Its not just me...

[MSP Pro]

Sigh. As the old man of the group (yep, gray hair and all) who bought one of the first ones in Jan 03, I'd have to say that I enjoy the hell out of my MSP. Of course, I get my jollies autocrossing and this car is the BEST for autox. I've finished my second year of competition, and my MSP has taught me soooo much about car control at the edge of adhesion, I can't believe how much fun I'm having! I've gone from placing 25th out of 100 drivers at a local event to placing consistently in the top 5. And weekend before last I won the stock class at the Oregon Shootout, and placed 3rd overall. I'm looking forward to next year when I hope to continue to improve my driving to where I'm starting to catch up to the national class autox drivers in the Seattle club. My point is, this car is tuned so well right out of the box, that you can learn a whole lot about car control at the limits, if you just compete and listen to what the car tells you.

The iceing on the cake is that I can put my whole family in it, get 26 to 30 miles per gallon, and enjoy my tunes on mp3s through the cd player while I drive. What a great car! Thank you Mazda!

 

[t3ase]

Steph, I love you.

The picture of you with white creme all over your face kinda helps, though.

 

[122 Vega]

I went through a period where I really hated Mazda for may car. I have always loved the car, but Madza is a piece of crap. Life has become a lot better since I decided to enjoy the car for what it is (which is what I bought it for) and to just fix stuff as it breaks. No more arguing for weeks with the dealerships just to get little things fixed. My health and sanity are not worth it.

I love my Mazdaspeed. My wife told me that now she knows that I will have it forever, as long as I don't wreck it at a track day or something.

Britt

 

[ONRAILS]

I Love my car!!! With the right bolt-ons, this car is awesome. Still having fun with it after a year. 21kmiles

 

[thunder]

It's interesting to see how things sometimes evolve in well defined phases: on this forum we first had people wanting (badly) to buy the MSP and those who just bought it and everyone was excited. Then, is was the "bolt on" phase (CAI vs SRI and the like) as well as the "boost up". Of course the next stage was the "blown engine" period, and the search for more sophisticated mods (ECU, forged stuff...). Now it seems we are in the "period of disappointment" and lots of people are selling, although some have totally valid reasons fo this. I bet (hope) that the next phase will be the regret or missing of the MSP when the new car factor will fade out. And maybe then, some will rediscover how good this car is (within it's class). And for those who soldier on, it will be the inevitable: "I told you so!" The MSP will never be a WRX Sti, EVO or Supra... It's just a very, very nice go-kart that's perfect for some serious driving and learning while also being practical and unique

 

[mspdfreak]

I'm waiting for the stage where all those who sold their MSP for the SRT-4 come back here and say "man, this car sux! The knobs are falling off, the stereo blows, Dodge really DOESN'T cover the stage 1,2,3 under warranty..but I ran a 13 right before the motor blew!" Ahh...I will be loving my MSP even more!

 

[H-Town Speed]

Well I've had my MSP for 11 months now and after 18k miles I'm still in love with it. Even though it's a tempermental little b**** at times, it always seems to reward me with trouble free miles. I don't continously beat on it with 4.5k rpm clutch dumps but rather drive it in a very inspired way and it always seems to please. And the occasional 3.0k rpm tire shredding launch rewards me with a huge s*** eating grin on my face. I realize that it's not the fastest car around the block, but it is a badass car for what it is(a turbo'd family sedan). And don't even get me started on the handling of this car. All I'll say is that there's this little short winding road called "Old Katy Road" that you can turn onto from the feeder road of Beltway 8 before you reach I-10(You Houstonians might know what I'm talking about) that is absolutely awesome to take at about 50mph in 2nd gear. (naughty) I can't think of anything, short of a serious mechanical problem, that would cause me to trade in this car before the loan period is over. Then again, in my family we tend to keep our cars for atleast 10 years and over 100k miles. My other vehicle a 93 Ford Ranger has 202,000 trouble free miles on the stock engine and auto tranny(neither have been rebuilt), so maybe I'm just a little easier on vehicles than others are. Anyway did I mention that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY MSP!!!!!(dance)

 

[protegeV]

had the car only two weeks and one mod(injen) and Im loving it, but damn this turkey needs to GO(lol2)

 

[Dr.Sound]

^ LMAO.
oh......i remember the times when turkey was just emerging......only a hand full of people with prototype injens, a few with cone filters......people loved the turkey........those were the days........

i love my turkey, and i love my speed.

 

[Grip & Drift]

i love my turkey hehe... always wanted a car that had that awesome rally car blowoff sound to it. =)

 

[SpicyMSP]

Steph, I love you.

The picture of you with white creme all over your face kinda helps, though.

OMG(headshake

^ LMAO.
oh......i remember the times when turkey was just emerging......only a hand full of people with prototype injens, a few with cone filters......people loved the turkey........those were the days........
i love my turkey, and i love my speed.

OMG Vic did you hear the Injen CAI is out NOW~??~ OMG OMG OMG no one knows yet!(kissass)

 

[ZoomZoomH]

dudes (and steph), your car is ONLY 1 year old (2 for the really old MSPs), it's the arguably the best stock Protege ever (save for the 323 GTX/GTR), you should be out enjoying the p!ss out of it instead of flaking out on such a wonderful car!

 

[SpicyMSP]

2 years old y0. 43k miles later.

 

[Grip & Drift]

7 months old... and um.. 2900 miles...
but i really do love the car

 

[SpicyMSP]

Hank I think your the only one who has the mochi pic.. I dont even have it..