Ever
noticed how certain cars make you think of certain songs and equally
how certain songs inspire a certain style of driving? For instance take
the cars covered in this month's column...the Range Rover TDV8 Diesel
and the super-hot hot hatch the Mazda 3 MPS with "aero styling kit".
Put a bit of Will Young in the CD players and both cars will happily
plod along quietly and peacefully, motorists behind you will be driven
insane by you ambling merrily along. Eject WJ and place something
eurotrash-esque or Kylie-chic in and before you can fasten the clasp on
your Boss man-bag (or fluffy Elmo backpack depending on age and style,
or lack of!) your driving becomes just that bit quicker, suddenly if
you don't get the cash machine before Latvian S&M porn star sings
the next chorus the world will end, so the old lady in the Fiesta in
front must be driven from the road immediately. However stick a good
dance remix of something by Pink or her crowd in and even Paris
Hilton's driving would look like your grandma on a Sunday run to
M&S, corners must be taken at speeds only found in grand prix's and
red traffic lights are considered 'advisories' rather than gospel.
So moving swiftly on and trust me with the Mazda 3 MPS SAK (Sports Aero
Kit) it's impossible to do anything other than move swiftly! Officially
the hottest of hot hatches (well this month at least) being the fastest
with the biggest bhp in its class, the 3 MPS SAK packs a massive 260bhp
turbocharged 2.3L engine up front and blitzes 0-60mph in just 5.8 secs.
Styling-wise
it could be considered somewhat of a 'sleeper' compared to the
like-for-like Megane R26, Golf R32 or Astra VXR. The Mazda doesn't wear
its sporting prowess on the outside because it doesn't need to, yes you
get a few flared wheel arches and bigger sportier wheels, the SAK
body-kit puts a spoiler the size of ya mum's ironing board above the
rear window and the front is lower than your ex-boyfriends attention
span, but overall it does just resemble a slightly beefed up version of
the standard 3. Think of a high energy dance remix of your favourite
song blasting from the great sound system, big riffs and some seriously
powerful vocals and that about sums up the MPS driving experience, it's
Anastasia in concert on four wheels. Handling wise it could do with the
4WD system used on its bigger brother the 6 MPS, 260bhp is great but
only if its useable and the 3 does suffer a little with the same torque
steer as the Astra VXR when you try to use all that power. However the
3MPS feels a lot more planted and slicks to the road better than the
VXR and it's cornering ability leaves the competitors standing. Costing
just under 20k its well worth the money and certainly wont disappoint