Mazda confirms 2.5-litre turbo, all-wheel drive version of its mainstay in hatch and sedan forms, but will it come to Singapore? 

Irvine, California, USA –

Here’s a surprise: Mazda has announced a high-power version of its mainstay car, the Mazda 3 sedan/hatchback, in the form of the Mazda 3 2.5 Turbo. 

It takes the 2.5-litre turbocharged engine from the CX-9 and plonks it into the small hatch/sedan, basically, and it should deliver some very interesting performance because of the 250hp and 420Nm of torque shunted through an all-wheel drive system. 

READ MORE: If you want a 200+hp all-wheel drive Mazda, the CX-9 is exactly that, and is as big as an Audi Q7 for far less cash

Currently Singapore only has the relatively tame 1.5-litre Skyactiv-G variant, which has less than half the power. Overseas the Mazda 3 is sold in 2.0 and 2.5 naturally-aspirated versions.

The 1.5 impressed us here in Singapore in the day-to-day, and feels capable enough to deal with a lot more power. 

We can hear your eyebrows arch – ‘Mazda make a hot hatch, really?!’

While this will be the most powerful version of the Mazda 3 sold anywhere in the world, it’s not actually going to be a full-on hot hatch/sedan. 

Mazda USA doesn’t say if there are any major chassis differences, and is emphasising the touring aspect of the car, rather than performance (there are no confirmed performance figures yet).

Visually it will look similar to existing Mazda 3 models – the larger wheels and black grille as seen on the Astina hatch variant here is one example. 

With that in mind it’s more in line with the Honda Civic turbo hatch, than the Honda Civic Type R. 

Looking for a used Mazda 3 or similar? Check out a huge selection at Ucars.sg!

But as to whether it’ll actually make it to Singapore – our guess is probably not since the availability for right-hand drive markets is still up in the air.  Mazda Singapore said there’s no news as yet, and in Australia it’s equally unclear if that market will receive the 2.5 T model either. 

Not a big surprise, since keep in mind that Mazda’s a small company and mainstream-performance models were bumped off the priority list long ago. No foul, since we’d much rather it build an RX-7 successor. 

Mazda fans will remember that the last time Mazda made a hot hatch we could dream about was a decade or so ago, the Mazda 3 MPS, which never came to Singapore in an official capacity anyway. 

But if you really, really love the idea of a fast Mazda 3 – who can blame you, it just looks right – if you have S$230k to blow you can ask Mazda to sell you a real racing version, the Mazda 3 TCR.