At last I am posting...

[70806Speed3]

Hello and Welcome Abilor! I too am in Baton Rouge! Happy to see a few of us here on the board! I have yet to see any speed3's on the road yet, I had a modded 3 try to race me Saturday night on Airline though....

I am going to stick to perforrmance and cosmetic mods I think, I just did the led switch and am waiting on the Cobb Shifter weight and factory bra to come in.

 

[DaleNixon]

I saw a debadged true red at Bestbuy by the Mall of LA about a year ago. That was the first 'speed3 I saw (I hated the color, but I have one now). I also saw a silver one at Fresh Market in Perkins Rowe driven by an older guy with USAF tags.

Last week I saw a true red driving down Nicholson near College. I see them sometimes, but they are still pretty rare around these parts. You see a lot more regular 3 hatchbacks. Personally, I like blending in with those guys. My RX-8 wheels will probably help out in that regard.

 

[Ace Deprave]

I've never seen a Speed3 on the road either. Hell, the regular 3 hatchbacks are much more rare than the sedans around here.

You guys are talking about going to Paretti for service...have you heard anything as to whether a regular Mazda dealership (not a Mazdaspeed dealer) can service these as well? The dealer I bought from said it wouldn't be a problem, but dealers will say anything.

 

[DaleNixon]

You can get it serviced at a regular Mazda dealer. Warranty work involving the engine or transmission would have to be at Paretti. I think I'm going to get mine serviced at Paretti Jaguar. I haven't had much luck with the two Mazda dealers in Baton Rouge. One dealer is full of straight up liars, and the other one dented up the rims on my Protege5 horribly when doing a simple oil change/tire rotation.

 

[PCspeed3]

dont use cruise control for the first 1000 miles, vary your RPM a bunch for a good break in.

 

[Abilor]

I was told I could do service at any of the local mazdas, Diamond in particular. That said, I want to make the leap and do most of the servicing myself, from oil changes, to potentially replacing tires, brake pads, other fairly big jobs. I imagine a couldn't change a timing belt, but I am more than willing to take that in.

That said, I am cautious about totally going nuts with some mods and messing up warranty or insurance. Can they deny you an insurance claim if you have mods?

Are BOV's a good/bad idea?

And all were right, it DOES look a lot better without the mouldings. Glad they're gone.

 

[70806Speed3]

The Local dealers will not perfom mechanical repairs under the hood nor recalls except something such as floor mats.... I would nor trust them with my car anyway!

As far as modding goes, get the easily removable ones such as Intake, Bypass valve and maybe motor mount inserts. I can have the car back to stck in 30 minutes if I ever need to run it to Parretti!

 

[Ace Deprave]

You can get it serviced at a regular Mazda dealer. Warranty work involving the engine or transmission would have to be at Paretti. I think I'm going to get mine serviced at Paretti Jaguar. I haven't had much luck with the two Mazda dealers in Baton Rouge. One dealer is full of straight up liars, and the other one dented up the rims on my Protege5 horribly when doing a simple oil change/tire rotation.

The Local dealers will not perfom mechanical repairs under the hood nor recalls except something such as floor mats.... I would nor trust them with my car anyway!

As far as modding goes, get the easily removable ones such as Intake, Bypass valve and maybe motor mount inserts. I can have the car back to stck in 30 minutes if I ever need to run it to Parretti!

Well, that sucks if I have to go 2 1/2 - 3 hours for any warranty work. That's one reason I wanted to get rid of my Audi that I had prior to the MS3.

 

[DaleNixon]

Hopefully the MS3 won't need as much warranty work as an Audi. </rimshot>

 

[Ace Deprave]

Hopefully the MS3 won't need as much warranty work as an Audi. </rimshot>

Amen!

I did have it for over 8 years (2000 A4), so it wasn't a bad car. But there were the little electrical gremlins that would rear their heads every so often.

 

[DaleNixon]

Nice. I've always drooled over the A4/S4/RS4 Audis. I was considering getting a used A4 instead of the MS3 until I read about the ridiculous amount of electrical problems.

Here's hoping the MS3 proves to be reliable for the long haul!