No matter what, I like the Mazda3. If you will include the Altis in the choices, then I would be more logical to still include the 3 to be among the choices. Why? What's new about the Altis aside from the interior and exterior changes? Nothing. The engine is same, suspension is same, the tranny gained manumatic and aside from that, nothing. If you are looking into the mechanicals alone, you are actually buying the 2001-2007 Altis still. If so, the Mazda3 has better steering, suspension, ride and handling. Room is just enough, features are aplenty as well. The issue about the weight seems to just appear on paper. When you drive the thing, it glides, steers and accelerate like its few hundreds pounds lighter. I drove just the base 1.6S and it's already a blast. I averaged 9km/l in a normal driving. But true, the 1.8S Civic is quicker and is more or less bout as economical. But I feel, the Mazda3 still holds aces in driving fun.