2015 / 2016 Mazdaspeed3?

I love living in LA but good god the traffic is hell. I'm still considering the 3 s Touring along with a couple others, just waiting to test drive now. If a MS3 with an automatic came though I'm all game for it. Surely if they use the 2.5 as the basis, they can tune it to use premium gas up to a 14:1 compression ratio and eek out 230hp or more without a turbo. How much torque will it have is my only question.

If they can eek out 230 HP through revs, all I ask is that they maintain the 180 lb-ft of torque that it already has.
 
They really should keep the torque where its at or if they can add 15-20 lb ft more that wouldn't hurt either. Its gotta be just a couple tweaks of the ECU to give the 2.5 more power in addition to tuning it for 91 and increasing compression ratio to 14:1.
 
They really should keep the torque where its at or if they can add 15-20 lb ft more that wouldn't hurt either. Its gotta be just a couple tweaks of the ECU to give the 2.5 more power in addition to tuning it for 91 and increasing compression ratio to 14:1.

On another note, LA traffic is insanity, going through downtown gets irritating on a daily basis and thats coming from someone whose lived here for over a decade lol
 
I'm so glad other people from LA understand me. Seriously, we are ranked high up there in worst traffic. Unless people have either lived here or stayed long enough to deal with the daily traffic they wouldn't understand how manual. Plus most LA drivers really do suck at driving in traffic, they are literally humping you with their cars lol. Sometimes on slanted streets (not very much of a hill) my auto will even roll back and i gotta slam on the gas cause the car behind me is going forward already instead of waiting for me to take off. No, I will not move either, I've lived in the vicinity my whole life :).

I am a life-long manual guy as well, but having now lived in LA for 3 years I will say it is the ONLY place I would consider an auto. There are traffic jams that literally go on for hours at a time, and the bucking of a manual (especially in my Protege) can just get annoying. LA is just a different place to drive (not in a good way, in my opinion).

I've always dreamed of a manumatic that has an actual gear lever you can row instead of flappy paddles behind the steering wheel.

Ya I know exactly what you're talking about. I was raised in LA and I drove my speed 3 down there and I got stuck in traffic so I'm like screw this lol I'm going back to Washington and I don't really want to go back to LA. Terrible drivers.
 
As far as this 3rd Gen Mazdaspeed 3, I feel it would be one of 2 conclusions. The first being, the new MS3 will be be normally aspirated with room left for improvement or two, a true 'game changer' with a 2.0L SA turbo or a version of the 2.2L turbo-diesel being currently raced. It has been very quiet about the MS3, so that could be a good sign that Mazda wants to get this right the first time. Mazda races and wins with all the cars they manufacture,eventually the tech trickles down to street cars. If Mazda decides to keep FWD with increased power, they need a better mechanical system to minimize torque steer. We know AWD is not an option.
 
Why is AWD not an option? They have a very good AWD system in the CX-5, and AWD will certainly help to put the power down much more efficiently. Given all the torque a turbodiesel would generate, I would think AWD would be a big advantage.
 
Why is AWD not an option? They have a very good AWD system in the CX-5, and AWD will certainly help to put the power down much more efficiently. Given all the torque a turbodiesel would generate, I would think AWD would be a big advantage.
An AWD system would change the price point and Mazda is still apprehensive after the MS6. Personally, I think the 2.2L turbo diesel with AWD would be the way to go. 275-300 hp and about 325-350 ft. lbs. of torque, would be a real game changer. But, I believe Mazda wants to keep it FWD, because they don't really have the development dollars. Mazda needs a new partner, to help offset development costs.
 
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AWD will also place it as a competitor to the STI and evo, both fairly loyal followings.

Been to NASIOC lately? The WRX guys are ready to revolt because the next WRX isn't going to look just like the concept they showed in NYC. And Mitsubishi's going nowhere lately, except maybe "away." Sounds like a good opportunity to pick up some new customers.
 
Well I know how to drive stick but I'm not good at it. I live in Los Angeles, the drivers here tailgate and at lights literally are on the ass sometimes (i'm sure it's like that in other states and cities), but to risk rolling back just slightly while trying to start will probably make me tap the car behind me.

Oops - didn't get an email and didn't see your response. Not sure how that happened.

It takes practice to learn to drive a manual gracefully, and LA probably isn't the greatest city to practice in. In Raleigh, where I live, there are a lot of hills (and a fair amount of traffic at rush hour) but I guess it's tolerable. When I am in Charlotte, though, there is a lot more traffic, and I can see why some people go for the automatic (although there aren't nearly the amount of hills in Charlotte).
 
Me neither, I'm a one-car guy, whatever I get needs to also be a daily driver. Otherwise I'd have a Mazdaspeed Miata or something. :)

I DO have an '04 Mazdaspeed Miata (modified to produce about 225 hp, along with chassis and suspension mods), which has a really slick 6-speed. It's more fun than a barrel of monkeys. But that's for nice weather, April-November. Photo at http://www.pbase.com/lsreich/image/133876822

For my year-round daily driver, I prefer an automatic. It used to be that you paid a mileage penalty for the automatic, but now it seems to have gone the other way around, making the decision even easier.
 
An AWD system would change the price point and Mazda is still apprehensive after the MS6. Personally, I think the 2.2L turbo diesel with AWD would be the way to go. 275-300 hp and about 325-350 ft. lbs. of torque, would be a real game changer. But, I believe Mazda wants to keep it FWD, because they don't really have the development dollars. Mazda needs a new partner, to help offset development costs.

AWD will also place it as a competitor to the STI and evo, both fairly loyal followings.

I realize it would drive the price up, but the Evo - which does 0-60 in 4.4 seconds - commands around $40,000 per unit. Mazda usually delivers good bang for the buck. If they can get the 0-60 time to under 5.0 seconds (more like 4.7), they could probably justify charging $30,000 a pop for these.
 
If they can get a turbo on the 2.0 or even 2.5 and throw in the CX 5's lightweigt AWD system that car will be PURE win and kill the competitors in that segment.

It will go directly at mercedes CLA, BMW 1/2 series, WRX, EVO, Audi A3/S3.

Mazda has a legit chance of really being dominant in this market.

Their built quality, handling and driving feel is up there. If they can offer all the features of the 2.5s mazda 3 with a turbo at around 35K loaded this car will be the segment leader.


If they dont throw in the AWD, it will not be so good.
 
I'm thinking we'll get a variant of the 2.2L turbodiesel that Mazda's been racing in the Rolex Grand-Am GX . They managed to get 400 HP out of it, we'll probably get somewhere between 200 and 300 HP for longevity's sake. AWD would be a nice addition.

There's got to be a reason they're putting money into racing the engine. I smell a Mazdaspeed car in the making. Or maybe that's just diesel fumes. :)

http://www.mazdamotorsports.com/web...&storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&ss=6
 
If they can increase the rev's on a 2.0 Sky-G to 200 hp, why can they not do the same withe the 2.5 Sky-G for 240 hp being put down at all four wheels. The AWD is necessary to lay down the power without deal-breaking torque steer, and would be easily more cost effective than and LSD transaxle. Even then, it won't be an easy sell at $35k, but there will be takers. The diesel will never see Speed 3 engine bay. Mazda will only be able to certify a 175 hp version in the US, and only if they can redesign the DPF to work without diesel contamination or surrender to urea aftertreatment in the US, lest they risk significant exposure to lemon law repurchases, which they don't have to worry about in Australia, Italy, Japan, Italy, etc.
 
If they can increase the rev's on a 2.0 Sky-G to 200 hp, why can they not do the same withe the 2.5 Sky-G for 240 hp being put down at all four wheels. The AWD is necessary to lay down the power without deal-breaking torque steer, and would be easily more cost effective than and LSD transaxle. Even then, it won't be an easy sell at $35k, but there will be takers. The diesel will never see Speed 3 engine bay. Mazda will only be able to certify a 175 hp version in the US, and only if they can redesign the DPF to work without diesel contamination or surrender to urea aftertreatment in the US, lest they risk significant exposure to lemon law repurchases, which they don't have to worry about in Australia, Italy, Japan, Italy, etc.

Larger engine, more reciprocating force, plus balance shafts. It's going to be harder to run at high revs. Notice the redline on the 2.5L is lower than the 2.0L?

I think the diesel is more likely. And, since it's a twin-turbo, might be more accepted by the MazdaSpeed fans.
 
If they can get a turbo on the 2.0 or even 2.5 and throw in the CX 5's lightweigt AWD system that car will be PURE win and kill the competitors in that segment.

It will go directly at mercedes CLA, BMW 1/2 series, WRX, EVO, Audi A3/S3.

Mazda has a legit chance of really being dominant in this market.

Their built quality, handling and driving feel is up there. If they can offer all the features of the 2.5s mazda 3 with a turbo at around 35K loaded this car will be the segment leader.


If they dont throw in the AWD, it will not be so good.
I read somewhere that SkyActiv engines aren't built to accept turbos. So maybe it'll be supercharged.

I'm not buying the rumor that it will go NA with only 200 hp. The current car makes over 270, so it would be a huge drop off in power.
 
I read somewhere that SkyActiv engines aren't built to accept turbos. So maybe it'll be supercharged.

I'm not buying the rumor that it will go NA with only 200 hp. The current car makes over 270, so it would be a huge drop off in power.

Between the complex exhaust routing and the already Sky-high compression in the engine (that's NOT a pun, that's where the Sky in SkyACTIV comes from), it would be extraordinarily difficult to force-feed the SkyACTIV engines. A supercharger would be easier than a turbo, since a supercharger is belt drive, as opposed to a turbocharger being exhaust driven. But there's still the issue of the high compression: forced induction would take the effective compression ratio well beyond 14:1.

I think N/A is the way to go, but if they rev it high enough, with the right cam profile and such they should be able to get better than 200 HP, maybe 220. The 2.5 should easily get 250.

I still think the best bet is to go with the 2.2L turbodiesel, somewhere around 250-300 HP and monstrous amounts of torque.
 
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