Mazda’s push to make the Mazda3 an upscale compact is now complete with the addition of a turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. Unfortunately, the turbocharged engine doesn’t come cheap. The 2021 Mazda3 2.5 Turbo, which only comes with all-wheel drive, starts at $30,845 (prices include destination) for the sedan and $31,845 for the hatchback. Go with the range-topping Mazda3 2.5 Turbo with the Premium Plus package, and you’re looking at paying $33,395 for the sedan and $34,695 for the hatchback.
The prices represent a large increase from the other two powertrains. The base Mazda3, which comes with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, starts at $21,445 for the sedan body style. The 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine can be had for $21,500 in the sedan and $22,500 in the hatchback. So, if you want the turbocharged engine in the sedan body style, you’re looking at paying $9,400 more than the 2.0-liter engine and $9,345 more than the 2.5-liter engine.
The main draw with the Mazda3 2.5 Turbo trims is the engine. The turbocharged 2.5-liter four-cylinder is rated at a stout 250 horsepower and 320 pound-feet of torque. It’s much more powerful than the new 2.0-liter four-cylinder that’s rated at 155 hp and the mid-range 2.5-liter four-cylinder that produces 186 hp. While the turbocharged engine is a pricey upgrade, it brings roughly 100 hp more over the base engine and 64 more hp over the mid-range engine.
When it comes to pricing, the Mazda3 2.5 Turbo is one of the more expensive compact vehicles on the market. The Volkswagen Golf GTI S, Honda Civic Si HPT Sedan, Hyundai Veloster N, Hyundai Elantra Sport, and Honda Civic Sport Touring all cost less. The majority of those competitors, besides the high-performance Veloster N, have far less power than the Mazda3 Turbo. You’re going to pay more, but you’re also getting one of the most powerful engines for the segment.
The new Mazda3 2.5 Turbo is certainly an interesting prospect. Other automakers, like Honda, Hyundai, and Volkswagen offer high-performance hatchbacks as the most powerful and most expensive compact vehicles – think along the lines of the Civic Type R, Veloster N, and Golf R. The Mazda3 2.5 Turbo isn’t exactly a high-performance hatchback and doesn’t offer any performance-oriented components over lower trims, but has a mighty engine under the hood. So, it’s being aimed at a very small group of consumers.
Without other sporty components and the lack of a manual transmission, we're on the fence on whether the turbocharged 2.5-liter engine is worth the upgrade or not. If Mazda included improved brakes, summer tires, stiffer suspension, and a manual transmission, we’d sing praises of how this is worth the money. At the end of the day, adding those things would result in a MazdaSpeed 3, which Mazda said it’s not interested in building. Without those things, we really have to wait to get our hands on the new engine to see if it’s worth the upgrade, but our initial gut answer is no.
Mazda claims the Mazda3 2.5 Turbo models will go on sale before the end of 2020.
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