Looking at the MS3

[Mobius97]

My wife drives a reliable, yet wimpy, 03 protoge5. This is the 2nd Mazda I have owned over the years and I think the build quality is great. Well then this happened. I was driving back to Seattle last weekend and saw this black MS3. I have never seen one before so started to do some research. Talk about bang for the buck.

Now here is the question I have been bouncing around in my head since then. Should I trade in my Audi TT 225q for one of these? How r they to mod? Beside the Mazdaspeed parts what really is the aftermarket scene like? I would like to know from owners of the cars and what they feel. I love my Audi...it's NICELY modded and theres ton's of aftermarket stuff for it (VW/Audi). The first mod I did was a chip for $500 and got 40bhp/73ft/lb torque out of it. Are gains like this as easy on the MS3?

Damn I never would have thought but I think the MS3 looks pretty hot!

 

[Betelgeuse]

My first question would be why do you want to trade your Audi if you love it?

The aftermarket for the ms3 is in its infancy, afterall, the car is barely a year old if that so I doubt you'll get a definite answer right now. So far the gains with simple bolt-ons have been impressive so the future looks bright. Also it's FWD, are you prepared for that?

 

[Mobius97]

To answer your question.....Sometimes ya just want to try something new! I have a problem with this and cars. I buy them, fix them up and then I move to the next. Before the Audi I had a 97 Eclipse spyder with a big turbo upgrade and supporting mods, (do all the work myself) it was a fun car. As for the FWD....dunno if I wanna be a peg legger again. I had alot of that with the Eclipse but it didn't have a LSD or this program the MS3 seems to be running.
The Mazda just looked like an all around fun car. Stock for stock....the numbers are about the same for dry pavement...add in some elements and it's a different story! We will see what happens. I will continue to ask questions and do my research. For the price/performance/looks it's an awesome deal. Maybe I can just trade in the protege5 for it....hmmm, if the wife allows it but then it wouldn't be "mine".