3 MPS: Sensible suit hides banzai heart - On the Road

Behind that chunky MPS grille lies a 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine, tuned to produce 256bhp and 280lb ft of pull. Press the throttle too hard and you'll struggle to keep the front wheels pointing where you want them to go, but once past this initial surge speed builds at a rate that will leave a Golf GTI for dead.

Although aimed squarely at hot hatch fans, Mazda has tuned the suspension to be comfortable enough for every-day use. Body roll is well controlled and there's plenty of grip and little dive under hard braking. Although the steering could do with being quicker and the nose is slightly slow to change direction, the trade-off is excellent high-speed stability.

Given its performance brief, the 3 MPS is surprisingly refined - maybe even too refined for some tastes. The large exhaust seldom emits more than a muted growl, and tyres sizes are quite conservative compared with some larier offerings so road noise isn't an issue. Equally, wind roar only intrudes at very high speed.