By outfitting the already fantastic Mazda3 with 250 horsepower and a monstrous 320 pound feet of torque under the hood, you might think Mazda aimed to build a sport compact car that would eat Civic Type Rs and Veloster Ns for breakfast. Enthusiasts wanted the Mazda3 Turbo to be the more mature, spiritual successor to the Mazdaspeed3. But that’s not what happened.
This top tier 2.5 Turbo is Mazda’s attempt to play in the same league as entry level luxury cars from Acura, Lexus, BMW, and Audi. From a refinement standpoint, can it really hang with them? And with all of this power under the hood, is it any fun? Let’s find out!