Few hot hatches are as quick to put smiles on our faces as the Mazdaspeed 3. The current version of the nimble little five-door has been named to our 10Best list twice, won all three comparison tests in which it took part, and inspired the latest in our long line of bad-ass haulers. With the arrival of the second-generation ‘Speed 3, Mazda has made the smile standard equipment, plastering it across the car’s front end. We’ll just have to learn to love it.
Being the most muscular of the Mazda 3 lineup, the Mazdaspeed thankfully gets the butchest styling. A large air intake that feeds the intercooler adorns the hood, managing to take some attention away from the smirky lower grille opening. The grin is also painted gloss black in this application, which we think is a visual improvement over the gray plastic on the standard hatch and sedan. You can’t have a hot hatch without the hatch, and the Mazdaspeed 3 will once again be available only as a five-door. The tail, seen in photos of the Mazda 3 MPS (the name used by the Mazdaspeed 3 outside the U.S.) sports black trim evoking a venturi tunnel and looks significantly more business-like than the standard 3's.
Aside from the happy new styling, Mazda hasn’t made many changes to its fast-five-door formula, and that’s alright by us. The new guy will continue to use the same direct-injected, turbocharged 2.3-liter engine, which in its current state of tune sends 264 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque to the front wheels. (Sorry, all-wheel drive is still not in the cards.)
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