A bit more porky then the protege But with the new engines you get much better acceleration. Protege's with the old 2.0 were around 8-9 secs to 60 where even the base 2.0 is under 8sec the 2.3 I think is closer to 7 sec, maybe even under.
Anyway the interior of the 3 is amazing quite refined, the 5 door has numerous trays in the back for storage. Don't know if a MSP3 will be coming out but look to AWD and maybe a turbo set up. Mazda will fight hard to make the 3 a AutoX king as it's mazda's heritage.
Tough decision between the 6 and the 3, the 3 is nearly as big and has almost a better interior minus heated seats, auto climate control etc.
I personally like the 3, especially the 5door, but as I just got the P5 I'm stuck for a bit.
