Mazda 3 MPS - Why the hate ?

[vtecgobwah]

Well as I'm still waiting for my Focus ST to sell, I'm still pondering which car to get next (In order to free up some cash). What are people thoughts on the 3 MPS (Mk1). I really cant see any reason not too... although I have never driven or been a passenger in one The way I see it...

Pros -

Fast - Easy tuning potential
Plenty of toys + Bose stereo
Sleeper looks (I personally like the looks of the MK1)
Can pick them up for the right price
Should be fairly reliable - ?? (hoping someone can confirm this or not)

Cons -

High tax bracket
and ermmm... maybe not the best MPG ?

So yeah I'm just hoping people can give me a bit more info on this motor! Is it worth a consideration or not ? The car seems to get bad reviews from sites such as car buyer and the like, but their main priority is running costs haha!
Thanks Richard.

[Axionknight]

They are a capable straight line car and they certainly go under the radar, but from what I have read and heard they aren't the best dynamically and that'll probably show when you are really pressing on through the twisties.

I also believe that the interior quality is nothing to crow about.

I quite like 'em though, remove the badges, hide the exhaust and put it on steel wheels - upset away at the lights!

[forzaminardi]

I wasn't aware of any 'hate' for it, I think it's fair to say as the chap above has, it's not as well regarded as others in the handling stakes, but equally I think it has a personality and charisma of it's own. When I see one I tend to think the owner is someone who is an enthusiast who enjoys his cars but doesn't follow the common herd - so to speak.

[jimmyt1202]

This was mine, Owned it when I was 21 and loved it. It was very, very quick without any fuss (didn't really even have much turbo noise), was a great spec, looked nice IMO. I only sold mine because of the tax and I never, ever managed to get more than 25mpg didn't matter how I drove it. I sold it fairly easily as they are pretty rare but it was just too expensive to run for me!

[Mastodon2]

I suppose the reason it's not loved, is because it's just another turbo 4 hot hatch. Nothing particularly standout or special about it, not the most dynamic thing to drive. I suppose if you want a straight line car it's probably not that bad. I wouldn't say I've ever seen anyone "hate" it, it's just not that special and quite expensive to run for it's class. The later versions are decent looking things, the MK1 is dreadfully dull to look at. Putting a FMIC in seems to be an easy way to release some tuning potential, I seem to recall reading the standard top mount unit gets bugger all airflow, the FMIC gives much better cooling ability.

[vtecgobwah]

jimmyt1202 said:

This was mine, Owned it when I was 21 and loved it. It was very, very quick without any fuss (didn't really even have much turbo noise), was a great spec, looked nice IMO. I only sold mine because of the tax and I never, ever managed to get more than 25mpg didn't matter how I drove it. I sold it fairly easily as they are pretty rare but it was just too expensive to run for me!

Love them in this color! what was it like reliability wise ? and what did you move to after this ?

[jimmyt1202]

Yeah mine had a few cosmetic modifications when I bought it, had rear wing tops wrapped, roof wrapped, and bonnet edges wrapped in matt black along with the badges. Also had 6 MPS wheels. I owned it September 2011-January 2012 and did 15,000 miles in it. Was pretty much trouble free, at 45k I had to change front ARB bushes and droplinks as it started to knock, other than that was fine. I only changed it as I wanted to do track days so bought a 197 cup. As said before, it didn't handle badly but felt quite a big car and wasn't very chuckable. Was very quick in a straight line though!

[vtecgobwah]

jimmyt1202 said:

Yeah mine had a few cosmetic modifications when I bought it, had rear wing tops wrapped, roof wrapped, and bonnet edges wrapped in matt black along with the badges. Also had 6 MPS wheels. I owned it September 2011-January 2012 and did 15,000 miles in it. Was pretty much trouble free, at 45k I had to change front ARB bushes and droplinks as it started to knock, other than that was fine. I only changed it as I wanted to do track days so bought a 197 cup. As said before, it didn't handle badly but felt quite a big car and wasn't very chuckable. Was very quick in a straight line though!

To be fair 15,000 in 4 months is ALOT of petrol haha, I only do about 6K a year in my ST and thats bad enough. I also love the cliosports! they are defo on my short list.

[Baryonyx]

They're a fairly gutsy (for the time) engine dropped in an otherwise anonymous hatchback shell with unremarkable dynamics. They've always occupied an unenviable and awkward position, young lads wanted Focus ST's and RS's, the badge snobs wanted TT's and S3's, and people were crowing about how a cheap SEAT Leon could be tuned to give impressive performance for a pittance!

[vtecgobwah]

Thats a good point to be fair.. it is a fairly established market. I just thinks its different but in a good way!

[underphil]

it's got a mechanical LSD as standard, virtually none of the competition do..

[pimpchez]

Im the west mids rep on mpsowners.co.uk

See here for mine http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Anyway , its simple .They didnt make enough of them , so they aint popular . Also the journalists seem to think it falls off the road due to torque steer.

[vtecgobwah]

haha! I love it when torque steer gets blown out of all proportion! My ST is at about 260hp (just mapped and IC) and the only time it would ever be a problem is if you didn't have your hands on the wheel!

[GAjon]

Not detected any hate, and I probably wouldn't notice if there was.
Good engine, all the gadgets you might want, as for just a straight line car, I'll be taking mine to Cadwell again in June, I'll have fun and the car won't be embarrassed on track.

[Axionknight]

underphil said:

it's got a mechanical LSD as standard, virtually none of the competition do..

It still won't be a patch on a similar generation FN2 TypeR or Renault Sport Megane through the twisties when pressing on though, even if it may be quicker in a straight line.

[underphil]

Axionknight said:

underphil said:

it's got a mechanical LSD as standard, virtually none of the competition do..

It still won't be a patch on a similar generation FN2 TypeR or Renault Sport Megane through the twisties when pressing on though, even if it may be quicker in a straight line.

from personal experience I take it?

[kingofdbrits]

underphil said:

Axionknight said:

underphil said:

it's got a mechanical LSD as standard, virtually none of the competition do..

It still won't be a patch on a similar generation FN2 TypeR or Renault Sport Megane through the twisties when pressing on though, even if it may be quicker in a straight line.

from personal experience I take it?

I'd guess not. Followed a work friend in his Meg 265 on some very twisty roads and kept with him in my MPS, not because it handles as well, but because neither of us were prepared to get near 75% committed into a corner on a public road. Probably a different story on a track, but on a public road with sensible margin of error employed, the MPS will handle well enough for most. I had an FN2 for over 3 years and the MPS on a bumpy UK road is much better.

They are a very tuneable car if you're into that thing, i've owned it since new and in 3.5 years i've done 90k miles. Had a ARB link replaced under warranty, boot release button broke and had a leaky shock. Other than that it's been fault free. I average 28-32mpg, insurance is about £400, tax £280 and i service it myself, mainly because Mazda don't do modified cars very well. So it's not much more to run than the wife's 1.6 Astra.

It is quick in a straight line, Autocar mag had mine in a modified car group test and it clocked 160mph on their timing gear at Bruntingthorpe, the VXR-R, Stage 2 Meg couldn't get to 150mph and Stage 2 focus ST just nudged 150mph but it needed an extra 5 seconds, 5 seconds at those speeds is a very long way.

[lamboman100]

Saw a black mk2 model a few weeks ago. Looked good, all shinied up. Was no slouch away from the lights.

As many have mentioned, it was the ever-so-slightly-boring 4-door styling and continuous journalist references to torque-steer that have made the MPS3 unloved by some. Also, Mazda has a slightly quirky image (e.g. W*nkel engines) and is not great for cul-de-sac badge snobs, so these factors also play against it.

Edited by lamboman100 on Thursday 15th May 00:33

[Heaveho]

I'd have a look at the amount of them that have had turbo issues........Evo magazine ran one and it failed, if you do a search on here, I think you'll find a few others with the same issues.

[vit4]

Does the MPS suffer from rust in the same way as the rest of the range?