I'm really impressed with Mazda, they seem to be staying on the right side of several trends where the industry is going in the other direction. They still make cars that are a bit more responsive whereas the industry is making either luxury floaters or crazy horsepower monsters. Good handling, they avoid CVT and have a very practical approach to tech. If anyone is a fan of MotoMan, he's done some cool deep dives:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMke4Fl4gyw
(Sorry if this sounds like an ad, I'm not affiliated with them but have been scouting for a car recently.)
(Sorry if this sounds like an ad, I'm not affiliated with them but have been scouting for a car recently.)