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The three-door version of the critically acclaimed and popularly successful hatch should arrive here in the second half of the year. Details have yet to be confirmed but it would likely slide in under the $16,500 Neo.
Meanwhile, the appearance at last month's Melbourne Motor Show of Mazda Motorsport Australia's latest “Extreme” car has shown the brand has not lost its much-vaunted “zoom, zoom, zoom.”
The decision by the Hiroshima marque not to build a second generation of the much-praised Mazda6 MPS has caused much dismay here. It has also created the absurd situation whereby the so-called Mazda Performance Series consists of one model, the MPS 3. But before you can say “Mazda Performance Singular,” Mazda Australia has produced the Mazda2 Extreme, the fourth in a line from the RX-8 (2004), first-generation Mazda2 Extreme (2005) and the Mazda3 MPS (2007).
While the engine is under development, the goal is to increase performance by at least 20 per cent. It will be driven through the front wheels via the standard car's five-speed manual transmission.
The suspension, though, has been worked over by tuner Murray Coote to deal with dirt road competition. The vehicle comes with sports-tuned springs and shock absorbers teamed with purpose-built 15-inch Bridgestone Potenza rally tyres and lightweight alloys. Within, there's a roll cage, Sabelt race seats each equipped with five-point safety harness, Momo steering wheel and hydraulic handbrake.
While a Mazda Australia spokeswoman says there are no plans for an SP or Extreme version of the Mazda6, it's to be hoped the same crew who conjured the turbo-charged MX-5 SP and the breathtaking RX-8 are let loose on the excellent though modestly powered mid-sizer. While only a fortunate few got the chance to drive the Allan Horsley-contrived RX-8 turbo, 200 will be able to buy the limited edition with the standard rotary engine.
At $55,840, the RX-8 Rotary Engine 40th Anniversary features a leather and Alcantara interior, leather-wrapped steering wheel, gear shifter and handbrake handle, and 40th Anniversary badging.
It gets Bilstein shocks, urethane, foam-filled front suspension cross member, high-gloss 18-inch alloys, floating rear spoiler, sunroof and blue reflector fog-lamps. The Hakaze Concept is also on show. The “compact cross-over coupe with roadster feel” is the latest Mazda Nagare concept.
