And so it goes that a hot-hatch such as this must have a taut suspension, chassis reinforcements, big brakes, a quick steering rack and some large rubber. The Speed3 has all of this, for better or for worse. Find a bad road (easy in Montreal) and I guarantee that you will avoid it at all costs next time around. Conversely, locate and attack your favourite country lane and I guarantee that you will return... or never leave.

It's actually quicker to the buck mark than the more potent SRT4, 6.1 seconds vs 6.2 seconds.

For the enlightened
The Speed3 is an on/off switch. The relatively narrow power band between 3,000 and 5,000 rpm means that much rowing from cog to cog is required if you want to get the most from the Warner-Hitachi turbocharger and its 15.5 psi of boost. By the way, the digital boost gauge is fairly useless as it only reads to 15 psi and the gradings are in half-bars. Now, back to our show... If you get it just right, the turbo 3 is one massively fast little car. In fact, it's actually quicker to the buck mark than the more potent SRT4, 6.1 seconds vs 6.2 seconds.

A proper launch from a standstill requires two hands on the steering wheel, and although Mazda says that its torque-sensing, equal-length driveshaft equipped limited-slip differential minimizes the effect of torque steer, keeping one hand on the shifter could prove to be a mistake. Now, although many have complained about this issue, I for one absolutely love the challenge of taming this micro-monster. Mastering all of these elements translates into pure fun and satisfaction. I've taken the little beast out on two tracks thus far and both times I thought the car was brilliant.

Where it hurts
If the outer shell of the Speed3 is essentially a carryover from the regular, the same can be said about the cabin. Obviously, the bits that set the Speed apart are the large race-like front seats, the black with red accent dash and door trim, the aluminium pedals and some red stitching here and there. The remainder is standard 3 fair. In actuality, the Speed is the equivalent of the Sport GT with the GT-E package and odds and ends from the Comfort and Luxury packages.

What this all means is that we must buy a Speed3 with all the bells and whistles for a whopping $32,995. Our neighbours to the south can opt for a base car at only $23,945! I frankly find this unfair and I'm willing to bet my cat's dinner bowl that Mazda would deliver an extra 25% to 35% more Mazdaspeed3s if we could purchase the equivalent car for around 26k.

If the outer shell of the Speed3 is essentially a carryover from the regular, the same can be said about the cabin.