No, I haven’t been racing in the Mazdaspeed 3… yet. But I often drive the car thinking about how great a car it is and how much fun it would be on the track. In fact, I often drive it and look over at some kid driving a fixed up s2000 or 350z and think to myself… you know… I bet my car would outperform that car on the track even though they aren’t even giving a second glance.

I searched the internet today to see if there were any lap time comparisons against the Mazdaspeed 3 and lo and behold:
Motor Trend’s article: “Track Attack! We find America’s Best-Handling Car”

Yes, at Laguna Seca, the MS3 took out the S2000, the Civic Si, a Mini Cooper S JC Works GP, and a Porsche 911 GT3. Just kidding about the Porsche.

Here’s just a few of the results listed in order of cars they thought would perform from worst to best. C’mon where’s the confidence guys?

Mazdaspeed3 GT
Best lap (min:sec): 1:50.375
73.0 mph avg
1.31g peak lateral acceleration

Honda Civic Si
Best lap (min:sec): 1:54.990
70.1 mph avg
1.55g peak lateral acceleration

Mini Cooper S JC Works GP
Best lap (MIN:SEC): 1:51.733
72.1 mph avg
1.28g peak lateral acceleration

Mitsubishi Evolution IX MR
Best lap (MIN:SEC): 1:47.926
74.7 mph avg
1.36g peak lateral acceleration

Honda S2000
Best lap (MIN:SEC) : 1:50.738
72.8 mph avg
1.40g peak lateral acceleration

Porsche 911 GT3
Best lap (MIN:SEC): 1:39.517
81.0 mph avg
1.69g peak lateral acceleration

The rest of the lap times