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The 2007 Sydney Motor Show is going on right now and while we aren’t there we’ll try to bringing you the interesting bits. First on the list is the new Mazda3 MPS Extreme, a modified version of the Mazdaspeed3.

 

According to Mazda, performance has been increased by 20 percent with upgrades to the engine, suspension and exhaust. Powered by a 2.3 liter turbocharged engine the Mazda3 MPS Extreme produces a total of 281 horsepower (an increase of 19 over the Mazdaspeed3) and a maximum torque of 32 lb-ft.

 

Mazda also added visual changes to give the Mazda3 MPS Extreme aggressive looks. Sitting lower than 25mm than the Mazdaspeed3, the car receives numerous exterior and interior modifications. The Mazda MPS Extreme rides on 19-inch BBS black alloy wheels.

 

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The Japanese-made Mazda uses the same 2.3-litre direct injection engine as its big brother, the Mazda6 MPS. It produces the highest power numbers - a monster 190kW at 5500rpm, and 380Nm at 3000rpm.

 

This reaches the road via a six-speed manual gearbox and the front wheels; the Mazda6 has a variable split all-wheel-drive system, absent here due to cost.

 

If you're thinking 190kW and 380Nm sounds like too much firepower for a small front-drive hatch, you're right.

 

The Mazda3 MPS engineers acknowledge this by cutting engine torque under full load in first and second gears, or when the steering wheel is turned into a tight corner.

 

Giving a front-drive car an excess of grunt, then using electronics to reduce it in situations where it creates untidy dynamics, seems like a futile exercise. And it is. The engine's delivery is brutal but erratic. Put your foot down to drive out of a tight corner and you're unsure what you're going to get, how much, or when. The intervention of the electronics is obvious and clumsy.

 

One moment the steering is light and responsive, the next it is paralysed and the wheel is almost reefed from your hands, especially when you change into third gear, where the full performance quota arrives with an almighty rush.

 

The suspension is hard and noisy; the ride is unforgiving.

 

The Mazda3 MPS handles OK, but you're too often fighting it. The Bridgestone RE050 tyres on 18-inch alloy wheels try valiantly to contain the chaos, and the car has a tendency to push in corners.

 

The driver's seat is more luxury than sports, with inadequate backrest support. Rear seat and boot space are average. A six-stack CD, climate-controlled air-conditioning and cruise control are included. A sports pack, adds $3700 for Bose sound, xenon headlights, half-leather trim and gloss alloys.

 

The claimed average fuel consumption is 10L/100km. On the open road we averaged 8.2 and around town it drank 14; not bad considering the performance. The FA-18 fighter jet exhaust sound is a highlight. But make no mistake, this car is a handful.

 

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Bill McKinnon and the Drive team, The Sydney Morning Herald, 14/07/06

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Well it seems that Mazda is trying to build some credibility for the Mazda 3 MPS. The Hot hatch which was released last year (to a great deal of unwarranted hype) has been a little lackluster in the sales department.

 

Running the Mazda 6 MPS engine and turbo, the 190kW (380Nm of Torque) Mazda 3 has some problems putting all that power down via the front-wheel drive system. When we drove the Mazda 3 MPS, torquesteer was a very evident problem around every corner.

 

Nonetheless, Mazda have decided to enter the five-day tarmac event in Tasmania. The event starts today from the state’s northern city of Launceston.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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Built specifically for the Australia, the MPS3 Extreme concept takes the Sports Pack luxury specification to a new level with a retune of the car’s Powertrain Control Module (PCM) which, along with a free-flowing two-inch exhaust system and a sports muffler, increase power to 210kW (5,300 RPM) with 425Nm of torque.

 

This puts the MPS Extreme in the same power-league as Mitsubishi’ Evo IX and Subaru’s current STi. But in order to compete, the MPS3 Extreme needed a touch up in the handling department, which has come in the way of a 25mm drop.

 

So far Mazda has no plans for production, although we’d imagine going from a standard MPS3 to this would be a relatively pain-free process. Previously Mazda had come out with a turbocharged version of the RX-8 in 2004 and a rally-ready Mazda2 in 2005.

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