Mazda 3 MPS: Japan's GTi

The pursuit of numbers is an inevitable by-product of competition. It's one thing to chase economy figures, but that's not the stuff that gets buyers licking their lips and opening their wallets. It's cold, hard performance that grabs headlines and punters alike.

Last time around, the Mazda 3 MPS was the king of the hill. It had the highest top speed and the highest engine output of any front-wheel-drive hot hatch and therefore had instant bragging rights over the competition.

Now we have the new generation Mazda 3, and so there's an MPS version to top it all off. And it's certainly sporty, without going down the huge bodykit route. There's another potential advantage over the competition on the inside, because it's packed to the gills with equipment.

Take a seat for the standard equipment list: Bluetooth phone and audio connection, Bose audio system, metallic or mica paint, leather trim, climate control, keyless entry and start, sat-nav, tyre-pressure monitoring and bi-Xenon lights, to name a few.

The under-bonnet specification is equally impressive. The 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol unit is unchanged from the previous 3 MPS, which means 256bhp and 380Nm of torque. That's comfortably more than almost all the opposition, and it's not far away from the undisputed pseudo rally car, the Ford Focus RS. With all that grunt going through the front wheels, Mazda has wisely included gadgets like a mechanical limited-slip differential and a clever torque-limiting system which takes into account which gear you are in and the amount of steering lock being applied.

But the proof is in the driving and within a few kilometres the 3 MPS makes its qualities abundantly clear. For starters, the turbocharged petrol unit is remarkably docile given its stratospheric output. It sounds almost too civilised, with little audible indication of the power on offer. Trickling through slow-moving traffic requires no extra concentration, and the strong torque allows you to be lazy with the gearlever. As with any Mazda, the clutch is light, the steering and gearshift are effortless, and a well-timed squeeze of the throttle accesses the huge reserves of torque and the rapid performance that comes with it.

A 0-100kph sprint time of 6.1 seconds is remarkable, but it has all the right kit for tackling twisty roads too, with lowered suspension, stronger brakes and a host of smart electronic devices. Alongside such heavyweights as the VW Golf GTI and the Ford Focus ST/RS, the 3 MPS stacks up well.

Specs