Buying a MS3

[slashsnake]

Well after quite a bit of research, I have decided I am going to buy a used MS3. It convinced me away from a WRX STI (and Subaru's new craptacular styling of what was a gorgeous car IMO), and even though I live in Colorado, I can get some snow tires for the thing and have an xterra 4wd for any real winter crap.

I've test driven a mazda3, just to get a feel of the size, and its got the leg room I need at 6'2", though I won't be riding in the back, that is for sure.

Last night I passed the biggest hurdle, convincing the wife it was still a practical car, so I think I am free and clear now.

So now to the search which actually the father in law will do as he runs a dealership, and all car purchases till his retirement must be made through him lol.

Anyways, hope to learn more here.

Chris

 

[GoFast]

Congrats on your decision and welcome to the forums. Let us know when you get it and post some pics!

 

[coololddude]

Snow tires work well with a MS3.

 

[FWD FTL]

NOOOOOOOO buy the WRX..

 

[imac]

I've test driven a mazda3, just to get a feel of the size, and its got the leg room I need at 6'2", though I won't be riding in the back, that is for sure.

Chris

you wont have a problem height-wise. i'm 6'3" and drive with the seat a couple of clicks short of fully back, tho that's partially because i like the feel of the clutch a little closer in on this car than on the cars of my past.

the thing i was most impressed with was the head room. i most recently came from an older celica, in which i had to do a bit of a gangsta lean to the middle of the car so my head would stick up into the recess created by the sunroof, otherwise i would have been literally wedged in with my head stuck to the ceiling. in the MS3 i have a solid 3 or 4 inches probably above my head still. nice change of pace. that and having 2.5x the power of the toyo... thats always nice too (naughty)

 

[slashsnake]

Got it, actually got a 2010 silver, no tech package. My god this thing just goes.

 

[ZoomZoomPSSH]

how are you liking the car so far?

how about the wife? lol

my gf was terrified anytime i would have to speed up to get on the freeway or on a yellow light.

now she says, "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" like a little kid going down a slide with a big smile on her face.

what are your plans for the car?

 

[BillTheCat]

Congrats. Did you still get it used, or did you wind up buying new?

 

[slashsnake]

grrr, logged off too long...

Ok, so went and looked at a cert preowned 08, only one in the state. Beautiful car but they wouldn't come down to a fair price so we walked away, it had been for sale for 90+ days and now I see why.

Then looked at a used from a Mazda dealership. Guy said 8k in mods, which had me worried, then when they went for the keys to open it up, he came back and said the day before on a test drive the turbo was smoking, oil leak...

I was frustrated, wife didn't help by trying to tell me we should look at a Nissan Versa and could save money. Showed her what a pile that thing was real quick and checked out a 2010. Took it for a drive, and now own a brand new. 600 miles in a week, past the break in finally...

As for what I want to do with it, I definitely want to get it breathing better. Thinking CAI, but will have to look into that and what will help in some snow or through puddles (don't want to hydrolock). I had an Integra GS-R before, and was pretty handy with that (bought it stock, did plenty), but forced induction is new to me, so have to check out what exactly a racepipe or downpipe would do for me. don't want to kill the warranty, or do something that will put this car in the shop every weekend. Snow tires are a must, drives better than my teggy, but not by much.

Wife is still scared to death when I drive, but every day after work, she's been behind the wheel relearning how to drive stick.

I love how it handles, and no brake fade is great. lots of room, can play music from my blackberry through bluetooth on the stereo, and all the other fun gizmo's. Silver is nice, not too attractive to police, and keeps it sneaky.

I'll have to take a pic of her, here's my old teggy just after I sold her to a buddy, he still drives it, and missing her is what got me to get this.

 

[Speedkid]

Congrats

 

[kvndoom]

Awesome- welcome to the family! This week makes 8 months and she still makes me smile!

 

[Saskatchewan17]

Congrats! A nice upgrade from the Integra I must say... a few mods you might want to invest in to cover all of the weak points from Mazda:

SRI - Won't have to worry about hydrolock whatsoever, nice gains in power of around 15 WHP along with that awesome turbo spool noise.
TIP (turbo-inlet-pipe) - Completes the intake back to the turbo and provides even lower intake temps, smoother boost delivery, and a wicked sound to further enhance the turbo-spool noise gained from an SRI/CAI.
Rear Motor Mount - The factory mount, although nice and cushy, suck. They have been known to fail regularly and can't keep up with the torque the motor is putting down. This should be enough to convince you to get a RMM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNYPTAyWJNs
Shifter Bushings/Short Shift Kit/Short Throw Shifter - Anything that helps shifting really. This when paired with some nice synthetic trans fluid and rear motor mount will make shifting smooth as can be; like putting a knife through warm butter.
BPV/BOV - Any aftermarked BOV to replace the leaky stock piece of crap plastic one. It is known to leak boost pretty badly much past 10 PSI. Just make sure the new one is recirculated. And it provides a pretty cool sound
Test Pipe - Replaces the secondary catalytic converter and frees up about as much WHP as an intake. Provides a little more sound too.

That's a basic starter's guide in mods to make your Mazdaspeed3 just a little more enjoyable.

 

[BigDaddyMS3]

Congrats

Enjoy!

My local dealer says that if I buy the CAI and MSCBE from parts and they perform the install then all is cool with the warranty. So far I have the CAI. Don't blow your warranty early. Theres alot of s*** that could go wrong for at least the first year. For me it was a motormount, PCM recalibration, strut tower mount and transmission, (they put an oil modifier in the diff. that screwed up the synchros). BTW, when changing the diff oil please use Motorcraft XTM5QS, the secret sauce of the industry! (headbang)

 

[fastmazdams3]

Rear Motor Mount - The factory mount, although nice and cushy, suck. They have been known to fail regularly and can't keep up with the torque the motor is putting down. This should be enough to convince you to get a RMM: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNYPTAyWJNs

I thought they improved the mount on the 2010? Still to early to tell for sure I guess.

 

[boosted1]

I thought they improved the mount on the 2010? Still to early to tell for sure I guess.

I'm glad the Cp-e RMM is enroute.

 

[slashsnake]

Enjoy!

My local dealer says that if I buy the CAI and MSCBE from parts and they perform the install then all is cool with the warranty. So far I have the CAI. Don't blow your warranty early. Theres alot of s*** that could go wrong for at least the first year. For me it was a motormount, PCM recalibration, strut tower mount and transmission, (they put an oil modifier in the diff. that screwed up the synchros). BTW, when changing the diff oil please use Motorcraft XTM5QS, the secret sauce of the industry! (headbang)[/QUOTE

Well, I already had the tire pressure go off, damn cold weather. Happened to my Xterra when I was last in Minnesota too.

So they will install a CAI and keep it under warranty even for hydrolock? Pretty minimal chance of that, but still just making sure.