5 Great Little Pocket Rockets

The MAZDASPEED Motorsports division takes the best-selling Mazda3 five-door, reinforces the chassis for rigidity, then adds stiffer springs, shocks and stabilizer bars. The underside aerodynamics are tweaked, the fenders are flared for wider tires on 18-inch alloy wheels, and a rear spoiler is added, with big vented front rotors to stop the rocket.

The 2.3-liter direct-injection engine is turbocharged and intercooled to make about 260 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque at 3000 rpm, and strengthened to withstand the power. It's mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. You still get the 60/40 split folding rear seat providing tons of cargo space. The Grand Touring model offers a 7-speaker Bose sound system.

On the road, the MAZDASPEED3 is thrilling thanks to its sudden surge of power. But on the track, its limits arrive relatively early, as it dodged around a bit with brakes and suspension that felt softer than the others.