Mazda 3 Mps

[Big Rizza]

The latest Wheels gives the new Mazda 3 MPS such a glowing review, it has convinced me that I have to get one. Some quick quotes:

"From 80-120km/h in third, it can sprint faster than a Porsche 911 Carrera, HSV GTO, Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Falcon XR6 Turbo and an Impreza WRX"

"Exiting 35km/h corners (in third gear, mind you), the MPS will lay two extrovert black lines straight up the road, and yet does so with surprisingly little torque steer"

"At 60km/h with three people on board, the MPS was breaking into wheelspin in fourth gear as max boost arrived"

Sounds like an absolute riot to me! Perhaps not as sophisticated as the delicate balance between slip angle and wheel spin during a perfectly executed four-wheel drift as you might get in a more rounded rear-drive car (say, a skyline), but hey, that's not really what you buy a 190kw front wheel drive hatch back for is it?

[Busky2k]

I'm not so sure. The 1/4 mile was 14.6 @ 97mph (IIRC). Thats not 911 beating power, and the proof is in the terminal speed? Agreed, its a bloody pocket rocket though.

[lingeringsoul]

still a hatch.......coupes are sexier

[GT-R32]

Would be an awesome little daily driver, very cool for what it is for sure.

Weird. It's as fast as an RX8, obviously not around a track, but in a straight line. From roll on it sounds very impressive. Plenty of mid range meat by the sounds of it.

[Busky2k]

Being turbocharged, it'd be far more entertaining to drive than the RX8 with the gobs of torque.

The RX8 engine for me was like driving a VTEC car. Lots of revs, barina like torque and utter dissapointment.

[GT-R32]

I wasn't all impressed with the RX8 either. And being a long time rotary owner I was dead keen on getting one. Great car, just too slow for me. Still drove beautifully though.

[Wink]

Mazda3 MPS would have too much torque steer and this Drive article seems to think so too:

http://drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetai...articleID=18339

From the article:

The engine has too much power and torque for a front-drive layout; it then uses electronics in a vain, inept attempt to cover up the problem. We were happy to park it.

[Mr. Oizo]

I wish they had made it the sedan and not the hatch

[Mr. Oizo]

Mazda3 MPS would have too much torque steer and this Drive article seems to think so too:

http://drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetai...articleID=18339

From the article:

that's the most uneducated and idiotic thing ive heard

[Yo-Yo]

My dad & I took it out for a test drive at the Penrith Mazda along Mulgoa road

The salesman didn't let us drive it without him & made sure we behaved ourselves, although we did take it on the m4 .

acceleration is very linear & I didn't notice any boost spiking (turbo cars these days ) although honestly we didn't have much of a chance to put it through it's paces.

same engine as the mps mazda6

it's still a fwd but it's got some Dynamic Stability Control something or other

cons: I hate the hatch, would've been much nicer as a sedan imo

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Also test drove the xr5 focus, not bad although I wouldn't pay 40k+ for it

rather spend the extra dough for an mps3

[Nozila]

I wasn't all impressed with the RX8 either

thats why people have done engine swaps with the rx8 and put the rx7 series 6+ engines in it - 13b i think it is.

[Wink]

that's the most uneducated and idiotic thing ive heard

Why?

I'm only quoting the article and I've driven a FWD turbo car extensively (notorious Saab 9-3 Turbo) and torque steer is a problem.

[Mr. Oizo]

Why?

I'm only quoting the article and I've driven a FWD turbo car extensively (notorious Saab 9-3 Turbo) and torque steer is a problem.

yeah i know

im not saying you're stupid

im saying the article is

its 4wd isnt it?

[GT-R32]

thats why people have done engine swaps with the rx8 and put the rx7 series 6+ engines in it - 13b i think it is.

It's the right car for Mazda to make now, bring the rotary to the masses and make money. But for me it is too slow. The FD was a failure in the sense that it was not profitable for Mazda in the US, their biggest market. The RX8 is fixing that and fingers crossed we will see a car as good as the FD again (except maybe a little less tempremental!).

[Wink]

its 4wd isnt it?

No, it's front wheel drive.

The RX8 is fixing that and fingers crossed we will see a car as good as the FD again (except maybe a little less tempremental!).

Less tempremental reliability then yes.

But it's the perfect car when it comes to the mixture of chassis, handling bits and performance.

[Mr. Oizo]

No, it's front wheel drive.

well then, i'll shut up

[Modena]

well then, i'll shut up

Mazda 6 MPS is AWD.

[thorpe84]

like i said on another thread, imagine the potential in this little thing has

if it had around 250kw it would be an absolute death trap!!

how heavy is it?

[Wink]

like i said on another thread, imagine the potential in this little thing has

if it had around 250kw it would be an absolute death trap!!

how heavy is it?

Heavy for a hatch of 10 years ago.

Normal for a hatch released since 2000.

Around 1400kg.

[predator]

The weight of these things these days really does push them away from being a real 'pocket rocket', and that goes for the MPS and XR5. After all, they weigh nearly as much as your average R33...