2009 Mazda3 MPS spied at Nürburgring
October 27, 2008 by George Skentzos
Crowned by most as the performance-hatch king, the hotly anticipated successor to the Mazda3 MPS has been spied lapping the Nürburgring.
To ensure there is no mistaking this hot-hatch for its naturally-aspirated siblings, Mazda has included a seemingly WRX-inspired hood scoop and oversized spoiler.
Sources confirm that the new model will again be powered by the current 2.3-litre turbocharged unit expected to produce an identical 190kW.
This leads to question if this is strictly a make-over or whether Mazda has thrown in a few additional performance goodies.
This next-generation MPS certainly has a rather impressive twin from which to borrow inspiration – namely the new Ford Focus RS and its highly acclaimed RevoKnuckle suspension system which apparently eliminates the need for all-wheel drive.
Print it: 
Growing old is compulsory, growing up is optional. My wife always tells me I live by this motto. Don’t know what she is talking about!
Agree Scoobs…….! Some people never grow up as well! Speaking of that; where are regular ones with bizarro mindset??????????????????????????????????
I am also an MPS3 owner. This is a great car, one thing that does annoys me is the “hesitation” the temporary lack of power on some few occasions when you floor it on the 5th or 6th. Not sure why what the solution is fuel pump or ECU…???
Other than that, it is an absolute pleasure to drive to work every day, up the hills it is king in 5th and 6th gear.
Ive driven a MPS down the Old Pacific Hwy and i thought it handeld like rubbish… Every time i put my foot down even in 3rd gear the front wheels spun like crazy. I told the Mazda bloke what I thought of it…He even agreed himself.
i think you must have DSC turned off (no point turning it off really)… I drove the 3 MPS around the Oran park race track and i thought it handled pretty good.
Ofcourse with 190kw and 380NM there would be some wheel spin but if you leave DSC on there really isn’t any problem unless you try to defy physics.
You people are crazy!!!
For those of you who have commented but never driven one, your opinion is rubbish,
For those who have and say it doesnt handle well, it came 10th overall in targa tasmania, you just cant drive.
It is a handfull in corners, it does have too much power but thats the whole point!!
but after owning one for the past month im use to the power and want more!!
I think its engineered well to be able to put all that power down to the ground, your riced up lancer with the same power would just spin
Treat yourself guys and gals and go and buy one you wont regret it!!!
Hi all,
Some very interesting comments.
I have done as cliffo says and bought myself a brand new MPS. I drove one a few weeks back for about 30 minutes and the word I used was “surprising”.
I thought it was fantastic. IT put a huge smile on my face, no matter what I was doing. And guys, this is what your car should be for – making you happy!!!
I have paid less than £15.000 for the car in black with the aero kit. For this kind of money I found there to be limited competition.
A lot of people see the modest looks as a negative side, but I quite like the idea of my car not shouting at people “i am a boy racer”.
The car comes in 2 weeks, hopefully it will make me as happy as i was on the test drive.
Be cool.
Lee
Eh, In my mind it’s too fast for Australian roads. Pretty good deal though if you’re into that sort of thing. I shied off waiting for one and got a luxury model SP25 instead. The insurance was a major issue and that it would have to be parked in the open. Would likely attract too much attention from the lebbos in my area
Idiots talk crap all the time All you idiots on forums dont even have money buy everything on credit. You idiots dim wits go ride a sheep. I own this car you cant beat the price you stoopid idiots if you got the money buy something else you monkeys If you want to compare you have to look at prices even with MX bikes you idiots say YZ some say CR some say KX you numb nuts IF DONT MATTER IF YOU NEVER CAN AFFORD TO BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So Abdul, you can’t string two words together let alone spell them properly and we’re the idiots? Alright then.
Just a question, how exactly do you know our financial statuses? I’m just having trouble determining how you can so confidently think that we have no money and buy everything on credit.
You wrote “All you idiots on forums dont even have money”. Now, considering the rest of your comment I don’t know if that’s what you meant to write, but doesn’t the fact that you left a comment make you an idiot in a forum with no money? According to you, that would be right.
In the future, I advise that you let people have their own opinions about things without going on an idiotic rant that makes you look nothing but foolish.
Putting away the racist comment by Hotdog and Abdul’s dim-witted response (by the way i am also mid-eastern). Shall we go back talking about this car then.
For the money, it is great, fantastic to drive. I have had mine for about 18 months now and has been driving like a dream. This car handles well, but it is more about in-gear acceleration and every day driving. So unless you want to go drag racing or go at suicide speeds around bends (which is dangerous in any car), then this car has it all and for the price it hasnt be beaten yet.
Anyway, this is my two cents worth. Drive one and you will know what i mean. Cheers.