Mazda 3 Mps

[Noel]

I was lucky enough to win a day at Oran park & got to test Drive the new Mazda Turbo range around the track including the MPS 3, MPS 6, RX8, & new MX5...then get taken by Dick Johnson in MPS 3 for a hot lap

First drove RX8...interior is awesome & handles beautifully but was disaappointed with the performance...i know its a rotary & you need to rev them but it feels like the diff gears are for the highway

Next i drove the MPS 6...Loved the throttle response & felt quicker than the RX8 & def handles well but not sure if i like the AWD feeling (used to Rear) & also found the gearstick positioning awkward as i felt like i had to reach forward & down to grab lever

Next was the MPS 3...first i will say i thought this much power in a front wheel drive was crazy & that it would just wheelspin & understeer...I WAS WRONG!!! This thing is nuts...as soon as you touch the pedal its throwing you back in your seat...although you can get it wheelspin it barely understeers & shat all over the RX8, MPS 6 AWD in handling & performance...This thing hits peak 380nm torque at 3000rpm & pulls all the way til redline then launches hard into the next gear. This car although nowhere near the quickest is prob one of the most fun cars i have ever driven...you could drive it out the showroom straight to the track no problems whatsoever!!!

I then got taken by Dick in MPS 3 for a hot lap...let me tell you when you are out there you think you are tha sh it & a good driver til you hop in with someone like Dick...its nuts...i loved every second of it as i was getting thrown left to right as he hammered this mazda around the track & this car def is a little rocket & i got to see its full potential this time around

next i drove the new MX5 which is quite diff to the 92 1.6L & 98 1.8L which i have driven...actually feels like it as some go but more a sports cruiser than anything

Overall was an awesome day & id say MPS 6 is good for a sports family, MX5 as i have said above, RX8 good for posing & the occasional straight line squirt & MPS 3 is just awesome all round although would not like to drive it in the wet with stability control off

Anyway look forward to others comments but this car is def the best FWD car i have ever driven & a def if your after a hot hatch in my opnion

Edited September 15, 2006 by Noel

[Sydneykid]

You comments are pretty much what I have experienced, the difficulty with the MPS3 is the lack of front wheel drive traction under power. To overcome it, Mazda have tuned the traction control to limit the power, so that it APPEARS not to power understeer. The problem is, this makes it slower than the quoted power figure would indicate whenever the traction control intervenes.

So when I jumped on the throttle to drive it out of a corner (and get some speed coming onto the straight) the ECU would cut the power by half and it would be slow until it gained some traction. This would then affect the speed all the way down the straight.

Personally, if I buy a car with 190 kw I want it to be able to use that 190 kw whenever I want. Not when the ECU thinks it’s OK for me to have 190 kw. The truth is 190 kw is too much for a front wheel drive, road car.

cheers

PS, it’s much, much worse in the rain, when repmobiles easily drag you off (very embarrassing).

Edited September 15, 2006 by Sydneykid

[R33stagea]

zoom zoom????

which mazda dealership do you work for?

[Noel]

yea Sydneykid they explained all that about how it cuts throttle etc but it does def work especially around the track...good thing tho is that you can take it off so then you would have 190kw all the time & could wheelspin all you wanted

[INASNT]

The 6 MPS is still quicker to 100 and over the 1/4.

[Noel]

The 6 MPS is still quicker to 100 and over the 1/4.

Makes sense as it AWD but we did not get to do a take off really as we would start in pits so all i can say is that driving in general the 3 felt quicker & more responsive than the 6

[Kennedy]

what lap times was Dick doing?

[Noel]

what lap times was Dick doing?

soz got no idea...we were not being timed

[evil_weevil]

not good enough without photos!

where are the dang photos of the day!!

sounds like it was a fun day out - and the 3 seems like a hoot!

[Noel]

not good enough without photos!

where are the dang photos of the day!!

sounds like it was a fun day out - and the 3 seems like a hoot!

yea was awesome mate...no photos as i was busy driving or being passenger the whole session

[mrgilly]

Yes, they are awesome. My flatmate took delivery a couple of weeks ago and it's a lovely beast. Still yet to line it up against the R34 though... should be an interesting contest

[Noel]

Yes, they are awesome. My flatmate took delivery a couple of weeks ago and it's a lovely beast. Still yet to line it up against the R34 though... should be an interesting contest

i have a stock r33 manual & i reckon it would leave me for dead off the line although i would still rather my car ;-)

[Squishy]

I have driven all of them as i work for mazda..

and the Mazda 3 Mps is quick.. but the Mazda 6 MPS still OWNED IT as far as i'm concerned..

They should have made the M3 MPS an all wheel drive and the M6 MPS a CONSTANT all wheel drive.

The RX-8 is still by far the funnest to drive!

Edited September 15, 2006 by RB_turbo_bitch

[WazR32GTSt]

I was lucky enough to win a day at Oran park

how?!?!

[Noel]

how?!?!

Enquired about MPS 6 way before it came out then when 3 came out they sent me some brochures etc & there was this code & a link to site which was a car game where you had to race around track & they log your time & did not think anything of it then yea then a few weeks ago i recieved an email telling me i had won this & to choose a session...there were loads of people (were 3 sessions x 2 days) so guessing they chose top 50 or so times...not sure

[thorpe84]

i cant wait to see one of those maxda 3 turbo's worked too 250-300kw

FAAAAAAAAARRRK!

[Link]

We have got a sp23 as a second car - great cars and they handle so well

I was looking into getting a mps3 but the price tag put me off as its going into wrx territory

A mate took me for a spin in his mps3 and i was very impressed at the overall package - the only gripe i have is i hate fwd turbo

[predator]

i cant wait to see one of those maxda 3 turbo's worked too 250-300kw

It wouldn't be driveable at that power level.. Most FWD struggle to be too driveable once you exceed the power levels for the chasis and get power to the ground.

[mad082]

i had a 2000 magna 5spd and it had a bit over 170hp at the front wheels (so a bit over 170kw at the fly- rough gestamite) and it was borderline for fwd traction. in the wet even with good tyres if you hit a bump at full noise in second or 3rd it would just start spinning. i could take off from a stop sign in 2nd and still spin the wheels.

barely understeered though. if you punched it out of a corner it would mostly just spin the inside wheel but off the line it would do both.

of the line in 1st you had to be delicate if you were trying to launch hard.

did the mps 3 torque steer much? my missus has a sss pulsar (natro sr20 with 112hp atw) and it torque steers in 1st and 2nd at full noise like nothing else on rough roads. on smooth roads its not so bad, but can be a bit unpredictable.

[Noel]

did the mps 3 torque steer much? my missus has a sss pulsar (natro sr20 with 112hp atw) and it torque steers in 1st and 2nd at full noise like nothing else on rough roads. on smooth roads its not so bad, but can be a bit unpredictable.

well suprisingly no...not even when Dick was driving it....they have put alot of effort & technology behind this to make it as good as possible with a FWD setup