From Evo Magazine in the UK
What’s this you say? An entire 600 words on the addition of a ‘Sports Aero Kit’ to a car that we’ve already driven and didn’t really like? Why would I want to know about the addition of a bigger rear spoiler and some slightly silly little wing-mirrors? If I wanted an opinion on those sort of additions then I’d talk to someone who actually bought the DVD of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
These would indeed all be fair guffawings if it were the whole story behind the Mazda 3 MPS Sports Aero Kit, but fortunately it’s not. When the nice people at Mazda UK found out what they would be getting from Japan with the Mazda 3 MPS they were both pleased and concerned. A front- wheel- drive car with 256bhp is a potentially fun idea.
However, the suspension was of the soft variety and not really in-keeping with the British notion of a hot hatch, so it was decided that when the MPS arrived over here there would be a tuning kit offered to sharpen things up a bit. Hence the Sports Aero Kit option, which not only brings those visual changes, but also adds new Eibach springs and dampers.
Lowered by 10mm at the rear and a whopping 25mm at the front, the MPS looks all the better for it – combined with the bigger rear wing there’s a sort of Touring Car air about its stance, particularly from the rear.
Get in and you’re presented with a well-specced interior (BOSE sound system, automatic wipers and xenons, cruise control) that’s just on the wrong side of unimaginative. The seats are well bolstered, however, and the full range of adjustment on both these and the steering wheel means that it’s easy to set yourself up in a good driving position.
The first thing you notice as you move off is that the MPS has a particularly strongly sprung clutch. It also has the lowest biting point of any car I’ve ever driven. So I stall it. Twice. Once up and running, though, the MPS proves quite enjoyable. There’s not a great exhaust note, but you do get the same angry rushing/sucking sound as in the Astra VXR. The turbo’s boost is of the here-it-comes-in-one-big-lungful variety, which is entertaining and certainly makes it feel mighty quick. Torque steer is amazingly absent most of the time too, with the limited-slip diff only providing one arm-wrenching moment during a whole day behind the wheel.
The suspension is the biggest surprise, though. Despite the large drop in the ride height and the noticeably stiffer springs, it never crashes over bumps. The steering has improved too, with a more consistent, less artificial feeling through the wheel. Grip rather than delicate adjustability is the predominant feeling through corners, and hustling the front end around is the main focus of attention, but it’s certainly not boring.
I wouldn’t recommend it as a trackday car, though. It was certainly quick down the straights at Castle Combe, but slow corners were frustrating and undulations or quick corners proved unnervingly wallowy affairs, with the body feeling rather top heavy and a little too much even for the Eibachs.
Just how important this kit is to the MPS’s success can be deduced from the modest £500 asking price and the fact that Mazda expects all the cars to eventually come with the kit as standard. It’s certainly a big improvement, and although it’s still not the best in class, it is the most powerful front-wheel-drive hatch out there, which will be enough of an incentive for some.
Mazda3 MPS Aero Kit review
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