Went for a test drive in the 3 MPS this morning and can tell you all that it is a very nice ride!

Some points:

When accelerating in first gear you can definately feel the boost being cut by the electronics, in second you can feel it vaguely too but it still gives you decent kick in the back. I'd really miss that AWD launch off the line if I owned an MPS. Boost does come on very quickly no matter what gear you are in and there is less lag than most turbo Subarus I have driven - the power always feels very accessable.

I didn't get too much of an opportunity to test handling but did throw it into a couple of corners - it behaved very well but I could still tell it was a front wheel drive car. When accelerating hard off the line round a corner I could feel the power delivery being moved around by the electronics to try and prevent understeer and torquesteer. Nothing beats the grip given by AWD as you boot it out of a tight corner thats for sure.

Interesting to see how it works with a topmount intercooler yet the air intakes for it are at the front behind the grille rather than having a bonet scoop, obviously seems to work quite well and will certainly scare some v8/turbo boys who have no idea of the power within! Very sleeper

You can tell the guys at Mazda are very excited about these new MPS's, the salesman couldn't wait to take us for a test drive and certainly gave it a good bootful before handing the keys over... hence setting the tone for the rest of the journey Apparantly they can't take the MPS home so they drive it every opportunity they can

You are looking at $48297 on the road for one of these things with the sports pack (leather, bose stereo, xenons, gloss wheels) and $44342 for the standard model so they certainly aren't cheap but after looking at an XR5 and SRI Turbo this would be my pick of the new hot hatches so far.

I wouldnt buy a car that had any form of nany traction control/ESP that you couldnt turn off. What happens when u fit an exhaust and do the normal WRX tweaks. Probably super nanny mode and a fucked car.

I'd wait till someone has a flash/chip/tune for these things before even considering one. Nice try by mazda though.

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[url]http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6284/evobeatsstiug6.gif[/url]

one answer, motec it.

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Long live the WRC

MPS 3 FWD 0-100KM 6.1
MPS 6 AWD 0-100KM 6.6 EXTRA WEIGHT OF AWD KILLS

Extra grip of AWD SAVES!

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"A pregnant virgin, that's everyman's worst nightmare" Homer