Thus the problem with all FWD cars. You get too much HP and they just can't get it on the ground.

Can't you just not push the gas pedal as hard......

OH whaa whaaa whaa.. cry me a frikkin' river... this is one of the most rediculous articles I've ever seen and is not speaking to the people who will be buying this car. If i'm that worried about torque steer and the so called handling disruption because off "too much power" I would step down to the one with less power or get the 6 with AWD. It's called options people. I personally think this car is perfect and could use MORE power! In fact, I've seen some people mod this car and do that very thing and not have ANY problems handling their cars. To all the whimps out there, keep in mind you are not speaking for everyone and not everyone is worried about the same things you do.

276HP is nothing to be scared about. Too much power? No... Your foot is too heavy in 1st and 2nd. Try losing some weight: jump on the treadmill.

How can someone makes comments on a car that he claims he has never tested? He would have a different opinion if he has been
in one as I have, This car handles great.

I haven't driven this car yet. But when I was at a Mazda dealer a few weeks ago to drive the CX-9, the salesman said the same thing about the MS3. He felt that the power overwhelmed the handling of the car.

I noted a similar situation in the less powerful Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V a few years back. So you don't need huge torque to have this problem.

I recall a day when they said it would be inpossible to have over 200hp in a FWD and that day wasn't long ago.

To rich
To thin
To look looking
boobs to big
Penis to big
What planet are you from ???????

The mazdaspeed 3's ecu limits the engine's torque in 1st and 2nd gear. Additionally, it just won Car and Driver's comparison test for April - ahead of the GTI, Mini Cooper S, Nissan Spec-V, and Subaru WRX. They don't seem to have any problem with its handling. Drop big horsepower into any FWD car and you're gonna get torque steer. Just deal with it.

Just makes you more of a man if you can handle it !
But its a girls buggy anyway, No real man would buy it !!

There is no such thing as too much power when it comes to cars; you just have to know how to use it. Besides, all the average driver 'might' care about, is staight line speed. Most people don't go slaloming with their family sedan, or take on/off ramps at 60+ mph, so handling isn't a huge ordeal.

Besides, GM's putting 300+ hp N/A V8's in FWD cars, so while 263hp might seem high, there are more powerful FWD cars out there.

The mazdaspeed 3 is AWD!!

This is the classic "gurly man's" rig. Only in a Mazda would someone complain about too much power.

I have had a lighter turbo car with 215hp and could stomp on the gas quite liberally. Same thing with my current supercharged coupe. BOTH cars would lose traction easily if you were noobishly heavy on the throttle. But one thing that I think helps them both, even without AWD, is having a good tight differential and good suspension/steering. It's likely the stock Mazda suspension can be improved or stabilized a bit to fix the 'torque-steer' problem.

I've also noticed, torque steer is not as affected by power as you might think. On rutted pavement under NO THROTTLE, the car will pull substantially 'uphill' if I'm slightly off-center in the ruts. That tells me that power isn't always to blame for torque-steer and it may be that the suspension just needs improvment.

"The mazdaspeed 3 is AWD!!"

No, it's not. It should but, but that's yet another mistake they made with the car. One thing that kills this car is that to keep babies who don't know how to drive feeling cozy, the cars computer decreases the power proportionally with the angle of the wheels - the farther you turn from center, the less power the engine puts out.

If the author is complaining about torque steer, maybe he needs to go back to driving school.

NP: No the Mazdaspeed3 is NOT AWD. It'd be great if they took the AWD drivetrain from the speed6 though.

So the 3 a "girly" car?... I don't speak retard-ese. Please explain.

Put a toyota rally kit on the car, no problems with power then..

then add a after market turbo, I could see 450-500 bhp coming from that car easy...

This car was not made to be handles in a traditional sense, its made to be tossed into a turn and burned out into a flurry of rocks and rubber, pulling you back onto the track quickly. It was not made to smoothly curve through the track and then keep your water from spilling, its more of a raw torque ride, keeping the back of your head planted on your headrest, and pushing in on your lungs, and chest.

It was made to FEEL like you are accelerating 100% of the time, even if your jsut getting to 45 mph, and I love it.

I agree with this article.

I drove the VW GTI and Mazdaspeed3 back to back. The VW delivered a spirited, fun drive that encouraged lane changing and attacking turns freely. Both had a deep exhaust note but the Mazda was just lacking something. It felt much bigger and looser in terms of control than the tight VW.

The Mazda needed so much steering correction when you accelerated it was annoying. The overall feel was somewhat less fun and more work. Additionally for those saying just use less accelerator. Well the clutch is so "responsive" with such a small sweet spot that it was difficult to manage 1st and 2nd without punching the accelerator. I have been driving manual gearboxes exclusively for decades and this one seemed a bit
choppy and with 263 horses it became tedious when trying NOT to bark the tires.

I do think the Mazda would make a great rear wheel drive car or more relaxing as a manumatic.
I know some purists are cringing right now but driving isn't just 0-60 speeds. (how often do you drag race in a hatchback?) Add the chepo interior and inevitable rattles to come and I think the Mazda will become more annoying than fun in everyday use after the new car smell wears off.

Too much power? NO WAY. It's definitely be much better if it has AWD but to keep cost and make it a affordable fun car they left AWD probably. I wouldn't be surprise to see AWD in future MS3.

I just bought a MS3 and damn is it fast! I was worried about torque-steer at first but it turned out to not be a problem. I do wish it was AWD but FWD is better than RWD in the snow anyway. Damn that turbo kicks hard at 3000 rpm. I love it! For 21K it's a deal too.

The one downside is that it drinks premium gas and gets 20mpg (with me driving anyway). That doesn't sound bad until you consider my wife's pays less than half as much for gas in her 45mpg Toyota Prius. As a quasi environmentalist, I do feel irresponsible wasting gas but I have been dreaming of a "fun" car for more than a decade so somehow I justified it.

i just wish the MS3 had a bigger gas tank then the 14.5 galloon one thats in the car

a week and a half ago, i went and drove the MS3 and a new GTI...

I've enjoyed every single day in the last week and a half that i've OWNED my GTI.

You cant put that much power in a front driver and expect it to handle well, traction control or not. Yeah it might be quick in a straight line but put it into a corner and its going to plow plow plow. And forget about on-throttle oversteer... its just not going to happen - which makes it slower in the twisties. Face it, if straight line speed is all you car about, there's plenty of offerings out there - and they're NOT FWD.

As far as the torque steer is concerned - for those saying just use less throttle - yeah that might work if you dont mind driving slow. But if you want spirited acceleration you have to get on the boost. The explosive power of a turbocharged engine combined with FWD in a 3000lb car means that you dont even need anything close to full throttle to enduce torque steer. And that sucks from a drivability standpoint. Two ways to fix this, go with AWD or reduce power.

AWD FTW.

Ok, too much power for the car... Some will say yes, others say no. There isnt necessarily too much power for the car, but more along the lines of having more power than you can take advantage of. Inherently, all FWD cars will have torque steer and tire squeal off the line if you mash the pedal. Even a toyota camry will squeal the tires and have torque steer off the line. Its just the nature of FWD cars. Handling is just going to be sub-par compared to RWD and AWD cars. FWD does better in the snow, ok... But AWD is better than FWD. So get an MS6, Audi, Subaru, ect if your worried bout snow. lol
Last I recall, there are VERY few, if any, FWD super-cars or true sports cars. Lets make a list quickly: BMW's - either RWD or AWD (I dont recall seeing a FWD BMW), porsche, ferarri, corvette, viper, lambo's (AWD or RWD), Skyline (AWD or RWD), Lotus, just to name a few... Oh, and what Lotus doesnt know about handling and suspension can be written on the head of a pin... Yet they keep a RWD car? Something to be said bout that.
Now, does this mean the MS3 is a bad car? No... Its got a lot of power for a cheap price. Just dont expect the car to handle like a RWD or an AWD. Maybe Mazda will make it "AWD", maybe they wont... But for the moment, if your looking for cheap speed, the MS3 seems to do well.

There is no such thing as too much power.

took a little while to get used to the power in my mazdaspeed3. It scared me with the way the power jerked the car. But now that I am used to it I want MORE POWER. Just an opinion from an owner

Too much power... moron. Is it prone to torque steer? Sure, but not nearly as bad as my old Eclipse turbo. The Mazdaspeed 3 handles VERY well, has ample power, and is a ton-o-fun to drive. I've driven all sorts of performance oriented cars. The Mazda is at the top of my list in the bang-for-the-buck category. The Mazda dealer that reportedly trashed the MS3 probably had an overstock of MS6 to sell.

Im a diehard performance Mazda fan currently owning an older mazda RX7 and a VW diesel jetta for a dd. Sick and tired of the slowness jetta, I went to my local stealership to test a mazdaspeed3, unfortunatly finacing killed that dream. The speed3 was flat out amazing in terms of endurance, acceleration, and handling, its seriously the fastest factory 4cyl fwd car ever built 50 state legal. The interior was kind of cheezy compaired to almost any VW, but then again look at the Evo when it came out; didnt even have a radio.

The speed3 is a race car in disguise, and honestly thinking back about my 1995 Saab 900 Turbo the Speed3 actually has less tq steer problems then the old Saab which never really got me into trouble (185hp/194tq).

People dont realize that Mazda has in fact been in the racing game for longer than almost everybody, internationally. Starting in the 60s with rotary powered vehicles, Mazda learned quickly on how to make factory race cars. From the Cosmo, RX2, RX3, RX7, RX8, Miata, MX3, MX5, and not the MSpeed3/6. Ya... not to many other car companies have an endurance lineup like Mazda.

One last thing, I freaking hate all these automatic controlls. Give me a car without power steering from the factory like my RX7 and I'll show you some spot on driving control. Seriously some a-hole looking for all this auto-drive control, abs, and driving assistance mechanism BS needs to drive a real race car.

Thumbs up to the speed3! (I still need to try the speed6)

New 08 Mazdaspeed3 owner. Torque steer is hardly noticable at all, I don't know what sort of car Mark Phelan drove.

The MS3 gets up and goes with no drama except for almost scary straight-line acceleration, and stops on a dime too.

Anyone who wants to get rid of their speed3 because they don't know how to drive, please swing by the forums www.Mazda3forums.com lol

Too much power? You have to be freaking kidding me! You people who think up these things need to find a life!!!

Just bought one 2 weeks ago. loving it more everyday. I take the long way home just to spend more time behind the wheel. I'm in the business for driving all makes and models at my shop and this car is up there with all the others that cost sooo much more. To those of you with negative posts about this cars power and handling, guess what it costs 22-25000 its not a Ferrari

i have had a ms3 for a few months and all of you that say torque steer and the power is too much you have got to be kidding me.. go lift some weights if your not strong enough to hold the wheel ..honestly i need more more more power!!!!!!!! and also for it being a "girly" car.. it is anything but.. crazy car that can hold it's own against stis evos and other cars...just a few mods and even w/ the fwd it is much faster adn the handling is amazing for a fwd...amazingly fast fun car

The AWD system on speed6 sucks....it blows rearends left and right....the speed3 is supposed to be deathly fast...it s MAZDASPEED

Why else would they call her the wildchild

Hell of a car, I own the 2008 MAZDASPEED3. Alot of power for the money,... best bang for the buck! Which it was AWD. I hope Mazda is listening! I was going to buy the Mustang GT but after driving the SPEED3 , I change my mind ...This car is more practical for every day driving and people on the road tend to underestimate its power. It is a Devil in disguise.. If you are thinking of buying one, take it for a test drive you won't be disappointed. Take it from me..... an actual owner!

The article hits it right in the nuts. There is a reason why Honda keeps hp and torque on their FWD circuit racers relatively low. A good sweet spot for a fast FWD would be about 230hp and 190ft lbs of torque. From there one shouldn't have too much problems in both acceleration and handling. Mazda should learn from Honda and their Type R cars. Otherwise, with 263hp and 280ft lbs, the car should've been RWD or AWD....

For more info on proper set ups for Front Wheel Drive Performance cars, please check the link below:

http://www.geocities.com/killer_siller/ff.driving.guide.html

Cheers!

i just bought my 07 ms3 and its so fast. i love it. i actually traded my 97 m3 for it, just because it started having lots of problems, and if anybody used to own a bmw, they know its expesive to fix. well anyways i only had the car for 3 days, and torque steer is noticable, but i can tolerate it. this is my first turbo car, i almost crashed it on the test drive, when the turbo kicket in. but it was loads of fun. its not girly by any means. its a good car for 23k. iam ready for upgrades. more power please.................:-) my best friend drives an evo9 and i can keep up with him no problem. by the end of the month i should be runnubg 12's in the qrt mile.
Later.

this artical cracks me up i own a 07 ms3 and mazda did a lot of work on the speed3 to make sure torque steer was at a min. unless your going balls out on a bumby road you wont even feel it. the ms3 smoked all in its class in the slalom and in the skid pad that means it handels better than the gti. civic and wrx it even smoked the vw r32 in the shoot out on the speed channel. with a 69 mps slalom so if you have problems handeling the car you might want to learn how to drive before you open your mouth check the comarison test
edmonds/insideline/sportcompactcarr

I had just bought a 08 pearl white mazdaspeed 3 and lovin' it. It a fast car and handles exceptionally well for a FWD. For the price you cannot fine a better deal out there. The new cobalt ss is suppose to be faster but chevy's are trash. Had a supra twin turbo before this and the speed 3 feels just as fast stock for stock. Can't wait to add mods to the car to get over 300+hp!!

Turbo boost is bled off under hard acceleration in first and second gear to help aleviate the torque steer. I personally have driven one and very impressed. Off the line the power is impressive but since boost is purposely bled off it doesnt create too much of a problem. Once you get into 5th on the highway the extra power and torque really shine when compared to the passing ability of the Si

The engine management system manages the power based on the angle of the front wheels to control torque steer. Keep the wheels straight and you are rewarded with more power - that's not difficult. Torque steer problem well managed. You don't need all 263 horses while turning.

I've had mine for a month now and am thoroughly enjoying it. I've had several high performance cars in the past including a GTI, Eagle Talon TSI (turbo), and modified Mustang GT. The MS3 is the most satisfying yet.

a lot of people on here keep commenting and saying that this car has too much power for the front wheels. The Mazdaspeed3 was designed for practicality. Mazda did think about adding a AWD system found on the Mazdaspeed6 but that would have driven costs well over 30 grand. For the money you get all the power you need. And for the people that think its too much...your not going to be using all that power if its your daily driver (which it is meant to be...unlike an EVO or STI). The power is there when you need it, which comes in very handy :)

o yea i forgot this part...when it comes down to dragging this car against a GTI or Si...Speed3 wins...hands down