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Mazda3 MPS shows its face down under

2009 Mazda3 MPS

The new, smiling, Mazda3 MPS has gone on sale in Australia. Entry level pricing undercuts the old model by a couple of hundred bucks and starts at $39,960. If you want the fancy pants Luxury model you’ll need to cough up an extra $3,330.

For your money you get a racier looking MPS these days, mainly due that stonking big scoop in the bonnet. Although, apart from that, the rest of the body plays an understated Q-car tune.

The tune from the 2.3 litre turbo four cylinder is common to the previous generation. Well, kind of. The specs on paper are virtually the same—190kW at 5500rpm and 380Nm at 3000Nm—but the Mazda propeller heads have fiddled around with a few bits to make it a smoother drive, with less torque steer. These tweaks have also yielded some ever so marginal improvements to fuel economy (9.9l/100km, reduced by 0.1l) and exhaust emissions (235g/km, reduced by 3g/km). Mazda say the MPS can sprint from rest to 100km/h in 6.1 seconds, and if you’re a motoring journo from WA, you’ll probably be willing give the 250km/h top speed a good nudge, too.

The 3 MPS comes standard with a fair bit of kit, including a six speed manual transmission, Dynamic Stability Control, Traction Control System, Anti-lock Braking System, Electronic Brake-force Distribution and Emergency Brake Assist, six airbags and active front head restraints. There’s also an in built sat-nav system, featuring a 4.1″ screen with maps stored away on SD cards. The unit also ties in with the car’s on board computer and Bluetooth phone prep. Dual-zone climate control and a 3-position memory electric front seat complete the major list of goodies on the inside.

Mazda reckon they’ll sell a bit over 800 MPS models a year, with around 60% of those being the Luxury spec. For their extra cash Mazda obliges Luxury owners with bi-xenon headlights (including Adaptive Front-lighting system), auto dimming  rear view mirrors, auto wipers and a 10 speaker Bose stereo. Although, strangley, Luxury owners do lose 32 litres of rear boot space, while gaining an extra 14kg in weight. Presumably this is due to the subwoofer that comes with the Bose stereo.

Like the first generation Mazda3 the new model has been selling extraordinarily well. So, despite the latest Mazda3 MPS lacking some interior refinement next to its German rivals, one can assume Mazda will have no trouble shifting it’s newest and hottest 3 out the door either.

There are plenty of new pics after the jump and if you want to pore over all the marketing guff you can download Mazda’s press doc below:

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

2009 Mazda3 MPS

12 replies on “Mazda3 MPS shows its face down under”

Wow, I didn’t think the styling could get any fussier, but I was wrong. It also looks like they missed an opportunity to jam more buttons along the 3rd steering wheel spoke.

The upper dash is horrid, and what’s with the postage-stamp sized sat-nav? (Although it is free, so props for that.)

The old car was much nicer, inside and out.

I really like the look of the new 3 from the rear quarter. Its a shame the interior is a bit of a let down. I live near a combined VW/ mazda dealer and stepping from a golf into a 3 is like day and night.

On the other hand, I was watching previous model MPS hand evo’s a whupping in the Targa tasmania. And have also seen how quick they take off on the roll. I think there’s no question about the performance credentials.

I took one for a drive on Saturday and was very disappointed. The car felt heavy and seemed to be lacking about 50 of the claimed 190kw. I’m not sure if the dealer had turned the boost down or mazda have got the numbers wrong.

omg i took this new mazda for a test drive 2 weeks ago, and it felt like a heavy car, i gave it a couple of times and u could hear the turbo spoolin up, but no excitement there at all, felt slow, my sp 23 2007 model feels quicker i dont know what mazda did to this new car, i know its go 60 kg more then the previous mps model but it really felt slow, dissapointedddddddddd

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