Photo: X-Tomi Design
Everybody knows about the Golf GTI and the Focus RS with the 2.5-liter engine. But for years, they had a very serious, but largely forgotten Japanese rival, the Mazda3 MPS or Mazdaspeed3, depending on where you live.
Enthusiasts are only now beginning to start collecting and appreciating these brutal hot hatchbacks. We think the 3 MPS was very much a case of "the right car at the wrong time." The features that made it unpopular at the time, such as torque steer and a big turbo, are considered fresh and exciting now but were seen as bad engineering back in the day.
Mazda is a little bitter about the whole MPS brand and has repeatedly said it won't build another one. But we think they're acting like babies. Mazdaspeed is a fantastic performance brand that started as an even better racing program. No true car fanatic can ever forget what they did in Le Mans endurance racing.
Sure, we can understand whey wouldn't want another Wankel sports car - it would be too unreliable and all that. But all the technology to make a hot hatch already exists. There's the 2.5-liter turbo found under the hood of the CX-9 and CX-5. It obviously could make a bit more power, but almost all their cars can be ordered with AWD, including the Mazda6 and the new Mazda3.
Why do we mention this? Because along with the hot 3er, Mazda also had an MPV version of the 6er sedan, competing with the Vecta OPC/VXR and Mondeo ST. It had active torque split AWD for crying out loud. There's plenty of dads out there who used to own Miatas but need something practical for the whole family. Don't let them end up in a VW dealership!
Renderings keep popping up every year, and this one is created by X-Tomi Design based off the latest press photos. It didn't go wild with it, only doing minute changes to the ground effects package. It's a smart decision, considering we compared this beauty of a hatchback to the Alfa Romeo Brera.
Mazda is a little bitter about the whole MPS brand and has repeatedly said it won't build another one. But we think they're acting like babies. Mazdaspeed is a fantastic performance brand that started as an even better racing program. No true car fanatic can ever forget what they did in Le Mans endurance racing.
Sure, we can understand whey wouldn't want another Wankel sports car - it would be too unreliable and all that. But all the technology to make a hot hatch already exists. There's the 2.5-liter turbo found under the hood of the CX-9 and CX-5. It obviously could make a bit more power, but almost all their cars can be ordered with AWD, including the Mazda6 and the new Mazda3.
Why do we mention this? Because along with the hot 3er, Mazda also had an MPV version of the 6er sedan, competing with the Vecta OPC/VXR and Mondeo ST. It had active torque split AWD for crying out loud. There's plenty of dads out there who used to own Miatas but need something practical for the whole family. Don't let them end up in a VW dealership!
Renderings keep popping up every year, and this one is created by X-Tomi Design based off the latest press photos. It didn't go wild with it, only doing minute changes to the ground effects package. It's a smart decision, considering we compared this beauty of a hatchback to the Alfa Romeo Brera.
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