Mazda3 Turbo details revealed

The Mazda3 2.5 Turbo has been officially launched in North America, giving us our best look yet at the Japanese brand’s first hot hatch and sedan in almost a decade.

Set to be available initially only in the USA, Canada, Alaska and Mexico from late 2020, the all-new Volkswagen Golf GTI contender will not be sold here in the foreseeable future, although Mazda Australia says it will “continue to ask for it” in response to local market demand.

US pricing for the Japanese hot hatch and sedan will start at $US29,900 (about $A42,000) in sedan form and $US30,900 ($A43K) for the five-door hatch version.

For a bit extra – $2550 for the sedan and $2850 for the hatch (US pricing) – the Mazda3 2.5 Turbo can be had with a Premium Plus package that adds a front air-dam and roof-mounted rear spoiler.

From there, an Appearance Package can be optioned, adding a rear diffuser and side skirt extensions. All US-delivered Mazda3 models will also come with BBS 18-inch gloss-black forged alloy wheels.

But it’s under the bonnet where the Mazda3 2.5 Turbo really stands out. With enough grunt to keep established hot hatch rivals on their toes, the new Mazda3 performance flagship will slam down a handy 186kW of power and no less than 434Nm of torque from Mazda’s latest 2.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder.

Those VW Golf GTI-shaming performance outputs are sent to all four corners via Mazda’s i-ACTIV all-wheel drive system, but it’s likely the world’s newest hot hatch will be available only with a six-speed automatic.