Mazda's surprise reveal: CX-3 Racing Concept

Mazda unveiled a hotted up crossover sports they called the CX-3 Racing Concept at last week's Tokyo Auto Salon.

Normally we would have reported about it last week, but Mazda remained tight-lipped about its secrets, leaving us very little to write about.

"Oh, that's just to show off some sporty exterior accessories," was about as much as we could scrounge from staffers at the Auto Salon.

This week we found a staffer willing to give up some information.

"Now, while I can't say that much, I will say that we are planning on making some sporty versions of the CX-3 and Mazda2, and maybe one or two others," he commented.

What's the bet one of those "one or two others" will be a hot MX-5?

As for the CX-3 Racing concept, if it morphs into a road-going production sports utility vehicle that is actually sporty, the question goes begging: Will anyone in Australia buy it? Or anyone living anywhere else outside of Japan, for that matter?

"The CX-3's lip and roof spoilers, side skirts, coloured accents and larger wheels and tyres all point in the direction we want to take these Racing Concepts," our source added.

Checking out those substantial 17-inch wheels, we couldn't help but notice the enhanced bright red brake calipers. That points us in the direction of a dress-up kit.

There may be more to it than that, however. When asked about the potential of tweaked performance and suspension settings, our source smiled and just said: "But even with 4WD, don't expect us to produce a CX-3 racing concept with a diesel engine."

Translated, any souped-up CX-3 will definitely be powered by a petrol engine and most probably turbocharged – which is only natural for a sporty SUV. For the record, the car on the stand had a stock 1.5-litre SKYACTIV diesel and no tweaked suspension.

Expect to see a fully reworked production version on the Mazda stand at this year's Tokyo Motor Show. As for exports to the Australia, our contact was not ruling out anything.