I went to two Mazda dealers today to have a look at the new 3 MPS, didn't drive one but had a good look over them and a good chat to sales and tech staff at both the dealers. I thought I'd share my impressions.
In person they look quite different to any of the photos I've seen, but I'm still not convinced that I like it. I have a feeling this model may turn out to be the MPS equivalent of the unloved "bug eye" WRX, from a styling perspective anyway. I'm not a fan of the light blue colour, red I could take or leave, didn't get to see a grey one and the black looks the best of the 3 colours I saw. From front on and front 3/4 all I could think was Peugeot 407. If someone makes a replacement front bar kit for the new 3 it could be a good money spinner.
407 vs 3 MPS - front end appearance
Initial impressions of the interior were good, there are a few details which I quite liked, such as the electric mechanism for the drivers seat. I thought the seats themselves were actually worse than the superseded model, particularly lacking in thigh support. This is an area where the old model drew praise, but I think Mazda has gone backwards here. An option for Recaros in the luxury pack probably wouldn't go astray...please add this for the next update Mazda!
The steering wheel is way too busy with all the buttons on it, but feels good in the hand. I like the raised centre console and slightly changed gearshift position. The engine start button is hidden to the left of the steering column, if you're going to have one it may as well be easily accessible ala Focus XR5. I thought the start button was added as an afterthought, as it gave me that impression of just being stuck anywhere they could put it. The benefits of the keyless entry system would be good to have in daily driving though.
Onto the rear hatch, I've got no idea why the simple and effective hidden handle at the bottom of the tailgate was changed to a rubber button on the tailgate which activates an electric lock mechanism. You still have to pull the hatch up from where the handle was anyway. Some may like it, but I thought it was just change for the sake of changing and it doesn't offer any ergonomic or functional improvement at all.
The incoporation of Sat Nav in the centre of the dash was pretty cool. My thoughts are that the screen is a tad small if you're used to the bigger commercial units, and will seem far away if you're used to having yours on the far right side of the dash.
Great that Mazda has got their act together with the rubber, and has put 18"x7.5" rims with 225/40/18's on it. The previous model was definitely under-tyred from the factory, with most of us experiencing vast improvements once we've moved to 225 or wider tyres.
Everything else looked pretty much the same to me. Staff from both dealers made quite interesting comments when we got chatting, the gist of it being "There are some cool gadgets in it but if you've got a good example of the old one there's no point buying this one as it's basically the same car"
So in summary (without a drive mind you), to borrow a phrase I picked up in Thailand on my recent holiday...
The new 3 MPS is:
"Same, same...but different"