Test Drive: 2011 Mazdaspeed3

By Kevin Harrison

It costs about $30 million to go to space. Seriously, if you have the dough you can be one of the few people on Earth to ever leave it. Seeing the moon, the stars and even looking back at your home planet would be thrilling to say the least. But then there’s that price tag. Even billionaires, I suspect, would have a hard time swallowing that bill.

So, what can we do for cheap thrills? Well I recently went to see a movie where the real draw was cheap ticket prices that evening. But considering how uncomfortable the chairs were, the schizophrenic audio and the movie itself being about as interesting as a gnat, the thrill part of equation was severely lacking. Cheap yes, thrilling no.

So where is the balance between value and thrills? Mazda thinks they have it nailed down in the form of the new Mazdaspeed3. They’ve been at it since the inception of the Mazda Protege MP3 back in 2001. Have they perfected the recipe?

Mazda had relative success with the previous generation Mazdaspeed3 which debuted in 2007. While that generation Mazda3 hatchback was quite the looker, I didn’t think that Mazda had done enough to visually separate the speed3 from the regular version. It’s much of the same with this generation Mazdspeed3, however it now has a functional hood scoop as well as more eye-catching 18 in wheels. The overall design may be a bit polarizing. For instance you either love it or hate it that your speed3 is constantly happy to see you each morning with that Cheshire Cat grin, but the overall look exudes the sportiness that Mazda wants to convey. I think it’s best angle is actually the rear quarter angle, even though the clear Altezza-style tail lights are a bit played out nowadays.

The interior is generally a pleasant place to be with high quality materials found throughout. The seats have decent lateral support which almost makes you forget the rather cheesy poka dot pattern in the cloth, dash and on the side of the doors. This is standard on all Mazdaspeed3’s and the contrasting colour is always red, regardless of what the exterior colour is. Because the particular vehicle I was driving was red, it seemed to blend in a bit better, but I would imagine it looks a bit awkward with other coloured Mazdaspeed3’s (of which there are only four colours to choose from). Rear legroom is a bit tight but there is a generous amount of cargo room available, especially with the seats folded down. The audio system is easy to get used to and the sound is quite good. If you have a button fetish, you’ll love the Mazdaspeed3’s steering wheel. It can be a bit overwhelming.

The Mazdaspeed3 produces 263 horsepower and 280 pound feet of torque. Mazda claims a 0-100 time of 6.1 seconds and I have no doubt that that’s probably true. The issue is, however, that it could probably be even faster than that. Getting that much power from the front wheels to the asphalt can be a bit of a challenge as the uncle traction control seems to work overtime when the Mazdaspeed3 is pushed from a stand still. On top of that, the Mazdaspeed3 won’t give you all it’s got. In first and second gear, the power is actually limited to reduce torque steer. As a result, shifting into 3rd gear creates quite the unexpected boost of power. This makes highway driving a pleasure and it really is the Mazdaspeed3’s forte. A bit of good news at least is that the formula seems to have worked. Torque steer is reduced to a minimum when accelerating from a straight line. It’s a massive improvement over the previous generation Mazdaspeed3 where you could have easily torque steered into a  tree if you weren’t careful. With that said, torque steer becomes increasingly prevalent when accelerating hard into or out of a corner. This causes the Mazdaspeed3 to under steer if you don’t back off the power.

However body lean is almost non-existent and the Mazdaspeed3 can feel quite composed once you are able to reign the beast in by the horns. In fact, handling is downright great  as long as you don’t push it so hard that the torque steer and under steer become a problem.  One great thing is the exhaust note. It’s loud, but not overly so and it doesn’t have that annoying aftermarket exhaust note found on most 10 year old suped up Civics.

The clutch bites abruptly which takes some getting used to, but once you have it nailed down it becomes second nature and it becomes easy to drive smoothly. The gear shift position is good with shifts being adequate, but it can sometimes be difficult to shift from second to third, and to downshift from third to second.

The ride is firm, but not overly firm for a performance car, especially considering the low profile tires on the 18 inch wheels (which look fantastic, by the way). I’ve read complaints about the ride being overly firm, but I say that’s what comes along with driving a performance vehicle. It’s no firmer than the ride in most BMW’s or Audi’s.

Which begs the question: Has Mazda come up with a perfect recipe for thrills and value? Well, they are damned close. A lot of the Mazdaspeed3’s flaws can be excusable based on its price point alone. There aren’t too many cars out there that offer that much power, with daily driver usability for just over $30,000. It can be an ideal car for a young family on a budget who doesn’t wish to give up performance for the sake of having to carry a stroller and diaper bags for the trip. With that said, I think Mazda could hit the nail on the head if they did one of two things: either make it less powerful (263 horses to the front wheels is a bit much) or give it all-wheel drive. Considering the abundance of power, the added weight of an all-wheel drive system shouldn’t affect performance to any large degree.

So while it isn’t hasn’t achieved performance perfection, it definitely makes a case for itself for value and performance.

Base Price: $32,995

Pros:

·    Great value

·    Strong engine pull on the highway

·    Reasonably planted in corners

·    Good versatility

·    High quality interior materials

·    Good exhaust note

·    Torque steer has been reduced

Cons:

·    While torque steer is less prevalent, it’s still noticeable especially in hard cornering

·    Has a tendency to under steer when pushed hard

·    Steering is a bit light

·    Gearbox and clutch take some getting used to

·    Poka dotted interior pattern

Overall: 8.5/10

 

Related Posts

Comments are closed.