mazda3 mx sport thingy?

[raptor95GTS]

Anybody seen these puppies? Thought it was a Subaru that went past me and 3 others (uphill blind crest ) but when I got past the slower traffic and caught up it had a mazda badge on it. Tinted windows, large exhaust and subaru engine note. Had a wee play and I couldn't pull past, even if the road had been straight enough for long enough but he wasn't getting away either in a straight line. He was quite early on the brakes so I was never far behind him, in fact I ended up braking earlier than I wanted to just to not run into the back of him and I'm usually the first of the early brakers lol

[Steve Horrocks]

You on about theMazda 3 MPS?
Cracking little toy, my mate has one, quite a wolf in sheeps clothing!

[raptor95GTS]

yeah I think that was it, did some digging ont eh mazda site, 260ps which explains why it shifted! I'm guessing it's a scoobie 2.2 flat four in it?

[Steve Horrocks]

2.3 inline 4 iirc bud. they shift well!

[raptor95GTS]

yep inline 4 but it certainly didn't sound like it lol. Not slow either way that's for sure.

[Quigonjay]

you have to watch out for these new breed of hyper hatches these days, especially if remapped

[Marf]

Had a bit of a squirt with one of these when I first got my tubby and it just had an exhaust(no decat) and a K&N Cone. Not a sausage in it until well into 3 digit speeds when the slippery shape of the tubby helped ease past it.

[Ryan S]

Had one of these as a courtesty car a couple of years ago, 2.3 turbo, 250 bhp, they are great, you also get the mazda 6 with the same engine, as for the scooby exhaust note i'm not sure, although i've heard that the scoobys have a the 3 cylinder sound due to the manifolds and not because of the boxer engines, something to do with the manifold pipework not being even?

[matt_mr2t]

Well, old Scoobie's have uneven length manifolds but the newers ones apparently went for even lengths but still sound different to your usual inline 4's.

I think simply having 2 totally seperate manifolds as opposed to 1 makes them sound different/better.

Same with higher cylinder engines, IE 6+

[Marf]

No, its down to uneven header length.

Fitting equal length headers to any boxer engine smooths out the sound.

[matt_mr2t]

So why do the newer ones, which supposedly have equal lengths, sound so different?

[Marf]

So why do the newer ones, which supposedly have equal lengths, sound so different?

Not aware that they do. They sound like much any other 4cylinder car IMO. Certainly the ones I've heard just sound like a boggo 4 cyl.

When you say "newer" which models do you mean? They only went equal length when they went to the hatchback. Marketing move apparently to make them less obvious.

[matt_mr2t]

Perhaps I was confused.

I thought they went equal from Bugeyed on tbh.

IMO, these are the best shaped Impreza's and sound spectacular.



And the shape after with revised front end.

[Ryan S]

No, its down to uneven header length.

Fitting equal length headers to any boxer engine smooths out the sound.

yeah this is what i thought as well, wonder if it's possible to achieve the sound on a normal inline with uneven headers

[ryan]

I think the noise changed with the later versions of the black facelift above. My mates 55 plate scooby defo had the firing on 3 cylinders sound

[Slarty]

The guy on the shift after me in work brought one of these in November of last year, although I only noticed it in the carpark last week lol.

Had a chat with him tonight about it, he said it's a great car but suffers quite badly from turbo lag and he's owned a Focus ST before so it's not his first turbo charged car. Looks nice though, mean enough but not overly so.

[raptor95GTS]

tis funny slarty but it did seem to hold back then pull away - till I put my foot down then I held it, maybe a little pulled it back in. I defo had him on the brakes and I aint no corner killer so he was early on them for sure. Mind you, he had his g/friend or wife in the car so maybe the secondary speed limiter was in force lol

[Slarty]

Other than the basics, 2.3L 4 pot turbo, I didn't know too much about them, I thought they might be 4WD as the Mazda6 MPS (which uses the same engine) is but alas they're FWD. While I was googling I read that they use a "special valve" that completely eliminates lag

[matt_mr2t]

Those Focus ST's hardly have any lag at all. I do like them if i'm honest, just common as muck. Could probably pick them up seriously cheap in the not too distant future.

[Marf]

Other than the basics, 2.3L 4 pot turbo, I didn't know too much about them, I thought they might be 4WD as the Mazda6 MPS (which uses the same engine) is but alas they're FWD. While I was googling I read that they use a "special valve" that completely eliminates lag

FWD with Torsen LSD.

IMO its a premium version of the Focus ST, Bose soundsystem FTW!