YES, and you will lose.....nuff sed

 

And that 3rd gear on the Speed3 owns.

 

Okay - I know these are old posts, but relevant to us because we just bought our 17 year old son a used 2010 MazdaSpeed 3 with 103K miles. This was about as "sporty" as we would go for a reasonably priced, reliable car. I am glad to see that everyone basically concurs that it is not a true sports car because I thought the same thing. Although fast, it's still a compact sedan, not a true sports car.

Thank you for posting about this car!

 

I'm interested, post a pic.

 

I own a 2012 Speed3. Nice car and mechanically sound when properly taken care of. Do you have service records? Turbos can go bad as early as 60k, I've seen them last as long as 120k+ and you're right around the time VDC can / will go bad. Most people opt for a 'VDC delete' and then use Cobb AP to clear CEL's. Intake valves get dirty, torque steer is very dramatic.

I agree it's not a true sports car but definitely has more than enough potential to get into serious trouble. My Speed3 is FBO (full bolt-on) with an eTune and I easily keep pace with serious sports cars in the power dept, around 350 whp I'd estimate. Installing solid engine / trans mounts will completely transform the driving experience in a positive manner although NHV will increase greatly. One of the best mods for Speed3 imo and worth every penny.

When new, auto reviews claimed the stock quarter mile was 13.9 (FD was 13.8).

 

Ok I agree the MS3’s is not a sport car, but the people saying it can’t be a sport car because it’s blandest on a sedan and fed are crazy. I can tell you that a proper MS3’s like the focus ST is more sports car than the rx8.
My focus rs will without a doubt our handle my rx8 everyday.
I have springs on both and on the track the rs is head and shoulders a better handling car. And I’ve driven many ST’s that are amazing. Granted it’s a 6 year gap between my 10 rx and my 16 rs. But that not a huge amount of time.

 

When anyone ever sees a MS3 go past do they say "there goes a sports car" ?

Same goes for a multitude of cars that are quicker than 'sports' cars.

 

Uhm a modern Toyota Sienna will leave an air cooled 911 or 69 Stingray and any miata at the lights. Is it a sportscar?
A model s will eat a modern mustang gt and a gtr down the quarter.

Definition of a sports car is not limited to outright single dimension measurement. If you don't know then it's up to you to educate yourself.

 

i think this is correct. I don’t think it’s just speed as my tuned Ford Edge is much faster than my rx8. You must have the combo of decent power and handling.
Hence why I would consider my rs a sports car as it tends to be better in every aspect than a mustang, or camaro, except of course the 1le.
I would say that those two are the baseline for me. Power and handling combined. Nothing to do with looks at all. I rarely get any comments on the rs but every time I drive my rx8 I get comments.
I would say both could be considered sports cars because the power and handling together is very well balanced and much better than your average car.

 

Well, you gotta compare something from generally the same era for the argument to be really effective. 7 years are a long time.

Focus RS came out about when RX-8 died in 2011. I don't think anyone would want to compare the 2nd Gen Focus, which would put it in the same era as the RX-8, as both were released in 2004.

If RX-8 had a real second generation, as in new chassis(so not like S2, which is a facelift), I am willing to bet it will beat Focus RS in terms of handling.

A hot hatch is still different from a sports car, just like how pony cars are still different from sports cars. Lines can certainly get blurry at times, though.

 

I would say yes 5-6 years is a long time. But I can tell you very few cars built even in 16 handle like the rs. Especially at the power level. If you have not driven one it’s quite remarkable how amazing it handles for how big the car is. Plus I think sports car is a larger group of cars that have great power to handling to match. Now inside that are sub groups like hot hatch, and muscle cars.
Hence why my rs will completely smash the 16 mustangs and Camaros which are both sports car and muscle cars. That’s how I group them anyway. Sports car being broad and muscle cars being in that group.

 

This entirely depends on what "handling" refers to. The Rx8 has less compromised "sports car" suspension design, for example the lack of any dive on braking, even with soft springs. Whereas most of these "sporty" new cars of which the RS is a time example have brutal spring rates with overdampening on top. If you just mean total grip, then any car will a wheel upgrade and performance summer tires will "out handle" a typical rx8.