My 2010 MS3 Review

[zx2man]

Sooo its about 645 pm here in Olympia,Washington and I go down to a local Mazda dealer to testdrive a 2010 Mazdaspeed 3. Color-celestial blue mica. Well lets get few things out of the way..I only had about 30 min with this car grand total due to the dealership closing soon,so I did a quick check around the car and inside. Other than the dam smily face in the front I think It looks pretty sharp outside. Inside- 8 out of 10..Im not liking the seats so much compared to the ones in the 1st gens..But the gauges are very nice and easy to read and look sexy with the digital boost and gas meters. The door sills are very nice!..like those..The seats do hold you in fairly well and the spacing seems to be on bar maybe alittle better than my 2009. Ok..lets move on to the driving..Though I didnt take this car to its limits and honestly I didnt drive it real fast either..about 70ish..I didnt want to drive this car to see how fast it was..wanted to see HOW it drove. Today it rained most of the day,and stopped about 1 hour before testdrive..so roads were still damp. Taking off from the dealership the response is good and shifts are tighter..ok..take couple turns car handles well and very smooth..nice...further down the road we decided to take this twisty raod behind my house which is alwas fun ..... and wow this is when this little mazda impressed me..The tires didnt break loose..the suspention was very tight and crisp..this car stuck to the road alot better than my 09..power is still limited in first 2 gears but it is more linear, and does have alittle more top end compared to when my car was stock..I would suspect the cooler air from the hoodscoop being partly responsible. But wow I was impressed..I hit the corners pretty hard and still the car took it like a champ. The shifting is smooth and quicker that my 09. My last hoorah was at a light where I hit it fairly hard and ran through the first 3 gears and the tires just stuck and the car moved forward with no hestitation,no torque steer that I could personaly feel. It just felt better..Now I love my 09!..And I dont plan to trade it. But I must say Iam impressed!...Do I wish it was awd? ofcourse..But for a fwd car wow, Mazda made fairly large improvements on handling and grip...With the exception the smily face and couple interior no no's this is one heck of a car and easily worth the 25000 dollar sticker price. And the color on this model was very sexy,I got a few looks around town for sure in this car. I give it a 8 out of 10. Owning a 09 myself thats fairly modded up, I would still suggest to people who dont own a ms3 to buy the 2010 over the last 09's on the lot persay cause you get more car...as for me Im gonna keep enjoying my red rocket, but wont forget the grin this smily car put on my face

 

[madvillian]

good review man. sounds like they kind of took a lot of the 'wild child' out of the new car. thats what i like about the first gen, the fact that you can spin the tires through 2nd, 3rd, and half of 4th. and my god is that new blue color awful!

 

[zx2man]

Thank you madvillian..Yes some of the wildchild is gone which I like too,But to a degree. The feeling of the power going straight to the ground and the car taking off immediately is my preference. But I love my 1st gen

 

[Saskatchewan17]

Nice review! Thanks for that. One thing I found out recently that I HATE about the new MS3 is that it doesn't have a temperature gauge!

 

[BillTheCat]

I actually dig that blue color, personally. Like that they added a boost gauge, even if it is digital, hate thinking there'd be no temp gauge.

Thanks for the review, man. Interesting to read.

 

[SHaW]

That blue is actually quite nice. It has grown on me, since a local has bought one.

 

[dizzin9]

speedo tops @ 180? (uhm)

 

[Stotrupp]

speedo tops @ 180? (uhm)

Well considering it tops out at 155-160mph like the 1gen that's not over shooting it too much.

 

[tiagotiago]

Thanks for the review! It's nice to read the impressions of another speed3 owner.

I personally don't mind the fact that they've tamed it a bit, that let's you focus on other aspects of driving and you'll be better/faster because of it, and from what you say, they seem to have done a good job of taming it just a bit.

I also like that shade of blue(altough a slightly darker shade of blue would be perfect), and even tough I don't like the front end, I'm getting used to it; I do regret that the Alcantara seats aren't available anymore, and call me anal, but I dislike the idea of an analog gas gauge.

 

[imac]

Nice review! Thanks for that. One thing I found out recently that I HATE about the new MS3 is that it doesn't have a temperature gauge!

the new legacys have no temp gauge either, just an idiot light to tell you it's already too late. noticed it in my mom's car the other day. not a fan at all, definitely would like to know that sort of info. i personally would rather have that than the boost gauge they added to it, tho a boost gauge certainly would have been nice on the older ones anyway.

 

[Stotrupp]

The boost gauge in the 2010 MS3 only reads to 15psi. My stock MS3 would spike to 18psi and hold 14.5-15 psi, with the addition of an intake that 15psi boost gauge would be rendered pretty much useless as spikes of 20psi and holds ~16+psi with just an intake add more MODS and LOL. Just get a dash hawk and monitor pretty much everything (7 parameters at once) and save the rice.

 

[P5w3kids]

Appreciate the review, since it clarifies how the 2010 differs from the first gen. Handling is my top priority, good to hear they managed to improve it.

 

[Vater]

Handling is my top priority, good to hear they managed to improve it.

+1

That's the best part about this car. While many 1st gen owners prefer the rawness or 'wild child' aspect, I prefer a car that handles like a go-kart. That's not to say that the previous generation didn't handle extremely well, but I'm glad Mazda engineering concentrated on suspension, transmission, and handling rather than power, which this car has more than enough of already. I came from a '91 Miata, one of the best handling cars around, and its lack of power rarely bothered me because it was just so much fun to drive in the twisties. Upgrading to a Speed3 gave me all that handling (granted in a FWD format, which surprisingly isn't as 'unfun' as I expected when compared to the MX-5's RWD), plus 3 times the power. I'm happy.

 

[wcm250f]

i went an test drove the new ms3 and i am most likely getting that beasty car. i loved it. but i am new to the ms3 world so i am interested as in what you mean by saying that the wild child is takin out of this car. and how there is a power decrease or limited in 1st an 2nd.

 

[tiagotiago]

i went an test drove the new ms3 and i am most likely getting that beasty car. i loved it. but i am new to the ms3 world so i am interested as in what you mean by saying that the wild child is takin out of this car. and how there is a power decrease or limited in 1st an 2nd.

Welcome to the forums! The comments about it not being a wild child anymore spring from the fact the new car has a slightly different suspension tuning: it's a bit softer, but as most mags and several forum members state, that's a good thing for this car; having not driven a 2010 I don't have personal experience about this.

Power remains the same (263 HP 280lb-ft torque) and in both gens it was electronically limited in 1st and 2nd gear to try and tame torque steer.

 

[wcm250f]

really. so the 1st gen handles better. in all reviews that i see it says it handles better and has less body roll

 

[Vater]

^You're saying the 1st gen handles better and has less body roll than the 2nd? What reviews have you read?

 

[wcm250f]

sorry i should of clearified myself better. i meant by the 2nd gen has less body roll and handles better according to the reviews i read. but what i meant about the 1st gen is since tighter suspension wouldn't that handle racing more

 

[tiagotiago]

sorry i should of clearified myself better. i meant by the 2nd gen has less body roll and handles better according to the reviews i read. but what i meant about the 1st gen is since tighter suspension wouldn't that handle racing more

Apparently not. The thing about the 1st gen is that bumps in the road upset it, and you either have to take a different line to avoid it (if such a thing is possible/convenient), play a bit with the throttle/brake to minimize it's impact, or bite the bullet and have the car get a bit squirmy, which if it's before turn in or during a corner, isn't a very bright idea; in the 2nd gen this, from what I've read, isn't the case and it will corner just as good without loosing it's composure to bumps, so you can be more time on the gas.

Maybe in a billiard table smooth road or track, the differences would be minimal(but then you'd run into the fact that apparently the 2nd gen's hood scoop feeds more cool air into the car, so at high speeds it should pull a bit harder), but in a road or track with bumps or kerbs that have to be ridden to get a good time, I'd expect the 2nd gen to walk away from the 1st one, drivers being equal and cars being stock.

 

[wcm250f]

thats what i figured after reading more. i got a question and i am sure alot of people hate this question. i heard mixed comments about the mazdaspeed 3 motor blowing up. what do you all say about this.