HELP PLEASE! Mazda3 or GTI??

[Mazda3]

Doubt he was racing you. A GTI 1.8T Golf is just barely slower than a Msp.

A Mazda3 is just barely slower than a stock MSP as well.

 

[JDM Sam]

I've pulled 15.2 stock at the track as well but no traction. A msp can hit 14.9, someone on here did that. Would be faster if the MSP could hook up. A Mazda 3 is at least .5 tenths slower. I'd like to see a msp vs mazda 3 line up and race. It'll be at least 2 car lengths difference. Anyone in Dallas wanna run?

 

[Mazda3]

I've pulled 15.2 stock at the track as well but no traction. A msp can hit 14.9, someone on here did that. Would be faster if the MSP could hook up. A Mazda 3 is at least .5 tenths slower. I'd like to see a msp vs mazda 3 line up and race. It'll be at least 2 car lengths difference. Anyone in Dallas wanna run?

I agree. The difference would be about 2 car lengths, thats close in my opinion. I have driven both cars at the limit. In stock trim the MSP is not much faster, some of the Protege owners on this board greatly under estimate the performance of the 3. Granted you can drop the 1/4 mile times on a MSP by a second at minimal cost, but we're talking stock. One of my best friends owns a 2002 337 GTI, one of the German built ones, so I'm quite familiar with that car as well. He has the 3 stage re-programed ECU. In stock mode it beats the 3 by about one car length. In stage 3 mode I stopped counting the car lengths when they got to 6 (wow) .

At any rate a skilled driver in the 3 could beat a mediocore driver in a GTI, so the story isn't that far fetched.

 

[PeteyBoy3K]

VW gremlin

I dunno, I ran screaming from my 99.5 golf (first mkIV style in the states) into the protective, loving, warranty-having hands of Mazda.

In my opinion... VW's have, and will probably always have, major quality control issues. Each time they release a "retooled" version that was supposed to fix all of the issues of the prior years, they introduced new ones (coil-packs). I basically had a car handed to me for free that ended up costing me $300-$400 a month to keep going, and still I couldn't fix the original stuff that was broken (trunk latch was screwed up, rear-middle seat-belt jammed). also, all of the stuff that breaks tends to be all the stuff that was neat and made you like the car in the first place. CV boot had to be re-packed for at 65K for $400. The ignition module went at 70K for $600 the alternator went at 80K for $400. They had recalls on the window supports, and the coil-packs they replaced the ig. module with in later years all started failing in syncopation.

Then again, I might have just gotten a particularly gremliny car, but it has put me off VW's for good. If you decide on one, be prepared to be taking it back to the dealer a lot to replace things under warranty, think heavily about extending the warranty. Also keep on top of its maintenance so that problems don't cascade, and otherwise just prepare for it to keep costing you new-car payments in fixes and replacements after the financing is over.

I'm not sure how the Mazda compares in terms of long-term reliability, I haven't driven it far enough for it's first oil change, but I do think the handling is better, the ride is smoother and quieter, and it's nice to have power windows, four doors, abut 30% more hp/torque and a moonroof for a car that only cost ~$2000 more than a bare-bones golf in '99.

Now, I know that a GTI is about 5-10K more than a golf, but it's the same squeaky-two-door, divey-in-cornering platform with a stiffer suspension, engine upgrades, and a nicer set of options (which I just read as "more things to go screwy at 55K").

 

[tkhawaii]

"The initial rush of speed and thrust will slowly be replaced by the lack of funds and trust"...LOL - IMHO for the GTI. Read all the stories about VW's huge downturn in reliability and quality. I believe the Beetle is having the worst year yet. Shop around and take your time.