There's one thing missing in love-it-or-hate-it cars like the Mazdaspeed 3: apathy. Whether you adore its tire-shredding, blistering acceleration or loathe its torque steer and turbo lag, you'll never get out of this hatchback feeling nothing. Redesigned for 2010, the Mazdaspeed 3 remains the muscle car of the hot-hatch world, and just like the last Speed, it remains the ultimate polarizer of the Mazda family.

For example, one could easily criticize the new Speed for offering no more power than last year's car. We won't. Word behind the scenes is that engineers experimented with more power (the engine will reportedly handle 300 hp with no problem) and even all-wheel drive, but the lessons of the late RX-7 stopped that thinking dead in its tracks. The RX-7 became too complex and too expensive, resulting in its demise. Demise is bad, so the Mazdaspeed 3 stays simple, cheap, and fast....Continued