Do the math: MX-5 plus RX-7 divided by two equals MX-3. Well, the Mazda MX-3 sporty coupe isn't an exact cross between the Miata sports car and the third-generation RX-7, but the genetic link is obvious. This little screamer, what Car and Driver called a bonsai GT after the dwarf Japanese trees cultivated in miniature pots, has the sporting hallmarks that instilled the driving excitement in the less powerful but topless Miata and the legendary twin-turbo rotary RX-7.
Indeed, the MX-3 was small like the MX-5 Miata, but it was a coupe like the RX-7. The MX-3 GS was smooth, relatively torqueless and had to be revved to do anything. It was almost like it had a small rotary engine. It didn't. It had the world's smallest V6 engine. Imagine, six little juice cans with a total volume of 1845cc. Pistons spin happily beyond 7000 rpm, with power peaking 130 hp at 6500 rpm. Mazda did what it could to fatten the torque curve with a Variable Resonance Induction System (VRIS), with two separate plenums and a pair of butterfly valves in the resonance tube matrix. Timed openings and closings produce six different tube lengths to boost the torque curve, which peaks at 4500 rpm at a still paltry 115 lb-ft.
Just as amazing is this all-aluminum 60-degree V6, with its 24-valve heads, fits under a hood that slithers down to the front bumper with only a slit of a radiator opening. The MX-3's profile reflects a shrunken RX-7, even to the arched roofline and the outline of the backlight-though stopping short of the "double-bubble." Note the spoilerette: If the MX-3 has one, it's the GS, with the V6. Absent the spoiler, it's the standard MX-3, with the 88-hp, 1.6-liter inline four.
Amazingly, Mazda was able to find room for four people inside the MX-3. Even six-footers will fit in back, but not for long, please. Two-plus-two is the operative phrase. Behind the wheel, the MX-3 felt racy, with a low driving position and narrow side glass that was anything but sedan-like.
Underneath, the MX-3 borrowed from the 323/Proteg, but didn't steal. The lower A-arms on the MacPherson strut front suspension were longer for a 1.2-inch wider track, and the multilink rear suspension was widened an equal amount. Mazda also went with softer springs and stiffer shocks up front and the opposite at the rear. The Twin Trapezoid Link rear suspension dials in toe-in during cornering, Road & Track noting that the "MX-3 is one of those rare FWD cars where the rear wheels do more than simply hold up the stern...the rear end is responsive to the throttle." The MX-3's four-wheel disc brakes were also the class of its peers, and its Yokohama A022A 205/55R-15 rubber able to generate .85 g on the skidpad.
The critics raved. The Mazda MX-3 GS was a winner. But it was a bull's-eye in a non-existent target. The mini-GT market Japanese makers created out of thin air evaporated; and as suddenly as they'd come, they left. The Nissan NX2000, the Geo Storm, the Isuzu Impulse... and the Mazda MX-3. Car and Driver wrote prophetically in late 1995 that the MX-3 "may not live to see 1997." Well, do the math. Subtract the RX-7. Subtract the MX-3.