Mazda 3 MPS | Spotted
Look past the understated styling and you'll find 260 reasons to love Mazda's underrated hot hatch
Japan knows a thing or two about hot hatches. We’d all likely rank the Honda Civic Type R as one of the all-time greats, while the facelifted Toyota GR Yaris has elevated the already brilliant homologation special to even loftier heights (even if it comes at a £10k premium). Delve into the classifieds and you’ll find (much) cheaper thrills with the various iterations of Suzuki Swift Sport, the Subaru Impreza WRX STI hatchback and, if you’re lucky, one of the many ‘sporty’ kei cars built for the JDM.
What about this, then? The Mazda 3 MPS rarely (if ever) ranked among Japan’s more notable hot hatches, and to be fair it doesn’t exactly have it easy when you factor in the aforementioned cars - but you could easily pin that down to the way it looks. Mazda apparently spent all of about five minutes on the design, and although the second-gen like the one you see here brought a sprinkling of sportiness (RX-8-inspired 18-inch alloys, a bigger spoiler and dual exhausts), it was still nowhere near as edgy as the Euro-built head cases such as the Ford Focus ST and Vauxhall Astra VXR.
On the positive side, the modest styling gave little of the car’s ability away. Behind the massive plastic grin was a 2.3-litre turbocharged four-pot with 260hp - mighty punchy by mid-2000s standards and still remarkably competitive today. Granted, that all had to be managed by the front wheels, but get your launch right and you could hit 62mph from a standstill in 6.1 seconds. Again, that’s properly impressive for its age, and only a tenth shy of the 300hp Mk2 Focus RS.
In fact, the Mazda 3 shares its underpinnings with Ford’s family hatch, so you’d expect some of the Focus’ class-leading handling to have translated over to its Japanese cousin. Things wouldn’t pan out that way for the launch car, which was hampered by vague steering and an exhaust note that was just as boring as the styling, but things were greatly improved with the second generation. Mazda chucked in a set of beefier anti-roll bars and stiffened up the suspension, upping torsional rigidity by 41 per cent, while a limited-slip differential arrived as standard. Admittedly, the changes weren’t enough to elevate it above the Focus ST in the handling department, but reviews at the time suggested it was much better at sending its huge power to the road than the first MPS was.
As it wasn’t short on grunt in the first place, the output for the second-generation car remained the same as the original. Mazda did, however, fit new pistons and tweaked the ECU, which not only bumped up mid-range torque but also helped reduce CO2, making the newer cars cheaper to tax. The MPS also had an edge on the kit front, as they came fully loaded as standard. The sat nav screen may be dinky (you’ll want your phone for that anyway), but ten-speaker Bose audio, climate control and parking sensors all help make it a perfectly serviceable daily runner.
Okay, so it doesn’t rank among the all-time great hot hatches, but that does at least mean you won’t have to fork out a small fortune to nab yourself the cream of the crop - which is exactly what we have here. This 2009 has just 31,000 miles on the clock, and going off the pictures it looks pretty spotless inside and out. These tend to be tuned beyond recognition, so it’s refreshing to see one that’s been kept in its original state and maintained with a full service history. True, the asking price of £11,495 is on the high side, especially as you could pick this grey example up (albeit with nearly four times the mileage) at a chunky discount. But if you’ve got a hankering for this particular slice of mid-2000s hot hatchery, it’s hard to imagine there are many left as minty as this.
SPECIFICATION | MAZDA 3 MPS
Engine: 2,261cc four-cylinder, turbocharged
Transmission: six-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 260@5,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 280@3,000rpm
MPG: 29.1
CO2: 224g/km
Year registered: 2009
Recorded mileage: 31,000
Price new: £21,500
Yours for: £11,495
What killed it for me was
a) Somewhat inert chassis/steering feel
b) Cheap feeling interior
c) 30mpg meant BIK tax as a company car was pretty horrible
Went with a Mk5 Golf which was nicer to drive, nicer to sit in and more tax friendly at 35mpg
TBH I don't think much has changed with the passage of time that would change that choice and at £11.5k this does seem super expensive as well
11.5k for this seems absolutely bonkers money, it isn't a classic or special in anyway.
I don't mind the exterior styling, as it's a bit quirky, but the interior lets them down a bit. They're well equipped, but they just don't look very special. I often wondered if, because of it's Focus underpinnings, if you could fit some Recaro seats from an ST or RS to improve it. With a set of wheels and some minor suspension tweaks, it might be a much more convincing package.
As it is, I'd still buy a Megane or, if I needed five doors, a Golf or Focus.
Also, I didn't pay this much for it even given I bought during COVID!
Also, I didn't pay this much for it even given I bought during COVID!
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