in the buying market for a 3 hatchback

[lakedude90]

What going on guys im jacob.


you might have seen me around looking on threads here and in the speed3 section

im in the market for a 3. At first it was a speed 3 but idk if that going to happen or not. so now im looking at the next best thing. just a reg 3. but i want a hatchback. since im in college i need somthing that is going to have a good bit of cargo room and theses deff have it. so i have a few questions. What do u guys think about them? underpowerd? handleing sucks? that kinda thing. I have looked at the moding threads but im not sure what my plans are power wise. But i do kno that i will do some interor things(audio mostly) and maybe a few thing on the outside. Stuff that i can easly put back to stock and can use again if i want to. thanks alot in advanced

 

[fam]

The 3hb in the usa only comes as an S model (2.3L). It handles better and is faster than anything in its class for the price range overall. It is no slouch. Have you driven a ms3 or a regular 3? Just go to a lot and test drive it, it will give you more information in a 5 minute drive than days of internet l337 speak. ;-)

 

[lakedude90]

no i havent been able to but i have driven cars the same size and what not. the model doesnt rly bother me.

 

[hat1018]

i bought my 3 hatch 2 months ago and love it! plenty of pep and handles the twisty bits without complaint. drive one and you will know why they say zoom zoom!(drive2)

 

[8.5MS3]

i love my speed, but beware of cars that have been stripped of mods and gone back to stock

 

[lakedude90]

i love my speed, but beware of cars that have been stripped of mods and gone back to stock

trust me i kno that what im dealing with now. that why i plan on going to a dealer and geting one. im not much on private sellers now

 

[Guest20182]

trust me i kno that what im dealing with now. that why i plan on going to a dealer and geting one. im not much on private sellers now

Remember, doesn't mean it wasn't modded just because you got it from a dealer. A lot of people on here de-mod and trade-in.

 

[fam]

Carfax it, make sure it was a a 50 year old woman as the previous owner and you might be safer ;P

 

[lakedude90]

carfax has deff been my friend here lately. im being really picky on what i get. since this car will prolly been mine for a few years. unless i can have it for a year or 2 then trade up but with being in college and most likely geting a car loan or some kind of payment either way, i dont think that gonna happen

 

[hat1018]

i have to say that my only complaint about mine is that being 6'5" with these long ass legs my right knee gets into the center console and is a bit uncomfortable on longer trips but i love it any way. buy one!

 

[cx009]

i drove a 08 corolla but i'm a mazda person now - got cx9 and mazda3 HB (magnaflow muffler), but most of the time drives the 3 and very economic (29-30mpg). I often go up in the twisty mt road here in my place and i was going 40-45mph without a problem (25-35mph limit) and just with stock tires. tries my corolla before a lots of body roll and i felt its gonna throw me off.

cargo is perfect, i can fit my german sheperd in the trunk. i think he got dizzy while I was having fun zigzagging.

get the HB and change the muffler to you'll better enjoy its zoom.

 

[lakedude90]

im not sure how much i will change on the car performance wise. prolly just a CAI some kind of cat back and maybe a TWM short shifter. the Car i have now i bought with full header back exhaust and i hate it. its way to loud. I was wondering how the HKS sounds. i like the tone of it but thats just on a video. Is it loud?

if any thing i just want the car to look good. depending on the color i will prolly go a 55w HID set up with yellow overlays on the fogs. a nice set of wheels and some lowering springs (i still have to look up what is out there for the reg 3) interior i will prolly do a led light swap and just a good system set up.

its still all way up in the air considering i still have to get a car. but thats the general direction i plan on going

 

[hat1018]

my plans are similar to yours no real huge mods intake/exhaust. problem is i have a very (VERY) thrifty wife who just does not understand why i want a new exhaust when the one on the car is fine.(uhm) furthermore she has an issue with internet purchaces which just throws a major wrench into any mods what so ever.(bang)

 

[fam]

Thats why I have a paypal card I can put money on or people can pay me for things, then I have all my purchases delivered to my work to avoid wife questions. The less they know, the better off we all are.

 

[hat1018]

well, well, paypal huh. i will have to look into that!(cool)

 

[fam]

no physical statements on paypal, nothing mailed to you unless you sign up for the credit card, basically it just is your own top secret debit card that people can pay you on, they are owned now by ebay and they are trustworthy.

You can add funds by transfers from your checking, credit cards, other people paying you (by credit card) etc.

Ive purchased so many computer upgrades and fast food runs and avoided all hell from the wife because she doesnt know. Your purchases are easily searched once youre logged in so if you goes this route, use a browser that clears history and doesnt save passwords or she will eventually find out and kill you. Other than the risk of death by wife paypal is awesome.

 

[lakedude90]

yea pay pal is a good thing. My problem is im a full time college student and paying for it myself.

 

[fam]

In retrospect you will hate yourself if you worry too much about your car when you have college bills. If youre racking up loans make it a point to pay on them while youre still at school and neglect the add ons of your car. Im 29, and im young enough to not have forgotten but old enough to realize I was stupid ;-)

So in the case of a full time cash strapped student, keep the mods cheep. ;-)

 

[lakedude90]

yea. luckly the govermaent has been pretty nice to me with the grants and financal aid. i only had to take a small loan. Im going to go pretty easy on the mods to begin with and save up every now and then. the stereo and the exhaust are prolly going to be the most pricey so we'll see.