Hotsie Totsie: 2012 Mazdaspeed 3 Sport

Don’t let the complacent smile on the front fascia of the Mazdaspeed 3 fool you; its turbocharged engine and six speed manual transmission makes this hatchback a contender for a legitimate sports car.

At its heart it is a sports car. With 263 horses under its hood this front-wheel-drive hatchback screams speed as it races from zero to 60 in 6.3 seconds. As for the suspension and steering they would make any driver proud as the Speed 3 handles the turns without a whimper.

And with the Speed 3 you won’t have to limit yourself to one bag of groceries. This hatchback offers almost 43 cubic feet of cargo capacity as well as providing enough leg room to stretch a bit.

The only drawback to unbridled speed in a hatch package is the torque steer. When flooring the car from a dead stop (which we Pasadenan’s know about all too well from getting on the 110 freeway) the steering wheel will shake like a cold Chihuahua in your hands.

The Speed 3 comes standard with some pretty cool stuff: 18-inch wheels, keyless entry, 10-speaker Bose surround-sound, Bluetooth phone and audio connectivity and auxiliary audio jack.

Add the Technology package and you get the addition of adaptive bi-xenon headlights, Mazda’s got-to-have blind-spot monitoring system, keyless entry and one of the easiest steering wheel controlled navigations systems around. I really like Mazda’s nav system, it operates with a toggle switch and you just push it up or down to get the letter you want, really simple, super intuitive stuff.

For those of you who don’t yet know how to operate a manual transmission either learn how or take a pass on the Speed 3, it only comes equipped with a six speed manual. I found the clutching to be a bit tricky and wouldn’t recommend it to beginners.

Mileage is not what you’d think with a sporty car, even with its turbocharged engine the Speed 3 gets an estimated 18/city and 25/highway; very respectable. It won’t cost you an arm and a leg either at just under $24,000 with the Tech Package this is an affordable car.

If you want some zoom for your bucks give the Mazdaspeed 3 a test drive, it’s a cute hatch with the heart of a sports car.