The New King of the Sport Compact PlaygroundIn North America and around the world, the sport compact marketplace
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| The wait was long, but the rewards are great. Mazdaspeed3 packs 247 horsepower. (Photo: Mazda Canada) |
is rapidly heating up. Not too long ago, the benchmark for a sporty little car was something around the 150 to 170 horsepower mark, filled by cars such as the Honda Civic SiR, Mini Cooper S or Nissan Sentra SE-R V-Spec. Of course, there have always been a few exceptions, such as the Subaru Impreza WRX STi and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution (the latter not available in Canada mind you), but aside from these purpose-built rally replicas the average output of OEM tuner cars, not to mention the peak power and torque of run-of-the-mill compact and subcompact cars has steadily increased, and today it's normal to see compact models in the 200-horsepower range. In fact, the latest Civic Si features 197-horsepower and the retro-cool VW GTI 2.0T has 200 on the dot.
In
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| Mazdaspeed3 looks great! Even against a silly computer-generated backdrop like this one. (Photo: Mazda Canada) |
Europe, there's a similar phenomenon going on; more and more automakers are offering their compact cars with serious power upgrades. It seems that the Europeans take the hot hatch concept even more seriously, with Ford offering its 220-horsepower Focus ST, Opel its 237-horsepower Astra OPC, while Volkswagen has two variants of the Golf, the 200-hp GTI and the 250-hp all-wheel drive R32. And though they're not sold here, it's difficult to miss the so very Italian Alfa Romeo 147 GTA, at 250-hp, or the 258-horsepower BMW 130i M-Sport. And we haven't even gotten to special tuner brands on both sides of the Atlantic, which add further potency to these pocket-sized powerhouses.
With the segment yet to hit its peak it only takes a little imagination to
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| The Mazdaspeed family tree is growing: Mazdaspeed3 pictured with Mazdaspeed6. (Photo: Mazda Canada) |
visualize how Mazda, an automaker with unmistakable presence amongst performance car enthusiasts, thanks to sport compact models such as the RX2 and RX3 that go back to the early '70s, the classic RX7 plus a bevy of current performance-oriented models, not to mention its catchy 'zoom-zoom' motto, is going to get in on the market. We've long been expecting a performance version of the 3, something along the lines of the Mazdaspeed Protegé of years gone by, and now it's finally here: the Mazdaspeed3.
It's a five-door hatch version, dubbed Sport in regular trim, but now carrying a 247-horsepower wallop. It's quicker, faster and more powerful than the aforementioned Mazdaspeed Protegé, or the turbocharged all-wheel drive 323 GTX of the late '80s, and what's more is that it will be marketed not only in Japan and Europe, but North America as well; although it will be called the Mazdaspeed Axela in Japan and the 3 MPS in Europe.
Regarding the all-important process of upgrading, the Mazdaspeed3 follows in the footsteps of its larger and already successful brother, the Mazdaspeed6, in that Mazda took a holistic approach in preparing the car for the upgrades.Because
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| The nitty-gritty of the '3: engine, suspension and exhaust. (Photo: Mazda Canada) |
the Mazdaspeed3 is nearly 90-horsepower more powerful than the top of the line, naturally aspirated 2.3-litre car, the Mazdaspeed3's entire body has been structurally modified for improved strength, just like the Mazdaspeed6. Strategically placed reinforcements to the car's front end ensure that the suspension geometry of the driving wheels won't alter when pedal hits metal, while braces at both front and rear strut towers keep all four wheels directly in-line with the pavement below. Other areas of improvement include closed members, which have been mounted to the car's chassis floor to improve the Mazdaspeed3's resistance to flex between front and rear axles.
