Ever since the hairy-chested Mazdaspeed 3 left the automaker’s lineup after the 2013 model year, we’ve been pining for its return. Adding to our anticipation is the great platform that underpins the all-around-excellent Mazda 3, a car that landed on our last 10Best list and handily swept the fine Ford Focus under the rug in a recent comparo.
On a product tear that began with the CX-5 crossover, we’ve since seen the wholly redone 3 and 6, we’re about to experience the great-looking new B-segment Mazda 2, and of course, the much-anticipated fourth-generation Miata is nigh.
With so much in the pipe, has Mazda forgotten to warm up the 3 for its high-performance partisans? Not exactly. In our “25 Cars Worth Waiting For” issue, we suggested that the next Mazdaspeed 3 wouldn’t see the light of day until the 2018 model year. A new, comprehensive report from Automotive News suggests that the timeline’s been pushed up a year.
- Feature: 2018 Mazdaspeed 3: Zoom-Zoom, Please Come Soon-Soon
- Comparison Test: 2014 Mazda 3 i Grand Touring vs. 2014 Ford Focus SE
- Mazda 3 Research: Photos, Reviews, News, and More
AN reports that the 3 is due for a late-cycle re-engineering in mid-2016, at which time we’ll likely see the return of the Mazdaspeed 3 as a 2017 model. Just a year later, a new 3 is due, which means that this iteration of the Speed 3 could be short-lived, not unlike the second-generation Mazdaspeed Miata, which ran only for two years.
Officially, Mazda will comment on none of this, but the new car will almost certainly be turbocharged, offering power output somewhere in the neighborhood of 300 horsepower. All-wheel drive is a possibility. The starting price should be somewhere around $30,000, suggesting Golf R levels of performance for loaded–GTI money. You know how when you really have to make use of the restroom and with every step toward the facilities, the urge to relieve yourself intensifies? Yeah, it’s like that. Finding out that the new 3′s even closer just makes our anticipatory pangs that much worse.
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