Here’s How The 250 HP Mazda 3 Turbo Stacks Up To Other Hot Hatches

Anybody curious about the discrepancy between the horsepower and torque figures from the leaked specs of the new Mazda 3 Turbo now has an answer: If you fill it up with the right gas, it’ll boost up to 250 horsepower. That makes it not only a bargain but very competitive in the hot hatch market.

With 87 octane gasoline, the new 2.5-liter turbocharged Mazda 3 will make up to 227 horsepower and 310 lb-ft of torque. If you fuel up with 93 octane though, the same engine can put out up to 250 HP and 320 lb-ft of torque—about a dozen horses shy of the original Mazdaspeed 3.

The turbo 3 will only be available with all-wheel drive and six-speed automatic transmission, which is a bit of a bummer. While the “Turbo” will be its own trim in the lineup, it essentially will come with the same equipment as the current “Premium Package.”

The mysterious “PP” option from the leaked dealer guide we published a few months back did, in fact, turn out to be a “Premium Plus” option, which adds full leather seating, Traffic Jam Assist, a 360-degree camera, and automatic reverse-braking on top of the regular Turbo trim.

Cosmetically, the regular Turbo trim gets its own “Turbo” badge and gloss black mirrors, and the Premium Plus option adds a black lip spoiler on Turbo sedans or a front air dam and roof spoiler on the hatch.

Let’s see how the new Turbo stacks up:

• Power: Turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder with 180 HP and 177 lb-ft of torque.
• Price: $28,150
• Equipment: Six-speed manual or CVT, front-wheel drive standard.
• MPG: 29 / 37 / 32

• Power: Turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder with 250 HP and 260 lb-ft of torque.
• Price: $27,600
• Equipment: Six-speed manual standard, front-wheel drive standard.
• MPG: 22 / 25 / 29

• Power: Turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four with 241 HP and 273 lb-ft of torque.
• Price: $29,000+ (At the Mk. 8’s reveal, VW said to expect a slight price increase over the current GTI, which starts at $28,595.)
• Equipment: Six-speed manual or seven-speed automatic, standard front-wheel drive.
• MPG: Fuel economy will be announced later, but the outgoing GTI currently gets 24 / 27 / 32

• Power: Turbocharged 1.6-liter 3-cylinder with 269 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque.
• Price: The car starts at £29,995 in the European market and isn’t sold in the U.S., but if it was, it’d likely be priced around $30,000.
• Equipment: Six-speed manual, standard all-wheel drive.
• MPG: To be announced, and frankly who knows!

Mazda 3 Turbo

• Power: Turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder with 250 HP and 320 lb-ft of torque.
• Price: The current naturally-aspirated Premium Mazda 3 hatch with all-wheel drive starts at $28,900, so let’s just assume the Turbo will start at $30,000 or higher. Pricing will be announced later this year.
• Equipment: Six-speed automatic-only, all-wheel…