Volkswagen's GTI is a little less powerful than the Mazdaspeed3, but it offers better control for daily driving. 08/15/2011
In technical terms, the 2011 Mazdaspeed3 hatchback seems to outweigh the 2011 Volkswagen GTI in actual weight as well as value. The Mazda's 16-valve 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine offers an impressive 263 horsepower and up to 280 lb-ft of torque, and the Japanese automaker claims that the mid-size car gets 25 miles per gallon on the highway and 18 in the city. Mazdaspeed3's starting price is around $23,700 for the six-speed manual model - just a few hundred more than the $23,695 base price of the two-door GTI.
Volkswagen only put a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine under the hood of the GTI, and the German car company claims that the new car only turns out about 200 hp, but the Top Speed test drive found that it is actually capable of closer to 215 hp.
The GTI may be less powerful than the Mazdaspeed3, but the new car is 240-pounds lighter, so it can accelerate just as quickly as the Mazda, according to the news source. Volkswagen's hatchback also handles better on public roads, even though the Mazda may excel on the racetrack. Most drivers aren't spending the majority of their driving time on the track anyway.