When you’re starting out in the “real world” trading in your college clunker for a decent car to get you to your new job can be just as important as a well-fitted new suit in setting the tone for your future.
Don’t have the coin to drop on a new ride? Fortunately for you “starter car” no longer means “stripped down econo box”—you don’t have to pony up big bucks to get a great looking set of wheels packed with the latest tech toys. These days, even entry-level vehicles come loaded with bells and whistles that used to only show up in luxury rides.
Here are 3 of our favorite new imports that’ll get you to your new gig in style, and give you a taste of the good life to come:
The Euro Styler – 2014 Mazda 3 | 5-Door Grand Touring: The new design tweaks to Mazda’s vehicles may not be drastic, but they’re anything but subtle. With a longer, sleeker nose—and new face that takes that crazy huge smile and turns it into a come-and-get-me sneer—the new Mazda 3 5-Door looks more like a Euro sport, and less like a sad hatchback, than the 5-doors we’re used to seeing.
The 6-speed manual we tested was crisp and quick, even with the engine’s SkyActive technology squeezing 33 MPG out of the 155hp 2.0-liter 4 banger. It’s just plain fun to drive. (For more power, you can opt for the 184-hp 2.5-liter, but trust us, the 2.0 has plenty of pep.) Inside you’re treated to a host of amenities, including power sport seats, a 7-inch touchscreen with a center console mounted control dial for easier access, and a kicking Bose sound system. And with text-to-voice technology that can read you short SMS messages while you’re driving, radar cruise control, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, and more, you’re safe and sound while you load up the rear cargo area and head to the lake to decompress.
2014 Mazda 3 | 5-Door Grand Touring – $23,245
Slide in behind the wheel and you’re treated to a bevy of screens that’ll make you feel like you’re in the cockpit of some sort of ground-based starship, instead of a sub $25K coupe. An LCD info screen rides the dash above the large speedo providing you with digital MPH, fuel levels, and your average MPG consumption. Next to that is Honda’s 5-inch iMID screen fills you in on your choice of average MPG and fuel range, the time, or your music info, while the 7-inch touch-screen delivers navigation and everything else you need—including Honda’s exclusive Lane Watch tech that pulls in a video feed from a side view mirror cam giving you a clear view of your blind spot—all completely knob-free. In fact, Honda’s integrated our love of tablets into this screen, giving you the ability to pinch and stretch to control the map view or music volume on the premium audio system. Think of it as your mobile command center.
Honda Civic EX-L Coupe – $24,040
The Toy Box – 2014 Kia Soul: No, that exclamation point is not the over excited typing of a 16 year old girl—it’s actually the designator of the Soul’s top trim line. Silly? Absolutely. But after driving one, you’ll want to put exclamation points after everything too. This newest Soul model got a design refresh that ditches the “let’s pack our whole dorm in and go for corn dogs” vibe and gives us a more refined Soul that somehow looks more mature.
Sure it still has the interior mood lights that change color and pulse along to the beat of your tunes, but it also adds a bunch of grownup features we can’t believe come in a car at this price, including a huge 8-inch touchscreen with voice navigation, heated and ventilated front seats, three steering modes, a kick ass sound system, and a huge panoramic sunroof. It even has auto folding side mirrors, something its big brother, the $39k Sorrento, doesn’t even have. And with enough room in the rear for a couple of friends and all your weekend gear, they should give it two exclamation points.
