I borrowed one today, what a thoroughly nice car!
256 bhp, 280 lbs-ft and 4wd.
Decent car!

I've always liked them aye... ONLY thing I can fault is the awkward rear bumper styling, it just seems unnecessary?!

Good family car!

An Evo with grace, they call it!

I like this car too.

If you want a Q-Car, it's ideal.

How are they for tuning etc?

Don't know of anyone who does much for the 2.3 motor.

I have a Mazda 3 MPS, and its a cracker. Most performance mods come from Japan, US, or OZ where the cars are known as the Mazdaspeed 3 and 6.

Useful 300cc over most of the opposition!

Its handy enough having any extra displacement, but it could be a bit torquier from 1-2.5k rpm. The bit that puzzles me is that its direct injection - that should have sorted the low end torque and mpg in one blast, but doesn't seem so. Still as fast as an STI subie in a straight line though! which is nice

256 bhp and 280 lbs-ft, looking online you can make that 310-310 if you want!

I had a go in a Mazda 3 MPS with the Aero kit (Eibach suspension setup) the other day... it was a quick car and torquey but the whole experience was just so quiet. I had no idea the engine was even on, even at 6000rpm!

I had a right old ding dong with a 3 MPS in my Cooper S Works GP.
I was running 250 bhp and had him, but not by much.
1090 kgs, versus 1400 kgs, was the reason i pulled away!

'Supposedly' with a cold air intake and a replacement for the restricive 'E.T.' look-a-like post-turbo downpipe around about 300bhp is acheiveable, but without remapping I personally doubt it. And mazda are holding onto the secrets of their ECU closer than the location of the Holy Grail. :-( I agree with Knockside about the sound - its a quiet beast. A bit of induction roar would sort that though - just get a replacement K&N panel filter.

Only problem is I live in an area of Northern Ireland that is currently being cordened off with average speed cameras :-( I'm trapped!

The road is becoming a very difficult place to go fast on.