No
matter what you end up thinking about this performance
edition of the extremely popular—and for good
reason—Mazda
3, we want to emphasize the concept of value. Mazda
chief engineer Tatsuo Maeda’s wild child is a
great fun ride for anyone from 17 to 77. It's
a toy, it's practical transportation and it’s
a very sporty hatch. In fact, it wants to claim the
title of the fastest and quickest front-wheel drive
production car in the world. Yes, it has more horsepower
than a 2007 Porsche
Cayman or 911 Turbo of yesteryear…and all
for around $22,000.
Just
like Mercedes-Benz has its AMG performance division, Mazda,
which is already the world’s leader in accessories
sales to the tuner market, has Mazdaspeed. The 3’s
predecessor, the Protégé, started the
brand, followed by performance editions of the last
generation Miata and Mazda 6. These are sport-tuned
factory models that start, stop and corner better. Rob
Davis, Mazda North America’s senior vice president
for product development, is proud to announce, “Mazdas
are the most raced cars on any given weekends in the
U.S.”
We
had the good fortune to test it at Mazda's
very own and very prestigious Laguna Seca racetrack.
Round and round, up and down, through the notorious
corkscrew, the wild child handled beautifully with ample
power. The Mazdaspeed3 is based on the 5-door Mazda3 with several re-enforced areas in the chassis—sorry,
no sunroof option. We like the body design of the car
with its fluid lines. The interior is comfortable with
a no-nonsense dash and bucket seats in the Grand Touring
trim. And there is plenty of room in the back with split-fold
seats to transport your cargo in a hurry. We appreciated
the direct steering, linear braking and a decent ride
considering the tight suspension. It has a pleasing
sound at low revs, which gives way to throaty and sporty
tone at higher engine output. One worry was how it was
going to handle all that direct-injected, turbocharged
power distribution and avoid torque steer (280 pound-feet).
Guess what? It did that too, thanks to a sophisticated
engine torque management system. With great tire traction
and a low curb weight, this sprinter will reach 60 mph
in less than six seconds! Plus, it will propel itself
all the way to 155 mph effortlessly until the electronic
governor gets in the way.
It is totally wild, and
for another $2,000 over our Grand Touring tester’s
sticker, your Mazda dealer can deliver an even faster
one (see bottom picture). Like, $26,000 for all this,
bro? No way, radical, gnarly, dude.
We
have one word for the Mazdaspeed Motorsport Development
team: Bravo! But hurry up, only 5,000 of these banzai
runners that come in red, silver, black and Cosmic Blue
will be made available in the United States during its
first year of production.
Warranty/Service: 48-month/50,000 Mile Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty; 24-hour
roadside assistance, loaner car program.
|
