Infamous Jeremy C

[Darth Vader]

Probably old news but, this review has recently resurfaced on Times Online. The often hilarious, completely emotive Jeremy Clarkson, of Top Gear fame, tears into the Mazdaspeed 3. He hates it for the same reasons I love it, what can I say?

Too much power, pshaw, bleeding great fairy.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/new_car_reviews/article1264967.ece

[kvndoom]

Self control is optional. I look at the car the opposite way... if you want insane uncontrollable power, it's there. If you don't, the car drives and handles like a dream. It's all about the potential it has, and knowing it's there.

[240ka]

JC oftern has mixed reviews. will say one thing about a car the first time, then change it the 2nd time around. but will change once more a 3rd time

cant help but to appreciate his POV

i bet if he drove the car again his comments would change greatly

[hectik1]

If he had reviewed it in dry weather it might have been a little different.(evil)

[240ka]

If he had reviewed it in dry weather it might have been a little different.(evil)

that is so true

[essejkcamraw]

im a big jeremy clarkson fan. im also a fan of my car. as said previously his view changes a lot. but it doesn't bother me. i like that this car squirms an pulls with the torque steer, keeps me guessing an makes it fun to drive.

[bani]

jc is not a journalist, he's an entertainer.

top gear is not journalism, it's comedy.

[BillTheCat]

I don't find the torque steer all that difficult to control, personally. But JC's entitled to his opinion. Almost always entertaining.

[gonerogue]

If he would have read some other reviews, he would know that the Speed3 could go a half second faster from 0-60 with his quoted time, even without AWD ;)

[bacarl]

Thanks for posting this Vader! Obviously it is very old news, but I've never seen a Clarkson/TopGear review, and I've been interested to read their feedback since I'd heard theirs was pretty much the only negative review of the car. Does anyone know if there is a TopGear episode online about the MS3?

Anyhow, I think Clarkson sums it up perfectly by saying
it is not a particularly fun car. And this is why: the only reason for buying a car like this is to make the most of its performance, but it won’t let you.
I still say that all you crazies that "enjoy" torque steer and the general dramatic characteristic of this car are nuts! Smooth is fast; easy to drive is fast. Swerving from one side of a lane to the other isn't fast :p

I do think that on roads other than Michigan's it wouldn't be as big a problem. I drove around the Smokies and Tail of the Dragon last week and the car was a blast. I don't have an issue with autocross and I suspect it would be great on a racetrack. But the kind of roads I drive on every day suck 90% of the fun out of driving this car.

[Darth Vader]

Sinner!, Burn the witch! It's true I took my Speed through one of the worst bomb-cratered sections of our eroding secondary highway system. It was so bad I actually had to turn the TC and SC on. I can tell you this though, no car would have got through that road faster than I did with the 3 and most would have been pounded into a pile of chunks by the end of it. Easy? No. More a function of the poor road condition than a fault of the car, yes.

A car should have more power than its wheels can contain. The throttle is not an on-off switch and you need extra power to dynamically balance the car sometimes, or to eat up that straight. My wife's MZ3 GT, I can basically put my foot to the floor all the time through the twisty bits. It simply doesn't have the guts to overwhelm it's suspension, brakes and chassis, under virtually any condition.

[mdavis]

a car should have more power than its wheels can contain. The throttle is not an on-off switch and you need extra power to dynamically balance the car sometimes, or to eat up that straight. My wife's mz3 gt, i can basically put my foot to the floor all the time through the twisty bits. It simply doesn't have the guts to overwhelm it's suspension, brakes and chassis, under virtually any condition.

+1

[gonerogue]

Thanks for posting this Vader! Obviously it is very old news, but I've never seen a Clarkson/TopGear review, and I've been interested to read their feedback since I'd heard theirs was pretty much the only negative review of the car. Does anyone know if there is a TopGear episode online about the MS3?

Anyhow, I think Clarkson sums it up perfectly by saying
I still say that all you crazies that "enjoy" torque steer and the general dramatic characteristic of this car are nuts! Smooth is fast; easy to drive is fast. Swerving from one side of a lane to the other isn't fast :p

I do think that on roads other than Michigan's it wouldn't be as big a problem. I drove around the Smokies and Tail of the Dragon last week and the car was a blast. I don't have an issue with autocross and I suspect it would be great on a racetrack. But the kind of roads I drive on every day suck 90% of the fun out of driving this car.

That seems to be Clarkson's schtick, which does make sense. Although I don't agree with him in this instance because he drove it on summer tires when it was wet out...a FWD with a lot of torque doesn't appreciate that.

In the latest Top Gear episode, Clarkson gave sort of the same reasons for not liking the CL65 AMG Black. He said that it's just really uncomfortable and there's just too much torque at times (760lbft, I think).

[Darth Vader]

He liked the relatively wimpy Focus ST, with a "balanced" 225 horse, calling it near perfect. Screw that, 5 cylinders AND a turbo to make 225? That's just f-u, man.

[backpacker6]

It was f**king WET! Good grief. (screwy)

[robin2660]

I don't think The Stig ever drove it on their track. Maybe that would effect the level of praise?