Highly underrated hot hatch that’s ‘extremely fast but very comfortable’ can be bought for just £4,000
A HOT hatchback that’s been described as “very highly underrated” can be picked up for just £4,000.
Motoring expert Jonny Brighton, who runs the YouTube channel CarsWithJB, has chosen his favourite hot hatches that can be bought for cheap – with a little-known Mazda particularly eye-catching.
The Mazda3 MPS – which stands for ‘Mazda Performance Series’ – is a performance iteration of the Mazda3 that first came out in 2009.
At the time, it was one of the most powerful hot hatchbacks you could buy, with 256 bhp being produced from its 2.3-litre.
Nowadays, it’s some way off the pace to more modern rivals – but can still hit 155 mph as a top speed.
Jonny quite rightly introduced it as a “highly underrated hot hatchback.”
He added: “It’s a pretty good for a car that goes so far under the radar.
“The second gen in particular has got some cool, extra features like the LSD (limited-slip differential) as standard and the larger brake disc for better stopping power.
“Add on the top the mounted intercooler with a focus on minimising heat soak and you have a properly sorted hot hatch for the money.”
Indeed, a first generation Mazda3 MPS can be picked up for as little as £3,500 – with a newer model coming at under £5,000.
Interestingly, a feature from Autocar in 2017 saw Mazda expert Frazer Geraghty talk up the MPS edition.
He said: “They’re terrific cars — extremely fast but very comfortable, too.
“Being a Mazda, they’re extremely reliable.
“The turbo doesn’t give any trouble and we’ve never known any timing chain issues.”
This comes as another Mazda once described by Jeremy Clarkson as a “magnificent driver’s car” can be bought for less than £7,000 – and it’a a super saloon.
And elsewhere a bargain second-hand Ford that was bought for just £300 by a used car expert could be sold for five times that amount – thanks to just a handful of simple, DIY tweaks.
