A new Mazda 3 parked in the neighborhood looks an awful lot like our new Cobalt, doesn't it? I think the designers were drawing from the same playbook, and I think that book came straight from BMW. Am I on crack? Maybe, but if you look at the most recent crop of Beemers you'll see a lot of similar lines to these cars.

Anyway, I like the rear end on the Cobalt better than the Mazda 3, but the 3's front end (the overhang in front of the front wheels) is shorter and therefore better. The three also manages to look both sleeker and beefier at the same time. I'm not sure how or why, but the Cobalt looks a little more toyish or immature in comparison. Adding insult to injury, Automobile Magazine gives the 3 more props than the Cobalt. But at the end of it all, the Cobalt has one thing the 3 just can't match: The Cobalt comes in orange, and that makes all the difference!