Big, powerful and cheap performance saloons aren't exactly ten a penny these days – but the Mazda 6 MPS is all three. And then some.

 

With its turbocharged engine and a clever four wheel drive system, Stuart Milne reckons this is a 1990s Touring Car racer for the PlayStation generation.

 

Back in the 1980s, there was plenty of choice for an affordable, generously-proportioned performance car.

 

Walk into a showroom with a wad of cash and you could drive off with a Sierra Cosworth, Peugeot 405 Mi-16, Renault 19 16v or an Audi 80 with a big engine. Vauxhall offered the Cavalier and Carlton GSis too.

 

But today there isn't much to fill the void.

 

That's got a lot to do with 'smaller' cars which actually offer more space than bigger saloons of the past – the current Focus is roughly the same size as the original Mondeo.

 

But there are a few cars which buck the trend – and none better than the Mazda 6 MPS.

 

It might look like a bog-standard diesel Six with big wheels, but the 2.3-litre turbocharged lump makes it like a cheetah in sheep's clothing.

 

I first drove the 6 MPS about a year ago, and was blown away by its perfect blend of discreet performance. So why wax lyrical about it again?

 

I've just come back from Castle Combe circuit in Wiltshire, where I spent a good few hours cooking the brakes and scrubbing the tread off the tyres.

 

What struck me was just how easy it is to drive fast. While I was clocking some fairly rapid laps in the MX-5 and RX-8 – and even the white hot 155mph 3 MPS – there were a few hairy moments where I ran out of talent.

 

But driving hard and fast in the Six is relaxed and serene.

 

That's largely to do with the MPS' four wheel drive system, which gets its 260bhp and massive 380Nm of pulling power down on the tarmac with barely a squeal from the tyres.

 

Its computer brain automatically detects the kind of surface it's driving on and adjusts the amount of power sent to the front and rear wheels. On the road, this is an odd sensation as you can actually feel it thinking for you.

 

This works so well, it even pumps water around the drive system to stop it going into meltdown. How cool is that?

 

The 6 MPS can do about 90 per cent of what a Subaru Impreza can, with none of the drawbacks. Sure, it likes to pour super unleaded down its throat like the Impreza, but the interior is nicer, it's more comfortable and you can drive it without having every Tom, Dick and Barry trying it on in their mum's shopping car.

 

Eagle-eyed passers-by need to focus carefully on the small badges and bonnet bulge to identify its potent potential.

 

At £23,000, the MPS makes a real alternative to the hot hatch establishment.

 

But it gets better still. For around 15 grand savvy buyers can bag a two year old model with about 20,000 miles under its wheels.

 

L.A.T.W.O.T. Video of the week

 

Mazda has a history of building cool cars. But some drag racing mentalists can do better. Check this Aussie racer's two-wheel shenanigans in this 1970s machine.

 

 

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