Hi all,

Due to some personal circumstances it looks like I am going to have to sell my Octavia to free up some money :(

While looking for replacement cars the only one I took a fancy to is the mazda 3 mps. I have found a 2010 model but wondered if anyone have any first hand experience with them? Is the reliability really that good and do they have any kind of issues like timing chain or turbo failures that's known about?

Many thanks

Friend of mine has one and all i can say is highly under rated car, not sure about issues but his is slughly moddified pushing 350bhp

If i had that sort of money i would buy one, alot of tourque steer tho.

Good car, I haven't heard any significant issues, other than being slightly less refined (torque-steer, understeer) as a performance car than some alternatives (GTI, ST, STI, etc)

I found the 4x4 version a hoot. It did drink like Oliver Reed with a raging thirst but the smile on my face........

My mate red top 170 on this forum had one and regrets selling it. Highly underrated car. Well equipped from the factory at a very good price. Very quick great handling.

Heavy on fuel though, he managed to get it down to 6 mpg on track which is less than a Audi R18 gets at Le mans lol!

Edited 11 September, 201411 yr by mr rooney

The best performance hatch imo and easily tuned and very understated, also they are quite rare birds, obviously they are completely different car to the octy and much much quicker, II've had two them and both never missed a beat.

I found the 4x4 version a hoot. It did drink like Oliver Reed with a raging thirst but the smile on my face........

 Sadly there was never a 4x4 version, fwd only and as such it does suffer a little torque steer. Some may find the interiors a little plasticky too but overall and as said already, they are very underrated, especially as a straight line rocket. Decent equipment, rare and reliabile also.

Drove one before buying my vRS. A pretty quick car and I even liked the handling. The things that put me off were fuel consumption and tax. Plus the car at the time new was 24k which was close enough to used Evo 8/9 money that would have similar running costs but 4wd.

Drove one before buying my vRS. A pretty quick car and I even liked the handling. The things that put me off were fuel consumption and tax. Plus the car at the time new was 24k which was close enough to used Evo 8/9 money that would have similar running costs but 4wd.

 

Same here - test drove one before i got my vRS. fast, very fast.... but torque steer was lethal and tax/fuel was a concern.

 

Plenty tuning options out there. Not aware of any big issues - but as always needs serviced regular to be sure.

I had one for 5 years so here's what I remember.

Positives: engine is pretty much bomb proof and if well serviced won't skip a beat.

- very quick and if you want to, great for tuning.

- great handling, you throw it around or relax on a long cruise, real all rounder.

Cons: check wheel bearings, I ended up replacing all of them at 4 years old.

- can be very thirsty, especially if your enthusiastic.

- I never got more than 15k from a set of front tyres.

Why would anyone consider a car like this if mpg was a concern ?

The tax and fuel side of it doesn't bother me that much, it's reliability I am after as I probably need to keep it for a while

 Sadly there was never a 4x4 version, fwd only and as such it does suffer a little torque steer. Some may find the interiors a little plasticky too but overall and as said already, they are very underrated, especially as a straight line rocket. Decent equipment, rare and reliabile also.

Hi Yeti_Man

 

Sorry, my mistake, I thought AWD meant all wheel drive.  The one I drove was like this one (different colour but same age etc)

 

http://www.emeraldvehiclesales.co.uk/cars/mazda/mazda3/2.3tmpsawd/3939/

Edited 11 September, 201411 yr by hooter

Hi Yeti_Man

Sorry, my mistake, I thought AWD meant all wheel drive. The one I drove was like this one (different colour but same age etc)

http://www.emeraldvehiclesales.co.uk/cars/mazda/mazda3/2.3tmpsawd/3939/

AWD is all wheel drive but the 3 MPS never had it.... so it's another case of a dealer mis-advertising and not knowing the product they are selling :-)

AWD is all wheel drive but the 3 MPS never had it.... so it's another case of a dealer mis-advertising and not knowing the product they are selling :-)

 

Yes - Mazda 6 had the MPS engine with AWD; but was dropped on the facelift range.

Bit of a shame - as it was very much of interest to me at the time.

Yes - Mazda 6 had the MPS engine with AWD; but was dropped on the facelift range.

Bit of a shame - as it was very much of interest to me at the time.

The 6 MPS is one of my favourite Q cars of all time - a brilliant thing.

 

Hi Yeti_Man

 

Sorry, my mistake, I thought AWD meant all wheel drive.  The one I drove was like this one (different colour but same age etc)

 

http://www.emeraldvehiclesales.co.uk/cars/mazda/mazda3/2.3tmpsawd/3939/

As above, front wheel drive only - pretty obvious if you drove one though due to the power and torque it 'tries' to push through the front wheels (usually quite successfully).

Yes - i still remember the Top Gear episode that the Mazda 6 MPS was reviewed.

Jezza actually quite liked it as i recall. 

Off to Youtube it as I don't think I ever caught that one....  

I do rather like the Mazda6 and the 3.

 

THey look well, and drive well, and are reliable.

 

as said, the tax is a killer on anything that may be in my price range...

Dad had an MPS and it was great, but as above thirsty and tax was pretty hefty.

well I've put a deposit down on a 2010 model. Will be picking her up once I'm back from holiday Can't actually believe how cheap they are for what they are! Some nice options on this one, pretty much like for like with what I have on my Octavia at the moment.

 

 

 

Let me be the first to say - Well done! looks a tidy affair

 

tbh, ive always had a soft spot for mazdas - excluding the demio, i really dont understand what they were thinking there...

 

but that looks sweet as a nut

Looks like it has the upgraded bose system?

Looks like it has the upgraded bose system?

 

It does yes, thought this was standard though on the MPS model although I could be wrong?

Great choice matey.

 

I owned a 2011 model for 18 mths & loved it.

 

Trying to cover items that others haven't mentioned.....the (heated) seats are really comfy...Bose stereo is overrated but makes a neat "Humming" sound when you turn ign on..!

 

AFS Bi-Xenon lights are superb, ....and if there is an odd rattle from the rear it is easily cured with a bit of plastic trim to lift the parcel shelf slightly.

 

Torque steer is not an issue unless you drive like a knob but the car does have an odd habbit of "tramlining" on otherwise straight roads.

 

The satnav screen is titchy & really you will probably leave it on the mpg readout, I averaged 28.4 mpg in all types of driving. 

 

Oh....& you will not see too many others which is quite nice.

 

Enjoy......!