Independent testing has confirmed some of the claims surrounding the all-new Mazdaspeed3, the house-tuned, limited-edition version of the Mazda3 hatchback: that it will launch itself from rest to 60 mph in 5.8 seconds, for instance, and that it accelerates from 50 to 80 mph faster than today's Jaguar XK. Mazda itself has boldly asserted that the car runs to an electronically limited -- electronically limited! -- top speed of 155 mph.

Let's contextualize that. A mere elder Bush presidency ago the vehicle that defined all that was sacred about performance cars was the Ferrari 328. This rear-wheel-drive rocket, powered by a midmounted V-8 engine, was the last word in everyday, livable Italian performance, which meant that it was neither. The 328 went from zero to 60 mph in...5.8 seconds; it hit a top speed of 163 mph.

Now, if the $22,000 Mazdaspeed3 were a low-slung sports car whose principal innovation was its affordability, a car made for little else than hopefully attracting but in fact repelling the opposite sex, you might chalk up its astounding abilities to the march of sports car progress. But this is a practical four-door hatchback. That it runs so quickly isn't merely impressive; it's an achievement as stunning as the landmark 1,000 hp produced by the current reigning supercar, the Bugatti Veyron.

These are awfully immodest claims for such a humble-looking machine. To make sure I was hearing Mazda right, I took them up on their offer to verify in the controlled environment of the autobahn.

Planted in the Mazdaspeed3's heavily bolstered front seat, I've just entered the A95 autobahn south of Munich, and as I accelerate hard from the banked slip road onto the highway, wringing third gear out to 6,000 rpm, the '3 is gripping tenaciously. The induction system is huffing air; the exhaust system is farting out an uncanny facsimile of Alex Van Halen's double bass-drum intro to "Hot for Teacher." Up through fourth and fifth in the short-throw 6-speed gearbox the car's power feels almost elastic, as if it were fired by a slingshot. The unceasing momentum reminds me of a story a friend once told me about his lone flight on the Concorde. He said that as you break through the sound barrier you feel a little push at your back, as though a force outside the plane were delivering you to some fringe of the physical world where most people never go. Okay, so maybe the Mazdaspeed3 isn't exactly like that. But its sensation of acceleration is glorious, prompting numerous and salty invocations of the creator.

How Mazda packed so much power into this five-person-plus-luggage package is explained by one of the miracles of modern automotive technology: Mazda's 2.3-liter DISI turbocharged inline 4-cylinder engine, the motor that also powers the Mazdaspeed6 sedan and the CX-7 crossover. DISI stands for direct injection spark ignition, which means vaporized fuel is shpritzed directly into the cylinders (as in a diesel engine), allowing for a higher compression ratio (9.5:1) than in other turbocharged engines. This results in the abolition of "turbo lag," the sensation felt in many turbocharged cars that your right foot's executive-level decisions have been sent to committee, and that after cautionary notes have been sounded and weighed, the members underhood have decided that the power you have requested will be made available shortly.

Since its power flows through the front wheels, Mazda had to make sure that torque steer, or steering fight, wouldn't revector the car under acceleration. Full power doesn't actually arrive until third gear, minimizing the chance that you'll make an unscheduled rendezvous with a mailbox.

And here's the thing about this car's chassis: Compared with the aforesaid Ferrari 328, this car is not only as quick to 60 mph, it handles better. It is more fluid, more forgiving, and, yes, more fun. Twenty years of chassis tuning have come to bear on this little car so that you will undoubtedly be faster in the Mazdaspeed3 on a track than you would have been in the Ferrari. This car is an emblem of the democratization of power, handling precision, and chassis refinement. Twenty years ago only guys with bowling-trophy wives could afford cars that drove like this. And this is why I think the car is an achievement on a par with the Veyron. Anyone can make a superfast, exclusive million-dollar car; it takes genius of another order to make a rocket ship out of two toilet paper rolls and some cherry bombs.

But I digress. Back to the claim we're here to test, i.e., that 155 mph top speed. Autobahn traffic is heavy, and the A95 is bending through the Bavarian landscape south of Munich somewhat menacingly. It is foggy. The short row of shrubbery dividing the north- and southbound lanes makes looking ahead to judge the curvature of the road nearly impossible. I am not comforted by the notion that, if I put a wheel wrong, the short brick curb that hems in these shrubs will launch me skyward like a hot kernel of Jiffy Pop.

Inside the car, wind noise is mounting, and my left foot is hovering over the clutch pedal. I'm trying not to grip the wheel too tightly, but I feel myself squeezing the helm as though I were strangling two squirrels. I notch up to sixth gear and wait for top speed. With my foot buried and my mouth drying out, the car slips past 230 km/h to 240. The rock-solid straight-line stability of earlier velocities is disappearing; the car's body is moving around a bit on its chassis, but the engine feels as if it's got more. There, finally, is 250 km/h, or 155 mph, the same limit agreed upon by all Mercedeses, BMWs, and Audis.

Did I mention that this car costs only $22,000?

Price: $22,300
Engine: 2.3-liter DISI turbocharged inline 4-cylinder
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Power: 263 hp
Fuel economy: 20 city/28 hwy
0-60 mph: 5.8 sec
Top Speed: 155 mph (electronically limited)

BRIEF This is next-level stuff. Only the status-obsessed will be immune to this innocuous-looking car's many charms.
THUMBS UP Power, refinement, and handling on a par with '80s-era exotics and today's German autobahn cruisers
THUMBS DOWN Will foster deep frustration with our nation's speed limits

By: Eddie Alterman
(January 2007)