Road TestCar reviews - Mazda - Mazda3 - MPS 5-dr hatchMazda modelsOverviewMazda slams down another superb MPS offering, and this 190kW hot-hatch is no softie12 Jan 2007 Mazda3 is the second model to receive the MPS performance shot in the arm. Sharing the same athletic 190kW and class-leading 380Nm engine as the Mazda6 MPS and new CX-7 crossover, the 3 MPS simply crushes its fellow hot-hatch rivals. With in-gear acceleration times to worry such revered marques like Porsche and Audi and an alluring sub-$40,000 starting price, there isn’t much to dislike about the 3 MPS. But wait, there’s more… it’s the quickest car in Mazda’s line-up! Model release date: 1 June 2006 to 1 June 2009 All car reviewsAlfa Romeo Abarth Alpine Alpina Audi Aston Martin BMW Bentley Chevrolet Chery Citroen Chrysler Dodge Cupra Ferrari DS Ford Fiat FPV Foton GWM Great Wall Holden Haval HSV Honda Hyundai Hummer Isuzu Infiniti Jeep Jaguar Lamborghini Kia LDV Land Rover Lotus Lexus Maserati Mahindra McLaren Mazda Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-AMG Mini MG Nissan Mitsubishi Peugeot Opel Proton Porsche Renault Ram Rover Rolls-Royce Skoda Saab SsangYong Smart Suzuki Subaru Toyota Tesla Volvo Volkswagen Previous modelMAZDA offered the BF-series 323 SS Turbo and Turbo 4WD tearaways as an adjunct to the regular SS ‘warm’ hatchback models during the latter 1980s. Both were fitted with a 1.6-litre twin-cam 16-valve B6T four-cylinder engine developing around 110kW and 187Nm, and tied to a five-speed manual gearbox. Critics cried that the front-wheel drive model couldn’t handle the torque, but as a bang-for-your-buck proposition, the 323 even eclipsed the reigning 100kW Corolla Twin Cam. Too bad that the Mazda’s styling was so mundane. |
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