Dug, 1st line above is exactly what I've said in my post, ie. 1 - 2nd gear 'only' to hit 100km/h...
Here in Aust. the quickest tested time of the MPS3 to 100km/h I've seen is 6.5sec. most others have it at 6.6secs. Mazda claims 6.1sec but this has only been achieved by U.S reviewers as they run 0-60mph though not 0-62 as we do and this 'probably' accounts for the difference...over the 1/4 mile it's 14.5-14.6secs...
The Ralliart has achieved 6.1-6.2 tested time runs here to 100km/h and most commonly 14.2secs over the 1/4 mile...
There is another very recent review in one of the car mags, again the Ralliart pips all of the hot hatches (including the new MPS3) that it's put up against in straight line acceleration...
Can't comment on track times, as I don't have material in front of me on that side of things...
Also the most decent thing about it as I've mentioned is not the AWD, it's that beautiful SST trans !!! drive one and you'll see what I mean
there's no way you'd match it's performance with the stick shift manual !
The power to weight ratio superiority of the MPS3 is clearly evident once rolling, especially in 3rd and 4th gears - I love the thing and as said it's still my favourite by a slight margin over the Ralliart, all things considered
Deep down though, I'd love to own a new Evo 10 (with SST trans) and mod it only slightly, that would make for one hell of a great all rounder, even as a daily driver