Latest Car and Driver Comparo

[fostersafb]

for everyone saying the 09s are the same, i'm curious about the cobb accessport issue. it works for the 07s and 08s but not the 09s....

my 09 has a build date of 08/08 ...

Same here and same build date on my 09.

 

[dan1101]

Nice article, and great to still be on top. They're right about the radio controls. I'm a gadget and electronics guy, but there are too many buttons and that left hand knob is still a bit of a mystery, can't even think of what pressing it does off the top of my head.

 

[martin_nj]

I'm a gadget and electronics guy and the buttons all look nice! Very symmetric =]

 

[F430TECH]

If you have sirius the left hand button scrolls through the Station Name, Artist name, Song Title and other I guess pertinent information. You can also search Sirius by category witht he up down track buttons...really glad I opted for it now...

 

[Young Roids]

The whole radio is a mystery to me.

Who did Mazda have to bribe to beat the WRX?

 

[dan1101]

They said the WRX has a soft ride, rubbery shifter, and bad steering feel. Those things combined holds it back a bit, but at least they fixed the horsepower problems. Bumped it right up to 265 HP, which compares suspiciously nicely with our 263.

 

[CBlueMS3]

Notice that so far the WRX traps a lower mph (two magazines now). It will be a tad slower, with equal drivers, from a roll. More noticeable past 60mph.
MY gripe is that the WRX continues to be as fast or faster than the STI which has a lot more power and a 6MT. I think Subaru is giving out ringers, possibly.

 

[Metal409]

Notice that so far the WRX traps a lower mph (two magazines now). It will be a tad slower, with equal drivers, from a roll. More noticeable past 60mph.
MY gripe is that the WRX continues to be as fast or faster than the STI which has a lot more power and a 6MT. I think Subaru is giving out ringers, possibly.

In my opinion the 6speed, axels and rear end in the sti are worth the price difference. Having come from a Subaru and stripping 2 gears in close to a year, i'm curious as to how many transmissions they are going to be servicing with the power increase. Side note, Subaru uses a Service Bulletin to deny warranty claims on stripped gears in their turboed line of cars because of how many they have gone through since the WRX was released here in 02 (straight from a Service Managers mouth). >.>

 

[late apex]

First post. woohoo. (mj)

Ok, Car and Driver, you have some explaining to do!

I have that issue in my hand right now and they pick the MS3 number one in the $25k compact comparo of seven cars over the number two VW GTI by a pretty hefty ten points.

In the very same issue they have the 10Best Cars article. And which car is on their 10Best list? The MS3? No. It's the GTI! WTF?!

They chose the GTI even though the MS3 is on their 2009 10Best Nominee list of 57 cars. They even have a MS3 (red) in the group photo of the nominees.

I don't get it. Maybe if we all pile on C&D with emails they'll post a reply. Here's their email address: editors (at) caranddriver.com

 

[Vord]

jesus christ. there is no 2009 mazdaspeed 3. every 2009 mazdaspeed 3 is a leftover 08.5. period. don't post me what yahoo says. You bring me a mazda rep. who says that there is a 2009 MS3 and then we can talk. And no the mazda site doesn't really matter either, its been sayin 09 for a while now. the MS3s have stopped production for this gen.

btw, they never choose the GTI over the MS3, its just that there is no official 09 MS3.

 

[MSP2024]

i read this a few weeks ago, good to see mazdaspeed is the all around good car, i also found it funny that the wrx is faster then the damn sti haha

 

[Circle9]

Waiting in anticipation for the '10 speed3!! C&D did say the cobalt would have been faster than the MS3 had they used the "no-lift-shift feature", its just power shifting, I'm sure the MS3 would have seen better times too!

As a former Si owner, I say that the 2009's are not only slower and heavier, but uglier too! It saddens me that Honda seems to have dropped the ball, I think the Si didn't win in any category!

 

[Kain]

jesus christ. there is no 2009 mazdaspeed 3. every 2009 mazdaspeed 3 is a leftover 08.5. period. don't post me what yahoo says. You bring me a mazda rep. who says that there is a 2009 MS3 and then we can talk. And no the mazda site doesn't really matter either, its been sayin 09 for a while now. the MS3s have stopped production for this gen.

for everyone saying the 09s are the same, i'm curious about the cobb accessport issue. it works for the 07s and 08s but not the 09s....

my 09 has a build date of 08/08 ...

Y'know, in case you missed it. At the very least, something about the ECU has changed for the '09s.

 

[martin_nj]

latest cobb AP firmware update identifies my car as a 2009 CA model... a CA model in NJ? lame...

also the 07-08 maps that cobb has up don't work on my 09

@vord - my title says 09 and my invoice also... where are you getting your info about "the MS3s have stopped production for this gen."

 

[Mike240SX]

Typically any car produced after July of a given year is branded as the following model year. Look at the VINs on 2009s. Here's a sample:

JM1BK34M791246407.

The 10th character in a VIN designates the official, NHTSA, manufacture-specified, model year. A represented 1980, B is 1981, and so on and so forth (barring the exceptions of I, O, Q, and U which were never used) until Z = 1999. Starting in 2000, a number was used. So, 0 = 2000, 1 = 2001.

Notice the "9" in the VIN above? Copied from a MS3 that is labelled "2009" on the Window sticker. So you're telling me that in addition to going around swapping on "2009" window stickers, dealers went and changed the VINs too, in violation of federal law? Riiiiiight.

The argument that "09s are just relabelled leftover '08.5s" is no more valid than saying that '08s are just leftover '07s. If anything, is is the "08.5" that doesn't really exist.

Not to mention the afformentioned ECU issue.

 

[chrisp]

seems that all the times for the cars in this issue were a little on the quick side. Also maybe their previous drivers werent very good cuz motor trend tested the 06 sti and did 0-60 in 4.5 and the qm in 13 flat. On dragtimes.com their are numerous stock stis that run 12.8-13 flat in the qm

 

[squidmotion]

well... everything else aside, and on looks alone, that WRX and mini are two BUTT UGLY cars.... saw a mini with the 'suburban' back doors on it... gotta be one of the dumbest looking cars on the road.... and that new subi wagon? BLIIICK.. the vw looks like a melted hershey kiss with (ugly) wheels on it.... and the cobland looks like a rental car with some lame chrome wheels added on... just my opinion after looking at all of these cars...


i plan to buy a MS3 in the next week or so... and i'm glad to get an '09 or '08.5 whatever it may be.. i think the care is very nice looking... from the spy shots i'm seeing of the 2010, IMO it doesn't look as nice as the ones over the last few years...

call me old fashioned, but i really don't care for the new 'clear' tail lights they are putting on cars these days...

 

[FMOS Racing]

C&D did say the cobalt would have been faster than the MS3 had they used the "no-lift-shift feature", its just power shifting, I'm sure the MS3 would have seen better times too!

A bit off topic, but powershifting is absolutely critical in the MS3. The ECU is simply too slow with the throttle after a shift.

The nice thing about powershifting the MS3 is that you're shifting about 1000 rpms before redline so there's plenty of "tach room" during the shift.