2003.5 MSP Test Drive

[Stormtrooper77]

First of all, I didn't know where to put this, and since it deals directly with the MSP, well, here it is. Please feel free to move it if need be.

I decided to go and drive one yesterday as I am considering buying one. Anyway, it was yellow (nice but not my choice) and had a little less than 100 km on the odometer. The car was not flashed. I actually wanted it that way to compare for when/if I do buy the car and get it flashed. The salesman still didn't know about it?? I didn't want to get into details about it with him either. On with the drive.

The first comment about this car is the handling. It is simply amazing! Pretty much point and go. Note: I only drove the car as hard as the salesman did in all situations. So we switch up. The first thing I didn't notice was the hesitation. I did several runs up to 5k rpm in 2nd and 3rd and nothing. Mind you I really don't know what I'm looking for, but it sounds like it should be pretty noticeable. Also, I didn't hear the clunk. Now, I know what a clunk sounds like because my car clunks more than any car in the world (coilovers). But nothing. The car was silent. I didn't even here the turbo or the bpv. Again, first experience with a turbo car. The salesman said he heard it though.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. The above problems didn't happen because I got lucky with a car that they don't exist in, or

1. The A/C was running during the drive (hesitation issue).
2. There was weight in the backseat (clunk issue).

Anyway, the drive pretty much made up my mind as to what I'm doing. Plus, Mazda Canada currently has a promotion on for 48 month 0% interest purchase financing and no payment for 6 months.

 

[changedman]

the car was prolly not yet flashed with the new version of firmware. the clunk shouldnt be an issue yet, its been sitting @ the dealer...

 

[Tinkerbelle]

I've only had my car for a couple of months and have not had either problem myself, ever. At any rate, I don't think you'd have a clunk right off the lot, my understanding is that it has to do with the angle of wear on the rubber sway bar bushings.

So far we've only been driving the car on normal roads (albeit a little "hard"), but my first autocross is coming up... so if after a few weeks? months? of autocrossing I start to hear that clunk, thanks to this forum I'll know what it is and have some ideas on how to address it.

I LOVE THIS CAR.

 

[Stormtrooper77]

Yeah, actually I just realized that the clunk would not be apparent at this point. I guess I got caught up in all the issues and just applied them the first chance I got. Oh well, I still like the car.