To my mind, there have only been two truly committed "sport compacts": the Dodge (Neon) SRT-4 and the non-smiling generation of the Mazdaspeed3. Everybody else, from the original GTI to the Focus ST, has diluted the "more power" formula with additional refinement or equipment or Euro-style panache.
The current Mazda3 has already gotten plenty of props from us and from others. Will there be a turbo model to marry the big-power attitude of the original MS3 with the refinement and room of the current car?
According to the folks at CarsGuide, who presumably can read Japanese, the home-market Holiday Auto is reporting that there will be an MS3, and that it will be:
* Turbocharged! (Woo-hoo!)
* Six-speed manual (Alright!!!)
* All-wheel-drive
Ain't that some shit, man. That will likely push the weight to 3200lbs or so. With that much jelly in the jam, and the additional driveline drag of AWD, the proposed 300hp from a turbo/Skyactiv combo engine is unlikely to set the world on fire, or particularly trouble drivers of the original MS3 in a straight-up 40 roll.
Let's hope that Holiday Auto (pronounced "Holiday Aw-aw-aw-aw-aw-aw-aw-aw-aw-to") has it only partly right, and the next Mazdaspeed3 will follow the same FWD, no-frills format as its predecessors.
from The Truth About Cars http://ift.tt/Jh8LjA
Put the internet to work for you.
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