- The best part of August.
The weather isn't 100 degrees,
the colors are changing, the birds are flying.
It's a beautiful moment in life here in Wisconsin.
The worst part, allergies.
I don't know what I've done in my past life
to deserve these allergies
but it must of been pretty damn terrible
because ragweed despises my existence.
You're going to have to pardon the lack of airflow
that's about to come out of my mouth.
But when it comes to hot hatches
many enthusiasts out there will almost always reference the
Subaru Impreza, the STI's, the Ford Focuses,
the Fiestas, the Mini Coopers,
even the Audi A1, maybe the Escort.
And pretty much every other one
except the one that was actually pretty neat.
And I'm Alex, Alex.FI and on today's episode
of So You Won't we're talking about the hatch
that definitely deserves a little more love,
a little bit more attention
maybe a coddle here or there, the MazdaSpeed3.
(dramatic music)
(engine revving)
The MazdaSpeed3 is a hot hatch
that was introduced right before the year
that your parents complained about the stock market.
2007 in case those that didn't know.
And was made possible by MazdaSpeed until 2013.
MazdaSpeed in Mazda's in-house performance division.
MazdaSpeed.
One word.
One.
The division itself has been involved
in the racing series thing since 1967.
Has a different name though,
it started off as Mazda Sports Corner.
Their first MazdaSpeed ready, consumer model was a protege
and did well enough to continue it's consumer productions
into vehicles like the Mazda Miata MazdaSpeed
or Mazda MiataSpeed Miata
MazdaSpeed Mazda Miata.
Or the MazdaSpeed6 for instance.
That was a joke by the way on the Miata, okay?
It's just, I know some people get upset.
MazdaSpeed has been around for while.
They've done some cool stuff.
The MazdaSpeed3 however, was the most powerful vehicle
in it's class at the time
with a over 263 horse power when it was first introduced
and 280 foot pounds of torque.
The thing was a champion.
It was an absolute beast.
It was great it every regard.
With all those Jonny's going
to the front wheel drive system,
out of a 2.3 liter turbo charged inline four.
The car made some serious gels level hair.
Bonus points for those Friday night bonfires
with your automotive friends.
If you don't have friends it's okay.
That's why we have the internet.
The MazdaSpeed3 was the company's first hot hatch
since the BGFamilieGTX of the 90's.
So they were coming in and they came in swinging
and they came in swinging fast.
We were only graced with two generations of the car.
The first generation being from 2007 to 2009,
and the second generation being from 2010 to 2013.
The first generation came
with all the bells and whistles it needed
to really scoot.
Limited slip differentials,
six speed transmission, traction control,
and a little dynamic stability for the "turk" steer.
The torque steer.
I said it wrong, it was actually meant to be a joke,
but then I tried to switch to the real word
and I didn't have enough time and my mind
was already decisive on what I was gonna say,
but my mouth didn't want to do it and then it all changed
and I'm sorry.
It was torque steer.
It was a bad joke.
It was properly good though, so good in fact
that the engine was listed as one of the best
ten engines for three years straight from Ward.
It wasn't bad.
It was a car that was like really out of the gate,
didn't experience any phenomenally big issues.
The second generation would see a properly needed facelift
and some additional goodies like a hood scoop.
(computer error sound)
What else could you want?
New gearing!
It had new gearing too, it did have new gearing
like it actually had some pretty insane short gears
for a production hatch.
It had some updated pistons and it upgraded
from Windows 98 to Windows 7.
It ended up running zero to sixteen
in a little over five seconds, a little bit like a 5.22-er.
You could argue five if you wanted to round down.
And a quarter mile in under fourteen seconds.
And I would classify that as quick.
Under fourteen? Quick.
Under twelve? Fast.
Under ten? Probably gonna die.
The car itself would win Car and Driver's best car
for 2007, 2008, and 2010.
So it did hit both generations.
It was an automobile all-star and just licked the envelope
as a proper, hot hatch.
When the car was initially launched,
it took it a little bit for it to be officially accepted
into the automotive enthusiast world.
Now don't get us wrong, it was a proper hatch,
but it wasn't inherently a car that many would
naturally compare to the Subaru equivalent.
At least the beginning.
However, it should have and it was awesome.
The motor was a hey-day for the platform of its time
and is still one of the primary reasons
people buy the car these days.
It was good.
Sad news though, it was discontinued in 2014
because Mazda didn't want to have any more fun
with the MazdaSpeed Trim Level.
It's fine Mazda.
Why would we expect and auto manufacturer
that puts a massive smile on the front balance of the car
to be fun?
Why would you make the whole front of the car look
like it's smiling and not want to have fun?
I get it.
(beep) us. Right? You know?
Screw us for wanting to have a little bit of fun.
It's actually a pretty interesting story,
but I don't want to get into it.
It's not that I'm angry about it,
I just wish that they never stopped making them.
As the car have a tendency to swap more than a few owners
by now, you might be thinking of picking one up.
After all, they are more affordable
than most comparable cars out on the market.
The reviews that are there, practically praise them more
than any other car in its competition.
But then why aren't they on sale for like so damn cheap?
This is when you get to watch me go into the old statement.
(smacking noise)
So you want a MazdaSpeed3?
Well buckle buttercup because here's some things to know
before you go over to Craigslist and type in
MazdaSpeed3 in two words because you didn't listen
to the beginning where it's one word and then nobody's
gonna have any vehicles with any type it in as one word
and then all the vehicles are gonna pop up.
Pro tip.
Just lettin' you know.
The first gen has natural tendency for heat soak
which is why the big 'ole scoop was introduced
in the second generation.
These cars don't inherently have
a fantastic sound system either.
Both in terms of speakers and exhaust
which is why you almost always see them modified there
if absolutely nothing else.
The cars are front wheel drive
which naturally causes torque steer and death
even with Mazda implementing a nerf to them
in the second generation and with the first
and second gear when going around corners.
In case you didn't know, they make it so
that you can't kill yourself as easily
in the first and second gear when going around corners.
Certain gear, though, you can just send it
as much as you want.
They are awfully happy cars
and you've got to be okay with that
because no matter how angry your headlights are,
you can't get away from that big, 'ole smiling face.
We don't see the cars get too oftenly added
to our after mark car galleries so they're still some
of a rare gem as some would think.
Those that have, you know, added
to the fastest after market gallery in the world
(clears throat)
fitmentindustries.com/gallery
do have have a tendency to run ASRs or CONEGs,
which we both have on the site, Nitto Neo Gens.
Tire option, very common, affordable, stretches well.
We also have it on the site,
and of course BC Racing,
which we also, I'm not even gonna say it at this point.
Second generations are what most people end up picking up,
just because the styling and the notable differences
in the generation.
So second generation is a little bit angrier, it does get
a little bit more aggressive I would say.
But it still has that smile.
But, the MazdaSpeed flywheel form is often overlooked,
and it's a little weird when you try to figure out why.
But we found the reason.
Now you're gonna need to get close.
Just a little bit closer.
Zoom in.
Nice and close.
(sniff)
(burp)
There's not a reason.
The car has some maintenance issues,
like the VVT actuator that you want
to make sure is completed or fixed,
and you're sure it has some Mazda paint issues,
but doesn't it inherently have
any major Achilles heel problems.
The biggest potential problem would come
from the previous owners beating the crap out of them.
Because after all, they are
an affordable sports hot hatch car,
and I'm not sure if you're aware,
but usually hot hatches have a tendency
to be driven hard, because their owned
by people who have a higher insurance rate than normal.
Then we wonder why we crash all the time.
Mazdaspeed3s are great little cars
that are happy, oh so very happy.
And they have everything that you would need
to know to throw you
into a tree if you mistake their psychotic smile
as anything but a mask.
They suffer from abuse of owners,
so you wanna make sure that you get one
with actual repair records, and one
that looks like it goes
to the early sermon, versus the one at 11:30.
Cause usually the ones at 11:30 are usually the ones
that are hungover.
So, if you picked up a Mazdaspeed3,
or if you're looking to pick one up,
and need a place
to go check out things all Mazdaspeed3 related, mostly
with wheels, tires,
and suspension, check out fitmentindustries.com.
Seriously.
We do have a gallery of them,
and then of course, you can take a look
and see what other people are running.
The Mazdaspeed3 is probably one
of my favorite, I think undervalued hot hatches out there,
and they are especially a great value right now.
If you're looking to get into something
that's not gonna cost you an arm or a leg.
But, let us know in the comments section what you think
of below, and don't forget to let us know what you want us
to talk about next.
I think there was somebody that said, "So you want an E36,"
and if he just keeps saying that
in the comments, we'll probably do it.
You think I'm joking, and I'm not.
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries.
I'm gonna need some a little bit more allergy medicine,
because I can feel it coming back.
We hope you enjoyed the video, and we will talk
to you guys later.
Peace!
(dramatic music)