Mazda3 Mazda3 MPS Official pics

[Zafiro]

Big Brother MAzda6 MPS has 260hp, lets hope this one has it too. Sounds like a fun car




Mazda venture themselves between giganten such as the Volkswagen golf GTI and the ford focus ST. 3 the MPS makes one's debut on the car fair of Genève and is the second car in the fast serial. Just previous month 6 the MPS was presented. The Mazda 3 MPS are provide MPS with the same 2,3-liter turbomotor as the Mazda 6. Concerning the exact capacity Mazda wrap in visibility still even in dumbness, but count on thick 200 pk. In contrast to fast six 3 the MPS has only voorwielaandrijving. In Europe is called the car Mazda 3 MPS, in Japan he is sold as Mazdaspeed Axela and in noord-Amerika he listens to the name Mazdaspee

 

[siko]

Little pocket rocket... should give the R32/R36 a run for its money!

 

[LaArtist]

pretty neat car.. i like it

 

[MikeJ]

Since it is FWD I really doubt they're going to give it more than the 200 hp that the article also suggests.

 

[Centurion]

Looks good to me.

 

[martinbo]

Two words. Torque Steer.

 

[Snake Vargas]

Yeah, nobody (but Saab? ) is dumb enough to put so much torque and power through only the front wheels.

Not to mention the marketing no-no it would be to have the smaller, cheaper car perform that much better (initial traction problems aside) than the larger, more expensive and more up-range car. I'm just wondering why they didn't develop the 2.0 engine into a turbo version. Now it's going to be blatantly obvious that they've detuned it from the Mazda 6 MPS's engine, assuming it doesn't get the full berries.

Anyhow, that 'FWD' part means that it's not really going to be a Golf R32/R36 competitor so much as a competitor for the Focus ST/Astra VRX/Golf GTI/Megane Sport Trophy or whatever they're called.

Nevertheless, I'm actually more keen on seeing the results of the expected facelift to the entire Mazda 3 range; since the existing SP23 would be fine, or even a 2.0L version, which is the base engine here. I want at least a 5-speed auto, more effective sound deadening, and better upholstery (the previous efforts were ghastly). If elements of the MPS's facia spreads to the rest, I'll be really stoked.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

stoked.

Thats such an Australia word Snake. lol But those changes you listed are exactly what the Mazda 3 need. So does the MPS implement all the faceilifts changes, or is that likely to come later on? Also, are there any interior pics floating around?

 

[wltsm]

This new bodykit really improves the look of the car!

I hope there will be a MPS sedan version, I have had my eyes on that car for a while, really like the looks!

 

[Yperion]

Yeah, nobody (but Saab? ) is dumb enough to put so much torque and power through only the front wheels.

Audi A4 2.0 TFSI (200 hp) is offered in FWD also and i saw no magazine complain about too much power in the front wheels. Furthermore for the price of the A4 (39 k euro here in Greece) you can oly get a 320i with 150 hp or a base C200k with 163hp.
It's obvious that the FWD A4 gives the other two German cars a run for the money.

As for SAAB , well they are using GM (Opel) platforms so more than 200 hp in the front wheels should be an overkill. The GM engineering is simply not good enough for so much power.

 

[Giannis]

do you know guys any sales figure of the mazda 3? are they ancouraging such an amount of horsepower for this little car?

IMO, more that 150hp in such a small car is useless...

 

[Mr. M]

I'd compare this with the GTI. I'll still take the GTI, for some unknown underlying reason.

 

[Snake Vargas]

MrMerc - yeah, just seemed like the right word for the moment

I'd prefer to take the GTI, but make this car cheap enough and good enough (esepcially in the points mentioned) and it might just win out. Not to mention if I don't have to wait more than 6 months to get one, and even less appealing that Golf facelift spy pics are out.

I don't have exact Mazda 3 sales figures, but sales here are doing extremely well. It's the second best in segment, the small cars, which has been taking off in Australia due to higher petrol prices etc. Corolla is still the best, for some unknown reason (maybe rental companies).

Yannis, the A4 has the advantage of longitudinally mounted engines, IIRC. That means that, there should be no torque steer (since the half-axles are of equal length and presumably equal mass), though that could still leave traction problems. If you read the [link=http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/newsid/2060209.002/country/acf/Dodge/2007-dodge-caliber-srt4]WCF Dodge Caliber SRT-4 article (linked)[/link], then it mentions equal length half-axles, which should go a fair way in eliminating torque steer.

A limited slip differential can also help, I think. Electronic traction aids are one more way of helping, not to mention plain old sticky tires. Anyhow, 200hp of the A4 2.0 TFSI is fine, for a car that size and weight, but 260hp is getting a bit much. The Dodge article above seems to make special mention of the LSD, axles and such since it has 300hp through the front wheels..

I'm also keen for a sedan version. However, I have heard hearsay that the 3 MPS (ie turbo) version might come in hatch only. Still, if the facelift looks just as good, that'll do. I think there will be more pictures come Geneva, but no more interior and other pics as yet, as far as I know.

 

[siko]

First Drive: 2007 Mazdaspeed3 @ CanadianDriver.com

• 263 hp
• 0-100 in 6.1 s
• 250 km/h top speed (limited)

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/jm/07mazdaspeed3.htm