RE: Spotted: Mazda 3 MPS
Discussion
carinaman said:
Caulkhead said:
carinaman said:
kambites said:
From what I remember, the rear seats on the MPS do not fold down. There is a big chassis brace in the way.
Thank you. I could have well misremembered. 
That's a bind, it's useful to be able poke all sorts of stuff through folded down rear seats otherwise it has to be strapped to roof bars, and then you have the worry about leaving the car in M-way service car parks out of sight while you use the facilities.
Thank you Caulkhead. Didn't they do a 2.3 litre NA 4x4 Estate?
Edited by carinaman on Tuesday 23 October 13:16
crispyshark said:
Watched a BBR preped one of these destroy quite a few 'better' cars around the ring. Obviously driver skill comes into it but with a bit of tweaking well over 300 bhp is easily achieved!
Not a bad family runner if you have a weekend toy!
Two of my workmates have bought the facelifted versions recently, one is black the other white, both are pretty dull lookers. The black one is standard and the white has a Litchfield remap to 300bhp and around 330lb/ft. We have been for a Sunday blast through mid Wales and while they struggle to keep up in the bends they are quick on the straights, the remapped one had fantastic overtaking ability and was really hard to pull a gap on. To be honest I was very impressed. I still wouldn't buy one though......Not a bad family runner if you have a weekend toy!
Agoogy said:
A bargain and no mistake there.... but part of my driving enjoyment is looking back after I've parked...and tha's just not here for me..
I did look at them about 3 months ago...couldn't get past the dull looks...that's part of the 'Sleeper' attraction, I get that... but that 'fun' only lasts so long...
So I moved along to something equally 'odd' but IMO better looking...
So much bang for the buck here though... the next generation 3 was/is nicer...
Actually thinking about it, is this car not a 'cousin' of my 'sleeper' (C30 T5)....are they not both based on the Focus floor chassis and other bits and bobs?I did look at them about 3 months ago...couldn't get past the dull looks...that's part of the 'Sleeper' attraction, I get that... but that 'fun' only lasts so long...
So I moved along to something equally 'odd' but IMO better looking...
So much bang for the buck here though... the next generation 3 was/is nicer...
I'd be very tempted to trade in my Fabia VRS for one of these when it's paid off next month. However, nearly doubling my fuel cost, a few hundred more insurance and over trebling my tax makes me think again. The only way I could do it on my current income is to get rid of my MX-5, but I'm not going to do that just to drive a bland but powerful hatchback everyday.
Shame as I really want a powerful but practical car for a while. Maybe a remap on the Fabia is a decent compromise?!
Shame as I really want a powerful but practical car for a while. Maybe a remap on the Fabia is a decent compromise?!
http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=52&i=2547...
"So just what is it that the very different-looking Ford and Mazda share in common? A good deal more than you might think. In fact, outside of the Volkswagen group, there are few cars sporting different badges that share more. Mazda was happy to confirm that its 3 MPS has Ford's global compact platform in common with the Focus ST. Developed in conjunction with Ford and Volvo engineers, common platform components include the front and rear sub-frames, many suspension, steering and braking components and even some of the same electrics"
"So just what is it that the very different-looking Ford and Mazda share in common? A good deal more than you might think. In fact, outside of the Volkswagen group, there are few cars sporting different badges that share more. Mazda was happy to confirm that its 3 MPS has Ford's global compact platform in common with the Focus ST. Developed in conjunction with Ford and Volvo engineers, common platform components include the front and rear sub-frames, many suspension, steering and braking components and even some of the same electrics"
rastapasta said:
actually can someone correct me if Im wrong but isnmt this car a ford focus ST underneath or am I waaaaaaay off. I thought Mazda and Ford had all the same underpinnings
The St has the Volvo derived 5 pot turbo, Mazda is a 2.3 4 turbo, Focus has a much nicer soundtrack as a result.I could never justify running a car that has such high tax/poor fuel economy though. I did very briefly think about a 6 MPS a few years back as the bang for buck is so high but i would resent the thing too much.
kambites said:
From what I remember, the rear seats on the MPS do not fold down. There is a big chassis brace in the way.
Actually the rear seats folds (see owners club forum) but you do have the braces in the way ...I still managed to get my Christmas Tree into the car last year though !!
Caulkhead said:
carinaman said:
Caulkhead said:
carinaman said:
kambites said:
From what I remember, the rear seats on the MPS do not fold down. There is a big chassis brace in the way.
Thank you. I could have well misremembered. That's a bind, it's useful to be able poke all sorts of stuff through folded down rear seats otherwise it has to be strapped to roof bars, and then you have the worry about leaving the car in M-way service car parks out of sight while you use the facilities.
Thank you Caulkhead. Didn't they do a 2.3 litre NA 4x4 Estate?
Edited by carinaman on Tuesday 23 October 13:16
http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/road-tests/mazda/mazda...
As the owner of an R26 and having driven the Mazda at Thruxton, I would say that this is a great buy. As already stated, brilliant Q car, but reliability and a real bargain performance car, cannot argue with the price and straight line speed would have me beaten!
It would be interesting to see how it performs on track VS the R26 though
It would be interesting to see how it performs on track VS the R26 though
Gun said:
I've had mine for just over a year, sadly for 7 months of that it's been in and out of the garage having two long running issues looked at, I think I was sold a lemon by the main dealer. There are issues with these and cost a fair amount to fix without a warranty.
Care to elaborate? Only a couple of common issues on these from the research I've done.vrsmxtb said:
Gun said:
I've had mine for just over a year, sadly for 7 months of that it's been in and out of the garage having two long running issues looked at, I think I was sold a lemon by the main dealer. There are issues with these and cost a fair amount to fix without a warranty.
Care to elaborate? Only a couple of common issues on these from the research I've done.They've so far failed to fix the hesitation despite replacing the o2 sensor, MAF and a new set of spark plugs. They've now fitted over £2000 worth of new parts to my car.
Gun said:
The two main issues are hesitation when accelerating that gets progressively worse and a smokey exhaust after idling, mine has both. They've managed to fix the smokey exhaust; it needed a new turbo on a 5 year old car with just over 40k miles on the clock...
They've so far failed to fix the hesitation despite replacing the o2 sensor, MAF and a new set of spark plugs. They've now fitted over £2000 worth of new parts to my car.
I've read about the smoky exhaust / turbo connection.They've so far failed to fix the hesitation despite replacing the o2 sensor, MAF and a new set of spark plugs. They've now fitted over £2000 worth of new parts to my car.
Bad luck with the other problem - must be frustrating when acceleration is the cars party trick. I take it it's on a warranty then?
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