2007 Mazdaspeed 3 - Sport Compact Car Magazine

The Drive

The particular Saturday we have for testing is exactly two weeks before MotoGP invades Laguna Seca. The grandstands, Yamaha and Repsol tents are already up and seedlings spelling out a massive Red Bull have already been planted trackside. Since MotoGP arrived at the track in 2005, MRLS has undergone a major overhaul.

Yamaha put up two million dollars to help make the track smoother and more bike-friendly. Changes include kinder, gentler cornering strips and much larger gravel pits. Any portion of the track that isn't gravel has been paved over to allow downed bikes and riders to slide instead of tumble. Though the overall course is much nicer, with a super-smooth track surface, many of the familiar reference points are gone and it's like driving on a new track.

It would be easy to blame the new conditions for my terrible driving, but it's the fact that I'm not a patient person that makes me slow. Fast driving requires waiting until the last second to brake and waiting longer still to corner. The feel of the Mazdaspeed3's beefy calipers and rotors give me the confidence to brake exceptionally late, but somehow l still manage to turn in early. In my first lapping session in the car, I often found myself tightening my line halfway through the corner, which is irritating because it means I could have gone much faster.

The very fact that I realize this speaks volumes about the car, if not my driving skill. Power and torque aside, the handling clarity of the Mazdaspeed3 is its most rewarding aspect. Turn after turn, I find the car to be exceptionally balanced and predictable. It constantly tells you exactly what you're doing right and wrong. And at track speeds, when you're wrong, you're understeering. The front tires squeal first, which is sign that the limit is near. Ignore it, (as I did) and the squeal becomes a howl. Keep at it, and the front tires begin to shudder and the ability to steer quickly goes away. Lift the throttle, however, and steering feel returns and you're smoothly back on line. There is no mushiness in the chassis, sloppiness in the suspension or vagueness in the steering that hides what the front wheels are doing, and this is very important in a front-wheel-drive car with this kind of power.

The first few laps are an exercise in confidence building. I'm more brazen with every lap, trying to brake and turn later and get on the gas earlier. I realize I've run out of talent when I take a drive-through penalty in the gravel trap at the exit of turn two. It's my only unrecoverable mistake of the afternoon and I'm annoyed because the car gave me repeated warnings that this was about to occur.

The key to driving fast in any front-wheel-drive car is the concept of slow in/fast out. This is particularly good advice for the Mazdaspeed3, which has more than enough grunt to pull you out of any turn. Just be sure you've completed the transition from corner to straightaway before you mash the gas, otherwise you'll find yourself picking pea gravel out of the brake dust shields.

Luckily I'm carrying enough speed to make it out of the gravel trap without the aid of a tow truck. But my ploy to pretend nothing happened fails miserably when I pull in and two pounds of newly-crushed gravel, held in the front wheel wells by inertia, fall onto pit lane with a crash. Koby Jr. points and laughs.

As I become more comfortable behind the wheel, a few things become abundantly clear. First, the Mazdaspeed3 is a truly legit track car straight off the dealer's lot. Sure, a few concessions have been made for the street, but about the only thing it needs is a stickier set of tires. When I first heard that the output of the engine was limited in first and second gear, I was immediately suspicious. But after lapping Laguna, I found an abundance of power with completely seamless delivery. Even with the electronic nanny, there is more than enough to spin the tires in first and second gear throughout the powerband.