Mugatu

iTrader: (1)

or kill it

BoxerGT2.5

The block is the same. Just has a smaller turbo and intercooler. Hitting STI numbers in a LGT isn't too difficult.

CarAndDriver

I'm looking forward to the full reviews. It looks like a potentially great car. I think the MS6 is too portly. The MS3 looks like a killer vehicle if it doesn't have torque steer galore despite all the Mazda engineering efforts.

Japan8

Bump...

Update with three new reviews (see first post)

Japan8

http://www.caranddriver.com/carnews/...announced.html

foxman

"According to Mazda, the final horsepower and torque figures [for the MS3] have come to rest at an impressive 263 hp @ 5000 rpm and 280 lb-ft of torque at 3500 rpm. The 6-speed manual transmission was designed with wide gear ratios in order to “to fully exploit the wide torque band of the direct-injection turbocharged 4-cylinder engine,” according to Mazda (but probably also in the interests of fuel economy)."

The latest C&D 2007 Model Preview pegged the 0-60 at 5.3 sec. If true, Mazda's flagship sports car will be embarassed by the MS3 car at a stoplight.

Design1stCode2nd

Ms Rx8 Ftw!

Tirminyl

It better be... The bar has really been raised with the two latest Mazdaspeed editions. I can only guess (and drool) at what the next Mazdaspeed MX-5 will be like.

sosonic

I really don't get Mazda's thinking.

How can they allow a hatchback to blow away their flagship sports car?

They do little to nothing to improve the RX-8 numbers from year to year. They did make some correction to the RX-8 auto (and 212 HP is not all that impressive, 242 HP should have been the mark and 262 HP for the M/T), but if you think about it they should have done a 6 port, dual oil cooler auto, with 0-60 numbers closer to the M/T in the first place. Also, Mazda should have made its own Automatic Transmission Fluid Cooler too... It made nearly zero sense to de-tune the RX-8 auto, the way they did and strip a oil cooler while they were at it.

RX-8 has everything (looks and interior wise), except 0-60 and 1/4 mile times to match its looks. You would think that Mazdaspeed would just come out with a supercharger and/or leech somebody else's supercharger and offer it to its RX-8 people that want greater performance. People have had sour grapes about the speed issue since the 1st year the RX-8 was released. Mazdaspeed's own supercharger kit for the RX-8 with 280HP or greater would have silenced everybody.

I'm just glad that many independent teams have come out with supercharger and turbo options, but Mazda really needed and still needs to get off its butt and bring up the "base speed" numbers for each new year and come out or endorse a supercharger kit. It would be nice to have a supercharger kit with a Mazda warranty and 0-60 times in the 5 ( 5 being better) to 6 second range (Auto and M/T)

Its just sad to see a Mazda hatchback blowing by its own sports car.

Oh yeah, a big shout out to http://www.axialflow.com/ for finally finishing that supercharger. Hopefully with that puppy running in my RX-8, I will not be embarrassed to death by hatchbacks at stop lights.

Renesis_8

Who cares about straight line performance, the RX-8 still has more zoom zoom than the new Mazdaspeed 3 and that is what Mazda is about, handling, if you havent figured it out. Give Mazda some time for the next faster RX-8, they listened to us customers when they didnt have cars that have any straight line performance, now we have MS6 and MS3. IMO they're doing a great job.
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Volcano vaporizer

Tirminyl

Ditto. Mazda has always been noted as having cars that handled great but lacked in the engine department. Now they are fixing that.

Japan8

Added a new review to the first page...

First Drive: MazdaSpeed3 IGN.com
http://cars.ign.com/articles/730/730560p1.html

snizzle

Wow, glowing review ^

RotaryRider36

Ive driven a mazdaspeed 3 and it is definately all its cracked up to be. 3rd gear in that car is insane. Just wait until it comes out! Great job mazda!

Japan8

These reviews make the car sound damn tempting. Unfortunately this all probably means that bastard dealers are going to try and add a $5k markup on them. If you can get one for at least MSRP it's a lot of bang for the buck... markup is never worth paying unless you have to be the first on your block... and the one to lose the most in resale.

Japan8

Opps... missed a few others...

Car and Driver preview test
http://www.caranddriver.com/previews...daspeed-3.html

Renesis_8

C&D got it to 60 in 5.3secs while edmunds got 5.9secs, thats a huge difference... I guess we need to wait a few months to confirm how fast it really is, when it goes on the dyno and down the track.
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The Cliff Condos Pattaya

playdoh43

youre always supposed to go by the fastest mag time, that stands for the fastest documented time possible that you know the car is capable of. because the normal driver will probably never get that kinda time, or even 5.9 seconds. some magazine people cant drive, hence the discrepency :p

Japan8

nah... Edmunds always gets weak numbers. They don't drive the cars aggressively. Check the numbers from the European and Australian mags... they pretty much suck. R&T will still get better numbers yet as among the major 3 car mags (C&D, R&T and MT), they seem to drive the cars the hardest and pretty consistently pull the best numbers.

Design1stCode2nd

Edmunds also doesn't account for any wheelslip and some Mags do. They had an article on how their 0-60 times compare to others, I'll have to see if I can find it. Best way to do it is to compare the same mags times for both cars. Like C&D had 5.9 for the RX8 and 5.3 for the MS3.

Either way it's sounds like a very nice performer for the price. Not the looks I'd go for but would be a great daily driver if I were looking for one.

ASH8

Forget the "times" issue...fuel/weather conditions/equipment can vary world wide, I am not going to lose sleep about a .04 second or so difference.

As WHEELS (the oldest named car mag in the world) said the Mazda 3 MPS (Mazdaspeed3) is one of the hottest hatches...EVER!

Your writers seem to agree with WHEELS....

Next...the Mazda MX-5 MPS Roadster Coupe ....Mazdaspeed MX-5...in 2008

VikingDJ

I'm really impressed with the MS3, and I have yet to test drive one, but I know the engine and tranny well, so I'm sure I''ll love it. I am imagining my MS6 450lbs lighter, because performance wise, that's exactly what the Speed 3 is. This little affordable car will pounce both the RX8 and the MS6 in a straight line. Mazda is going backwards here in performance. The more expensive the car, the slower it is.

Renesis_8

Mazdaspeed RX-7 in....... 2010
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IOLITE VAPORIZATION TEMPERATURE

YaXMaN

Wait... You guys are quoting the 5.3 sec 0-60 as gospel. It's only an estimate. The Car and Driver Preview clearly says
Performance ratings (C/D est):
They didn't actually measure a 5.3 0-60 or a 13.9 quarter.

YaXMaN

Sort of... R&T strives to post acceleration numbers that are representative of what experienced real-world drivers could achieve in real-world conditions. They don't speed shift the cars, or otherwise abuse the cars in a way that would affect reliability. It's silly to destroy a car just to get another 10th. I definitely agree with consistency - I consider their road test summary the best comparitive source around.
Yes, I am a R&T junky. Been reading it since the 70's, long before I could drive.