Mazda's mid-size four-door sedan looks aggressive like it's ready to romp down the road. The sleek and clean package design displays styling hints borrowed from European touring cars. It features narrow cat-eye headlamps with multiple lenses wrapped around front corners as bookends for a chrome-capped grille, which punctuates the point on a stepped hood and deep fascia marked by broad air intake ports.

Mechanical components include a double-wishbone design for the front suspension and a multi-link arrangement at the rear, a big disc brake at all posts and electronic brake assist. There are two editions marked as 6i and 6s. The former uses a four-cylinder powertrain and the latter totes a six-pack. 6i stocks a dual-cam 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 160 hp. 6s gets a twin-cam 3.0-liter V6 juiced up to 220 hp.

In Mazda's sporty tradition, both plants are available with a five-speed manual transmission. Also offered is a dual-mode automatic shifter - configured in four forward gears for 6i and five for 6s.

The spacious cabin, with two front buckets and a rear bench for three with split folding seatbacks, adds titanium-finish trim elements on the central dash with round dials and chrome accents. Also, the leather-wrapped steering wheel is telescopic and adjusts for tilt and rake positions.

Mazda's roadster, still the ultimate affordable sports car, has the perfect weight balance which sets up that Miata magic of predictable vehicle control.

For 2004 it continues in two editions - Miata and Miata LS - both with revised 16-inch alloy wheels mounted with 205/45R16 V-rated tires. Miata's engine, a twin-cam 1.8-liter four-in-line, produces 142 hp. An optional suspension package specifies Bilstein shocks and a Torsen limited-slip.

Miata LS stocks leather seats in either black or parchment, plus power door locks and a Bose audio kit, with a six-disc CD changer optional along with a six-speed manual transmission.

Base Miata provides stock items like power steering, power windows and power mirrors, air conditioning, foglamps and an audio system with CD deck.

The SUV from a company steeped in the production of fun-to-drive cars is a so-called crossover wagon for the compact class. Mazda promotes it as a sport-ute reared by a family of sports cars. The claim comes from the fact that Tribute differs from the typical lumbering hulk of a sport-utility box built on the platform of a RWD truck. Instead, it rides on the chassis of a FWD sedan and carries lively independent suspension elements and crisp rack and pinion steering to fashion a nimble wagon.

All power from Tribute's four-cylinder or V6 engine goes directly to the wheels in front - the ones that also steer. This ability of front wheels to both turn and steer the wagon makes it quite agile, and entirely predictable. Another unique feature is Tribute's monocoque platform, a structure that integrates frame and body to forge a single unit that's extremely rigid when set to the dynamics of motion.

Tribute first appeared in Mazda's line of 2001 but returns this year without change. Tribute's models show three trim variations and each is available in FWD or optional all-wheel-drive (AWD). Tribute DX is the price leader with standard features including a four-cylinder engine, roof rack, tachometer, tilting steering wheel, and power windows with one-touch down for driver's window. Tribute LX adds a V6 and upgraded cloth seat fabric, while deluxe ES has leather seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and power-motivated driver's seat.

The engine for Tribute DX is Ford's twin-cam 2.0-liter four-cylinder Zetec plant that hits 130 hp through a manual five-speed gearbox. For LX and ES, a larger engine - the dual-cam 3.0-liter Ford Duratec V6 - produces 200 hp and works with a four-speed automatic transaxle that's optional on DX. (CONTINUED...)