2008 Mazdaspeed 3 Review

Cheap thrills often produce moral conflict and can literally leave a bad taste in your mouth, but that’s not the case when it comes to the tasty, exciting, and inexpensive Mazdaspeed 3. This is not a “look at me” kind of car. Rather, it is a “look at me go” kind of car. The Mazdaspeed 3 is an absolute delight to drive hard and fast, provides room for four adults when it’s your turn to be the D.D. (designated driver), and converts into a cargo-toting grocery getter with a single-handed flip of the back seats. Thrilling yet practical, the Mazdaspeed 3 is the best kind of cheap date – and you won’t want to kick it out of bed for quaffing an extra quart of oil.

By Staff Photo Credit: Mazda and Staff

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Mazda loaned us a Sunlight Silver Mazdaspeed 3 Grand Touring wearing a window sticker of $26,440 including a $635 destination charge and a $1,750 navigation system. That may sound expensive, but you can get your jollies by spending as little as $22,975 on the standard Sport model. Every Mazdaspeed 3 comes with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a six-speed manual transmission, 18-inch wheels, automatic climate control, and bolstered sport seats covered in sturdy fabric and black leather. What makes the $24,690 Grand Touring version special is adjustable Xenon headlights, rain-sensing wipers, a 222-watt Bose audio system, and a theft deterrent system. Buying the Grand Touring also provides access to an optional navigation system.

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Equipped with the same turbocharged, 2.3-liter direct-injection four-cylinder engine as the larger and heavier Mazdaspeed 6, the Mazdaspeed 3 is detuned by seven horsepower to 263 and puts power to the pavement through the front wheels instead of all four. Despite these seeming buzz-killers, the MS3 surges forward, tires breaking loose on pavement zits, steering wheel tugging from torque steer, and rocketing to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds according to Mazda. Though it launches decently, we had more fun dropping a coupla gears and whooshing past traffic on a tide of torque than tromping on the throttle from a standstill and smoking the front rubber. As an added bonus, our car averaged 22.5 mpg despite the abuse it suffered all week. The shifter is just OK: the car is relatively easy to launch but the gearbox sometimes requires wrangling to get into fifth and sixth gear.

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Drive the Mazdaspeed 3 on Malibu’s Latigo Canyon Road, and it’s easy to forgive any nits we have with the balky transmission or the suspension’s funky spring rates. On undulating pavement, the springs allow too much jounce in an effort to improve ride quality around town, and the car just ends up feeling a little too woozy from time to time. At speed, say when blasting across the bridge spanning the Los Angeles River between the 710 freeway and Long Beach’s Broadway exit at ass-puckering velocity, the Mazdaspeed 3’s tail gets nervous and disconnected just when you need it to be calm and composed. Otherwise, grip from the 215/45R18 Bridgestone Potenzas is extraordinary, the brakes are indefatigable, the steering is sharp, and the shocks are beautifully balanced for optimum contact with the road and a ride quality you can live with.

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Forward visibility is excellent thanks to thin pillars and a good view over the hood and down the road. The Mazdaspeed 3’s side mirrors are large rectangular reflectors that really help erase blind spots. Rear seat head restraints impede on visibility through the back window and the rearmost roof pillars are rather thick, but there’s a rear window wiper to clear rain and snow for a better view. Our test car’s adjustable Xenon lights did an incredible job of illuminating the road, but the high beams were dimmer halogens.

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Embarking upon Mazdaspeed 3 ownership with a clean driving record is a requirement for no other reason than you’ll get to enjoy the car for the maximum amount of time it takes to lose your license or amass enough insurance points to make driving it prohibitively expensive. This car is an absolute blast shredding canyons, scorching vacant interstate, slicing through traffic, and screaming away from stoplights. Every road trip, every commute, and every errand becomes a perfect excuse to plant your right foot and hang on for the ride of your life. If having a great time behind the wheel is a big priority in your life and you need the extra space a five-door hatchback delivers, you absolutely need to take the Mazdaspeed 3 for a test drive.

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It took awhile to get the seat properly adjusted, but once we got situated the Mazdaspeed 3 was reasonably comfortable. Somehow, the seats manage to deliver support for long drives and hold the driver in during aggressive curves without feeling hard or restrictive. Nice trick, Mazda. Gripes include an upper door panel that’s hard plastic and uncomfortable, and an accelerator that’s too close for taller drivers resulting in fatigue during longer drives. The thick, leather-wrapped steering wheel is pleasing to hold, but not as stylish or meaty as what Volkswagen installs in a GTI.

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It doesn’t look roomy, but the Mazdaspeed 3 can carry four adults in cross-town comfort. Family types with kids in rear-facing or regular child seats will have trouble with clearance space between the front seatbacks and the rear backrest, so wait to trade the minivan until Frick and Frack are a little older. For adults, leg room is snug with tall people in front but the back bench is supportive and foot space is decent. The rear center armrest contains two cupholders and the plastic surround is moved forward far enough that it doesn’t impede on comfort.

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Our Mazdaspeed 3 Grand Touring model came with a 222-watt Bose stereo that successfully eliminated the booming exhaust; the rat-a-tat-tat rifle shots coming from every expansion joint, pock mark, and Bott’s dot on the freeway; and the irritating wind noise around the pillars at speeds over 75 mph. In case you hadn’t inferred it from this description of the driving experience, the Mazdaspeed 3 is a loud car when it’s underway.

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Based on the Mazda 3 hatchback, the Mazdaspeed 3 benefits from a low liftover height and decent cargo space behind the back seats. The hatch lid sits a little low when it’s raised, so watch your head when bending down to load or retrieve items. To expand space, just flop the 60/40 split-folding rear seats down using the handy releases mounted to the outboard edges of the seatbacks. Once everything is in, or out, Mazda provides a close assist grip to make closing the hatch easier.

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Overall, the Mazdaspeed 3 is a tightly assembled car, but we did find a few flaws during a thorough inspection. On the outside, the hood’s gap tolerances were inconsistent at the windshield pillars and we discovered very minor variances in fit between the front doors, the beltline trim, and the hatch. Inside, the seams where the center console matched up to the dashboard were sloppy, the ashtray cover was a bit tweaked, and the glove box door could have used a smidge more attention to detail with regard to fit.