren takes you along for a live drive review of the Corolla FX. Adding to these segments, Wren chats with Autoweek’s Patrick Carone about the 2025 Toyota Corolla FX, volume knobs, and fun compact commuter cars. Closing the show, the pair break down what makes the 2025 Toyota Corolla FX special.

The days of the bare-bones work truck are slipping away. Sure, you can still buy a relatively Spartan workhorse, but it’s going to come with some of the same creature comforts people have grown to expect from their commuters. The days of a fixed seat, fixed steering wheel and crank window piece of work equipment-on-wheels are all but dead. That said, the Work Truck name, and price positioning, will chug along, at least in the Silverado EV. The entry point into Chevrolet’s BEV truck, the Work Truck trim cuts away the carpet and nice finishes on the inside, but the large screens and digital experience stick around. The powertrains, too, carry double duty between the standard commuter grade and the entry-level Work truck. Chevrolet kicks the Silverado EV off a dual-motor powertrain that’s good for 510 hp and 490 lb-ft of torque. Feeding that dual motor array is a standard-range battery pack that’s good for 282 miles, according to GM. Of course, you can bump that up to the extended range and net 422 miles per charge, or the max range battery for 492 miles per charge.On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek executive editor Tom Murphy hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado EV WT and puts it through its paces. Murphy takes you on a tour of the Silverado EV WT and highlights some of his favorite features. Later, Murphy takes you along for a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Murphy chats with host Wesley Wren about the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado EV WT, work trucks, and battery-electric pickups. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2025 Chevrolet Silverado EV WT special.  

Hyundai’s fifth-generation Santa Fe hit dealer lots last year and ushered in a new era for Hyundai’s people mover. The latest generation Santa Fe moves away from the rounder styling of the past four generations of Santa Fe and moves into the growing trend of boxy SUVs. That boxy, Land Rover-esq shell also helps hide a larger footprint. The new Santa Fe is 2.5 inches taller and 1.7 inches longer, and rides on a longer wheelbase than the previous model. This extra size also translates to additional space on the inside, as you’d expect. Hyundai chose a turbocharged 2.5-liter I4 to power every new Santa Fe, which is mated to an eight-speed automatic. On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek’s Patrick Carone hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe and puts it through its paces. Carone takes you on a guided tour of the ’25 Santa Fe and highlights some of his favorite features. Later, Carone takes you along for a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Carone chats with host Wesley Wren about the 2025 Hyundai Santa Fe, the competition, and more. Closing the show, the pair break down what makes the ’25 Hyundai Santa Fe special. 

It might be hard to believe, but the GMC Terrain is entering its 15th model year. Kicking off in 2010, the Terrain filled the void left by the departing Envoy. Now, fifteen years since its launch, the third-generation Terrain has joined GMC showrooms. Like its predecessor, the Terrain sticks with a small, turbocharged four-cylinder that displaces 1.5 liters. This four-cylinder mill carries the same basic specs as the outgoing engine: 175 hp and 203 lb-ft of torque, in all-wheel-drive trim. The front-wheel-drive models are mated to a CVT, and the team at GMC dropped peak torque to 184 lb-ft. The team at GMC also shaved away some of the possibly confusing entry-level trims, and now start the Terrain at the Elevation level. On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek executive editor Tom Murphy hops behind the wheel of the 2025 GMC Terrain and puts it through its paces. Murphy takes you on a tour of this new, third-generation Terrain and highlights some of his new favorite features. Later, Murphy takes you on a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Murphy chats with host Wesley Wren about the GMC Terrain, the health of the midsize crossover space, and more. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2025 GMC Terrain special.

The once full compact truck space was filled with any number of budget-friendly small trucks that would handle the arduous task of hauling landscaping pieces from your local home store, or moving a Go-Kart has disappeared. Those small trucks either grew into the mid-size trucks we know today or fell into the footnotes of history, like the rotary-powered Mazda REPU. The folks at Hyundai jumped back into the underserviced space with the crossover-based Hyundai Santa Cruz. Riding on the same N3 platform as the similarly named Sante Fe, this Santa Cruz pickup essentially gives you the comfort and convenience of a modern crossover, with a separated, external four-foot cargo space – or bed, for the truck enthusiasts. On this episode of Quick Spin, host Wesley Wren hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz and puts it through its paces. Wren takes you on a guided tour of the ’25 Santa Cruz and highlights some of its updates and some of his favorite features. Later, Wren takes you along for a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Wren chats with Autoweek executive editor Tom Murphy about the Santa Cruz, the competitive set, and more. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz so special.

Nissan’s small pickup might be one of the brand’s most interesting machines that doesn’t carry the GT-R badge. Once dubbed Hardbody, the small Nissan pickup has duked it out with giants in the small-to-midsize truck world for almost half a century. The latest iteration joined the Frontier’s history books in 2022 as the D41-generation pickup. This truck replaced the long-running-if-not-old D22-generation rig, which ran from 2007 to 2021. This new truck significantly updated the Frontier, but it kept the 3.8-liter V6 mill that joined the truck in 2020. This 3.8-liter V6 is good for 310 hp and 281 lb-ft of torque. That power travels through a nine-speed automatic before hitting the rear axle, or the four-wheel-drive system. For ’25, Nissan updated the interior with a larger infotainment screen, increased towing capacity, and slightly revised styling. On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek executive editor Tom Murphy hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Nissan Frontier and puts it through its paces. Murphy takes you on a guided tour of the Frontier and highlights some of his favorite features and changes. Later, Murphy takes you along for a live drive review. Joining these segments, Murphy chats with host Wesley Wren about the 2025 Nissan Frontier, the competition, and the world of midsize trucks. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2025 Nissan Frontier special.

Formerly the Infiniti JX, the QX60 sits below the company’s flagship body-on-frame SUV but gives shoppers the ever-important three-row option. Entering its second generation in 2022, the QX60 launched with the venerable 3.5-liter V6, or VQ35 in Nissan’s engine lingo. However, for 2025 Infiniti is moving its three-row people mover away from one of its staple powertrains and is moving it toward the brand’s future. Under the hood of every 2025 Infiniti QX60 is the company’s 2.0-liter, variable-compression turbocharged four-cylinder. The variable compression engine made its debut in the 2019 QX50 but has finally made its way into the company’s larger QX60. This engine sends 268 hp and 286 lb-ft of torque through a nine-speed transmission.On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek executive editor Tom Murphy hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Infiniti QX60 and puts it through its paces. Murphy takes you on a guided tour of the QX60 and highlights some of his favorite features before taking you on a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Murphy chats with host Wesley Wren about the QX60, Infiniti as a whole, and the three-row crossover space. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2025 Infiniti QX60 special. 

Mazda’s numerically named hatchback might be a vestige of its former naming conventions, but it still echoes Mazda’s modern direction. This fourth-generation Mazda 3 made its way to roadways for the 2019 model year, which, historically, puts it close to the end of the line. Despite not having a Mazdaspeed version for hopped-up hatchback enthusiasts to add to their respective stables, this fourth-gen Mazda 3 does pack plenty of power under the hood. The base-model Mazda 3’s naturally aspirated 2.5-liter mill sends 191 hp and 186 lb-ft of torque through either a six-speed automatic or a six-speed manual transmission. That’s not bad, of course, but Mazda also offers the Mazda 3 with the turbocharged 2.5-liter engine that shoves 250 hp, on 93 octane fuel, and 310 lb-ft of torque through a six-speed automatic transmission. On this episode of Quick Spin, host Wesley Wren hops behind the wheel of the turbocharged Mazda 3 hatchback and puts it through its paces. Wren takes you on a guided tour of the 2025 Mazda 3 before taking you on a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Wren chats with Patrick Carone about the Mazda 3’s position in the marketplace, the competition, and more. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2025 Mazda Mazda 3 special. 

The Maserati MC20 Cielo joins the quickly growing line of Maserati’s supercar variants. As the name suggests, the MC20 Cielo drops the top on the MC20 and gives you the open sky. Even though the MC20 is the spiritual successor to the V8-powered MC12, the ’25 MC20 Cielo, and the rest of the MC20 lineup, opts for a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 that throws 621 hp and 538 lb-ft of torque through an eight-speed automatic transmission before throwing that power to the rear wheels.On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek’s Mark Vaughn hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Maserati MC20 Cielo and puts it through its paces. Vaughn takes you on a guided tour of the ’25 MC20 Cielo and highlights some of his favorite features. Later in the show, Vaughn takes you along for a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Vaughn chats with host Wesley Wren about the ’25 Maserati MC20 Cielo, where it stacks up among the competition and more. Closing the show, the pair break down what makes the ’25 Maserati MC20 Cielo special.

The VW Bus, in its many forms, has become one of the most recognizable vehicles in the company’s history. Sure, it might be second to the VW Beetle, but even that might be a close race. While the bus has been out of production for decades for use in the U.S. market, the folks at VW showed off a battery-electric concept in 2016 dubbed BUDD-e. Of course, wiser heads prevailed, and the concept van was updated and given a new name in 2017: ID. Buzz. Of course, it would be a while before the ID. Buzz hit U.S. shores, but a successor to the VW Bus is finally showing up on U.S. streets. The ’25 VW ID. Buzz rides on the brand’s MEB platform and packs a 91-kWh battery pack under its floor. That battery feeds a 282 hp rear motor or a 335 hp dual-motor powertrain.On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek’s Mark Vaughn hops behind the wheel of the 2025 VW ID Buzz and puts it through its paces. Vaughn takes you on a guided tour of the ID. Buzz to highlight some of his favorite features. Later, Vaughn takes you along for a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Vaughn chats with host Wesley Wren about the ’25 ID. Buzz, minivans as a whole, and more. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2025 VW ID. Buzz special.