Comparison Tests
Before you start tickling your Blackberry to tell us we paired these two just a few months ago [“Dirty Speed, Done Dirt Cheap,” January 2009], listen up: These aren’t quite the same as the top two in that seven-way all-skate. Both have undergone makeovers for 2010, so we are clearly obligated to explore what effect, if any, the revisions have had on their relative standing in the cheap-speed continuum.
That’s our official rationale. Unofficially, we figure no excuse is too trivial when there’s a chance to put these compact outlaws through their paces. (How’s that? They changed the GTI’s headlight bezels? And the Speed 3 has new exhaust tips? Okay! Let’s go!)
We have a couple of very good reasons for our ongoing comparo readiness. For one, peering into the murky future of fun-to-drive, cars such as these may eventually be the only bad-boy rides to survive the carpocalypse.
Turbo-four mighty mites such as the Mazdaspeed 3 and the GTI should be able to operate below the radar screens of the what’s-your-hurry types for some time to come, with the added economic appeal of serious punch per peso. Plus they’ve got hatchback practicality and relatively subdued looks. At core they’re hooligans, but well-groomed hooligans that would pass muster with potential fathers-in-law. Few go-fast cars are easier to rationalize.
Reason No. 2: Fun. In a demographic where the car is likely to be the owner’s one and only ride, these two are capable of provoking grins no matter how mundane the day’s driving may be.
Changes to our two combatants go well beyond headlight bezels, of course. Of the pair, the Speed 3’s 2010 updates are the more extensive, embracing appearance (note the new grille and hood scoop), interior revisions (new dash and trim), new wheels (18-inch snowflake-pattern aluminum alloys), bigger footprints, stiffer suspension tuning, and revised mechanicals (new electrohydraulic rack-and-pinion steering, taller gear ratios, reprofiled torque-management electronics).
The GTI, for its part, is officially classified as generation six, though aside from appearance, this godfather of all hot hatchbacks hasn’t changed a great deal from gen five. The front and rear fascias (including a bigger hatch opening) have been restyled, as has the interior, where the center stack is dominated by a large screen intended for an updated nav system (a $1750 option absent in our test car). Mechanical changes are minimal: a stiffened rear anti-roll bar and a reprofiled electronic transverse differential lock, called XDS, which enlists the brake system to inhibit wheelspin.
Neither redesign entails a horsepower increase—no big deal for the Mazdaspeed 3, which has more than enough, but regrettable in the case of the GTI, which doesn’t. VW of America has held the line on GTI pricing: The five-door’s base MSRP ($24,590) rises by just $60. The base for the Mazdaspeed 3 is up $455, but it still holds its bargain-performance edge, at $23,945. Ultimately, though, more power and less price wasn’t enough to keep it on top.
