former honda guy considering a mazdaspeed 3

[numbnuts22715]

I used to own a turbocharged 99 acura integra gsr. It made around 250 whp to the wheels. My car got stolen and stripped a week ago, so it's time to find a new car.
I havent test driven a mazdaspeed3 yet, because no dealers around me have them. I'm only in this city because I go to school here. In my home town(houston) theres quite a few at the dealers, so i'll test drive one as soon as I get the money from my insurance company. I have driven a mazdaspeed protege, and I know it's hard to compare two different cars, but i'm wondering if everything feels about the same in the mazdaspeed3 as it does in the protege. What I mean is, the protege all felt pretty solid and well built.
I've read a few reviews of how people say the steering felt a little wobbly or something like that, but the msp felt nice and solid, is the mazdaspeed3 the same way?

Does anybody have any sort of ideas of how I could get the dealer to come down on the price a little bit? or any other general advice to give a honda guy make it easier in the transition to a mazda?

Thanks a lot,
Charles

 

[clos561]

very nice ride (solid) handles great, sticks you to the seat for sure... a good way to get cheap ms3 would try to find a 07 since the 08's are starting to show up now..you get a few hundred off maybe...if you test drive one..youll prolly fall in love

 

[I vtec do you?]

It's not much like the mazdaspeed protege imo.

The protege looked great on the outside, and the interior was pretty decent, but it didn't have much 'oomph' like the MS3 does. The MS3 will throw you back when you peg the gas, whereas the protege was more of a linear feeling of power.

 

[numbnuts22715]

i know about the power, i was just wondering if i could expect as much, if not more out of the ms3 than the protege.
I was pretty happy with every aspect of the protege, I know that it's not very powerful, but with that aside, everything else is extremely nice.

But it seems like the ms3 is even nicer on the inside than the protege, is that a safe assumption?

 

[I vtec do you?]

i know about the power, i was just wondering if i could expect as much, if not more out of the ms3 than the protege.
I was pretty happy with every aspect of the protege, I know that it's not very powerful, but with that aside, everything else is extremely nice.

But it seems like the ms3 is even nicer on the inside than the protege, is that a safe assumption?

Very safe assumption. Mazda just does interiors well... I would say they compete with ~40k cars in terms of interior luxuriousness.

 

[LENNY127]

agree on that, the interior is like a 1 notch down from an audi (a compliment), I have owned a couple of civics and my family drives nothing bujt vtecs and integras. Once you drive this car you will love not only the power but compared to the hondas that are a tad too revvy for my taste the torque !! Compared to any honda that I have owned and or driven this car is more solid in every aspect , the only thing I cannot speak of is reliability as far as the engine, only time will tell but I doubt it will stand up to a honda/toyota in those terms.

 

[MS3ICA]

dude i used to have a 95 gsr, drove it 230,000 miles before it got stolen. it was a wonderful car...but the ms3 is better, you won't be dissapointed, it faster and everything is right in the mid range and i am now a huge fan of torque. hey im in houston too, they ussually wont budge on price unless you get a sport model that everyones already testdrove

 

[numbnuts22715]

dude i used to have a 95 gsr, drove it 230,000 miles before it got stolen. it was a wonderful car...but the ms3 is better, you won't be dissapointed, it faster and everything is right in the mid range and i am now a huge fan of torque. hey im in houston too, they ussually wont budge on price unless you get a sport model that everyones already testdrove

I promise you that the ms3 wont be faster than my gsr was for a while until I mod it quite a bit...
my gsr ran around a 12.6-7 in the 1/4.

I had quite a bit of torque considering it was a honda, my numbers were 246whp/221wtq.

I probably will get a sport model, I can't afford much else. I'm a college kid, paying for it by myself, so I dont have that much money.

I really appreciate the comments guys.

 

[shamrock]

dude i used to have a 95 gsr, drove it 230,000 miles before it got stolen. it was a wonderful car...but the ms3 is better, you won't be dissapointed, it faster and everything is right in the mid range and i am now a huge fan of torque. hey im in houston too, they ussually wont budge on price unless you get a sport model that everyones already testdrove

Why would the let you drive the sport model and not a GT model. Its not like the GT is any faster. It has another $2,000 worth of options. I dont see your point.

 

[numbnuts22715]

Why would the let you drive the sport model and not a GT model. Its not like the GT is any faster. It has another $2,000 worth of options. I dont see your point.

I just went by the mazda dealer, one in san antonio actually got a mazdaspeed3 in stock, but they wouldnt let me test drive it.
how gayy.

I guess i'll be waiting til I go back to houston.

 

[b15nut]

Sorry to hear about your loss man!! My old roommate had his Turbo'd Civic stolen a while back. That thing was a beast..all Full Race stuff! Anyway, you will love all aspects of the car. The handling, speed, interior, panel fitment...you just cant go wrong with this car. You probably have experience with torque steer so the lil bit that the MS3 has wont be an issue.

My best suggestion is to go to each of the dealers websites and request quotes. Then take the best number back to each of the dealers and so on and so forth until there is only one left...then pull the trigger.

A dealer out here offered to let me take it home for the night on my first test drive so I dont understand them not letting you take it for a spin, some dealers are just retarded.

Best of luck to you and be sure to post pics once you pick her up!!

 

[MS3ICA]

I promise you that the ms3 wont be faster than my gsr was for a while until I mod it quite a bit...
my gsr ran around a 12.6-7 in the 1/4.

I had quite a bit of torque considering it was a honda, my numbers were 246whp/221wtq.

I probably will get a sport model, I can't afford much else. I'm a college kid, paying for it by myself, so I dont have that much money.

I really appreciate the comments guys.

man thats awsome, i was going to get a jackson racing supercharchger but never could save enough cash...lol

 

[numbnuts22715]

My best suggestion is to go to each of the dealers websites and request quotes. Then take the best number back to each of the dealers and so on and so forth until there is only one left...then pull the trigger.

Thanks for the advice. I am going to do this as soon as I find out how much my insurance company is going to give me. Actually, on second thought, I might as well start doing that now, I figure it'll take a while to get everything rolling.

 

[Falconx84]

you won't regret it ... I left my integra for the speed3 and never looked back -- except to see just how far behind me it was!!

sold it to my roommate, lol

 

[MS3ICA]

you won't regret it ... I left my integra for the speed3 and never looked back -- except to see just how far behind me it was!!

sold it to my roommate, lol

did you have the gsr or the reg., did you revit to 8,000 rpm zillions of times or did you not understand?

 

[MS3ICA]

i met some old dumnasss who would not listen to me he said "why would i rev it past 6,000 rpm, unless i was try ing to speed on the higway", i was like no! you rev it past 6k in the lower gears to get power he didnt understad....., i saw him a couple of years later and the car was for sale peach with 27,000 miles he still didnt get it!!! the racing vetec kicks in at 5,800 rpm and screams to 8,000 rpm in each gear to go fast you stupid ******* morrrrrrraannnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Falconx84]

ls, 93 integra special - tired of wrenching on it plus I wanted some real torque and ac .... I do miss a high redline sometimes, then I tap the gas and it sets me back in my seat and makes me happy again

 

[mspHtown]

I used to own a turbocharged 99 acura integra gsr. It made around 250 whp to the wheels. My car got stolen and stripped a week ago, so it's time to find a new car.
I havent test driven a mazdaspeed3 yet, because no dealers around me have them. I'm only in this city because I go to school here. In my home town(houston) theres quite a few at the dealers, so i'll test drive one as soon as I get the money from my insurance company. I have driven a mazdaspeed protege, and I know it's hard to compare two different cars, but i'm wondering if everything feels about the same in the mazdaspeed3 as it does in the protege. What I mean is, the protege all felt pretty solid and well built.
I've read a few reviews of how people say the steering felt a little wobbly or something like that, but the msp felt nice and solid, is the mazdaspeed3 the same way?

Does anybody have any sort of ideas of how I could get the dealer to come down on the price a little bit? or any other general advice to give a honda guy make it easier in the transition to a mazda?

Thanks a lot,
Charles

dude, did you drive a white gsr?! i was driving through downtown SA last week and i saw a gsr shell....

 

[numbnuts22715]

I had plenty of torque with the turbo kit. Mine was a 99 gs-r, so visits to 8000 rpm were plentiful. This is one thing im seriously going to miss.
My car pulled harder than any car i've ever ridden in. Making my tires spin driving in 3rd gear wasn't much of a problem. Gsrs respond very well to boost. I loved it, and I miss it a lot.
By the sounds of it, the ms3 won't do bad on replacing it.

I appreciate allof the responses guys. Thanks a ton

 

[numbnuts22715]

dude, did you drive a white gsr?! i was driving through downtown SA last week and i saw a gsr shell....

lol, jeff you retard.
you saw pictures of the shell... if you can even call it that