Mazdaspeed 3=not sane
 

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...cleId=109309#2

274 bhp 2.3L from the Mazda6. OK, good.

5 door bodyshell from Mazda3. OK, sounds good.

Front wheel drive only. WTF?

New slogan:
Mazdspeed 3--debuting in a ditch near a Mazda dealer near you in late 2006.

:lol:

Doom-Doom-Doom

:O 274/280 in a Mazda 3 body?

As for torque steer...I suppose the odds are good that it will be an issue, but don't be so quick to judge. You'd be surprised at how tractable FWD can be with lots of power.

:ack:

Perhaps they are looking to save money by only offering one front wheel, since the other one will be completely fucking useless.

I really don't see how you'd want anything over 200 hp in front wheel drive. It's just silly. :dunno:

Well, the current Mazda3 with the 2.3L already has an absurd amount of torque steer in addition to the front end skipping around under power. The MazdaSpeed3 is just going to be that much worse. My Mazda3 is a pain in the butt to drive in the rain because the clutch take-up is so abrupt that wheelspin is almost impossible to avoid from a stop. <vent> Of course, the car is a piece of garbage anyway. </vent>


-- Greg

the Neon SRT4 and Cobalt SS have LSDs.

if the mazda 3 MPS has an LSD, it should help a little bit. despite the enormous amount of torque from the SRT4, i know they address torque steer as detectable but not a huge issue.

to be honest, another reason they might be skipping AWD is because mazda's ghetto gerry-rigged version won't fit the 3 chassis and they didn't want to add that much weight to the car like they did to the Speed 6.

Adding AWD to the 3 chassis shouldn't be that much of an issue, since Volvo already uses a Haldex system in its application.

The big issue is not the hp, but the torque. Drive a GTI or A3 in the rain--even with a good, modern FWD platform, you just can't get even 200 lbs-ft down through the front wheels, let alone 280.

An LSD (if they offer one) might help some, but OTOH some LSD applications in FWD cars actually magnify torque steer.

This shouldn't be a problem with the Mazdaspeed 3. I'm sure with all the weight Mazda will add it should be able to get the power down just fine.