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SPEAKER: The most famous enthusiast-loved Mazda of all
time has--
OK, so not the Miata.
Forget the Miata.
The next most famous enthusiast-loved--
OK, not the RX-7.
Forget the RX-7.
The third most famous enthusiast-loved Mazda
has got to be the Mazdaspeed 3.
It was an excellent hot hatch when
it wasn't trying to torque steer you into a wall.
And now Mazda has slapped a turbo badge
on their current hatchback, the Mazda 3.
They've called it the Mazda 3 Turbo.
It's not a Mazdaspeed 3, they say.
And I say that's a good thing, because it's better.
Before we get into the details on this particular car,
if you want to see more videos and car reviews like this,
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The normal 3 is available with either 155 or 186 horsepower.
But now Mazda has added a turbocharged 2.5-liter engine,
borrowing it from bigger Mazda vehicles like the CX-5.
It puts out 250 horsepower and 320 pound-feet
of torque on 93 octane gas.
If, like us, you're in a state with only 91 octane,
you get 227 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque.
That's still strong, but is it better than any Speed 3?
In terms of price and performance,
the Turbo 3 competes against vehicles like the Subaru WRX
and the Volkswagen Golf GTI.
It straddles a line though in between less expensive
and slower vehicles like the Civic Sport,
but it's not quite as fast as something like the Civic Type
R. Thankfully, to offset the high price of the Turbo 3,
it has got one of the nicest interiors in the class.
It's extremely well built. It's almost
minimalist on the dashboard.
There are great buttons, lots of awesome materials in here.
And it feels borderline luxury, which is why for the money
I think it's a great competitor for vehicles like the Mercedes
A220 or the Audi A3.
Those are entry-level luxury vehicles
that you're going to get less standard equipment on until you
start adding up the options, but you're
going to get a similar vibe on the interior.
Really if you took the Mazda badges off,
I'd think this was a luxury hatchback.
So with all that torque and all-wheel drive,
is the Mazda 3 Turbo faster?
Well, compared to the standard Mazda 3,
it blows the doors off, so no competition.
And even the upgraded power train with 188,
186 horsepower is faster than that one.
And compared to the old Speed 3, that's where things get closer.
But this current version, the Turbo 3, still faster--
0 to 60, quarter mile.
It's faster off the line.
And we have the added benefit of using all-wheel drive
for not just launching in a street race
or at the drag strip, which is the only place you should race,
but you get all-weather capability too, which is great.
And I think this 2.5-liter engine is actually a little bit
underdeveloped.
There's some potential that's waiting here.
I would love to slap some bronze aftermarket
wheels and some sticky tires on this car,
and take it out to a track day.
It seems like it would be a riot to drive really, really fast.
Now, I've taken it around the Edmunds test track,
and I've taken it to B roads that are really
great to drive in my area.
And I really love the way the steering and the handling
feels.
It's sharp.
It's direct.
It doesn't have a lot of body roll.
But this Turbo 3 is a little bit more hardcore
than the standard version.
So does it lose any comfort?
No.
It's still just as refined, just as easy to drive
as the standard 3.
And you get a little bit of throaty turbo noise
from under the hood.
It really is a pleasure out on the road and a vehicle
that you can live with easily on a daily basis that
offers a lot more performance than the standard variable.
Compared to the old Mazda 3, this one
is so much easier to drive too.
We looked at our test notes from the 2010 Mazda Speed 3,
and our test driver had the same thing
to say every time he took it out on track, which is that it
was a nightmare to launch.
You had to match the RPMs correctly and get
the wheel spin just right.
Otherwise it would bog down off the line.
And really this one, you just press the throttle and go.
I would really love to own one of these
and modify it, make it my own, tint the windows,
and put bronze aftermarket wheels and sticky tires on it,
take it to the track and see what it's really
like to drive at the limit.
And there are few cars that I can say that about.
At Edmunds we test and review hundreds of cars every year,
so it's hard to find the cross axis of something that's
attainable and desirable, but this Mazda 3 Turbo
is definitely on that shortlist.
So is the Mazda 3 Turbo the Mazda Speed 3 for 2021?
Not really.
But it's better than that.
It's more refined.
It's easier to drive.
And it's grown up.
It's matured with the segment around it.
All the other compact sedans and hatchbacks
are more grown up these days than they were a decade ago.
So you want your Mazda 3 Turbo to be shoutier?
Well, go out and buy a shouty exhaust.
You want it to attract more attention?
Well, then paint it a bright color.
Put big wheels on it.
Do body underglow.
I'm here for all that stuff.
But if the real reason you want a Mazdaspeed 3
is because you just like that emblem on the back,
you can do what I did and go on eBay.
For a cash offer on your car today,
go to edmunds.com/sellmycar.
For more information on the Mazda 3 Turbo
and all its competitors, click the link
in the description below.
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