This review is for the 2008 MPS Sports. Great car. Has a split personality. Can be driven around normally like a standard Mazda3. Handling during normal driving doesn't feel like anything special. In fact the steering feels a bit heavy. But then, on a nice bit of road, you open up the taps and WHOOMPA! This thing flips over to its other personality. Everything just seems to come together. The car's handling characteristics seem to tighten up like a cat about to pounce. The thing grips (on Kumho Ecsta KU31) and gives nice neutral balance wit...Read more

I bought a new SP23 in 2008 and love it. Some of the cons listed above have been amended in the new SP25 however I prefer the look of this model.
The car meets/exceeds most of the criteria I purchased it for. I got the optional luxury pack with leather seats & the awesome BOSE stereo system.
The car is a pleasure to drive and performance is more than adequate.
Last November I took it to Oran Park on a drive day where i thought i would find some chinks in the Mazda 3s armour, mainly brakes & suspension.
I got there in the morning to damp gre...Read more

Fantastic vehicle. Purchased a Mazda 3 Maxx Sport in December 2006 and absolutely loved the vehicle, have just traded it in on a 4wd Mazda (family car) the only con i can say about this vehicle is the fact that three adults had to squeeze in the back seat, however it is not designed as a family car.

Very fuel economical, for an automatic i used to get 700K's out of a 50 Litre tank.

Great looking car inside and out, very easy to park and acceleration was fantastic. Air conditioning was extremely cold.

Overall fantastic car however not...Read more

Great little car, the perfect highway cruiser. MZR-CD version gets all the goodies with 6-speed gear box, alloys, cruise, fog lights, power everything, DSC and properly decent 6 speaker stereo (with AUX in for ipods) but the standout is the engine.
Bucket loads of torque (360Nm) which comes on very low down in the revs. Goes like a rocket up the biggest hills with a full car load of people. A real pleasure to drive. Not your typical boy racer setting off from the lights as it loses power at about 4,500 rpm. But great for highway driving and o...Read more

I purchased a second hand 2005 Mazda 3 SP23 with very low kms in 2007 and it has been a great car. I drive around 500kms per week and it drives exceptionally well, is comfortable and has great features. The fuel economy is not as fantastic as I thought, and may consider downsizing from the 2.3 litre. Comfort and drive is excellent, responsive even in 5th gear going up a long hill- picks up speed to overtake extremely well. Road noise is noticeable, but could be due to low profile tyres- even at low speed, but excessive on the highway. Radio/CD...Read more

This car is a pleasure to drive each day, the manual gear box is tight and close the interior is modern and comfortable and the audio/electronics are brilliant.
Just an all around fun car!.
The adds don't lie, even the base model Neo has Zoom Zoom. It corners like it's on rails and has good acceleration when you put the foot down. I have a 2008 Neo sport (includes Alloy wheels and upgraded interior) which I also added Cruise control/steering wheel audio controls and the Safety pack (6 airbags and stability control), with the same set up as the...Read more

Very happy with the car - I did a lot of background research over the net and concluded that there was only two cars to consider in my purchase pirameters ( $30,000 / $40,000 - small sporty car without being a coupe). Those two were the Honda and the Mazda. I chose the Mazda because of a more flexible delievery basis but would have been happy with either. Importantly both cars could accomodate my golf clubs and buggy.
They are a great little car with plenty of features as standard and plenty of grunt when required. All instruments are within ea...Read more

I can't speak highly enough of this car. The styling is awesome the interior sensational. Great seats in the SP23 Great 6 stacker sound system. Sensational engine sound into the cab at revs. No rattles or squeaks have developed. Good size boot. Love the 5 spd auto with manual shift from either gear lever or steering wheel paddles. Great for winding country roads like the black spur near Marysville or The Great Ocean Road. Did make the dog sick though. Think seriously about this car if you are looking at similar even dare I say the 3 series Beem...Read more

Apart from the spare tyre issue, I really love this car. It is a real pleasure to drive and is easy to park. It is great around town but also travels well on the highway. It was a little more expensive than I would have hoped but I am very happy with it. I haven't had any problems with it apart from the cruise control but that is the fault of the local dealership who fitted it. All round great car.
It is excellent to drive, easy to park and travels well on the highway. I think the interior is very stylish and everything is easily within r...Read more

Not a bad little car. We test drove everything we could get our hands on in this class and this had the best ride and interior. Handles bad roads well, there's just a lot of road noise, but I've heard the tyres contribute to this. The plastic trim is hard and cheap-looking and the centre console plastic is not one-piece and is starting to separate which looks very normal. The fatal flaw is the passenger seatbelt warning lights and beeper set above the rear vision mirror. The detectors in the seats think a 3Kg backpack is a person and if the sea...Read more