Mazda 3 vs. Nissan SE-R Spec V

[Old school]

Uh huh

He is not talking about a base model. The base model mazda 3 is ugly as hell. Might as well buy a Scion. Besides for 17k you get a hell of a alot more in the spec then the base mazda 3.

 

[Mazda3Zoomer]

i tried the specV. even with the slip differential, i felt it slipping into torque steer when you try to accelerate into a shaper curve and after about 70mph the back end fishtails abit in a sharp curve. it seems teh LSD gets abit to eager to move when the rest of the car isnt.

in the end, the specV flashes fancy numbers and features, but in a quarter mile, .1 of a second that the SpecV has over an Mz3 is easily lossed with a crappy driver. and the handling around snaking curves in a SpecV is less than solid as compared to the Mz3.

also, the shifting patterin the SpecV is werid. i cant explane it, but when u shift into 5th, im always afraid of going into to reverse for some reason..... the shifter also feels kinda cheap and not as crisp as the Mz3.

 

[rodslinger]

the shifting patterin the SpecV is werid. i cant explane it, but when u shift into 5th, im always afraid of going into to reverse for some reason......

Dont' know why... 5th is over and up, reverse is way over and down.

 

[dulog]

the 3 is 24k and the spec is 17k duhhhh. Of course the 3 will have nicer styling. You know nothing. if you would remove your head from your friends ass for a minute you would see performance is all around the same. Good luck with your weak subura. Ill be sure to look for you in my rear view mirror.

24k compared to 17k -- What are you talking about? Invoice for a Mazda3s with 17in wheels sport package, moon roof and 6cd changer is 17041. It's possible to beat invoice on the Mz3 too (I did). Tell us what you're putting on the Mazda3 to come up with this 24k price. I wonder if this 24k to 17k comparison you're making is because you loaded up the 3s with a bunch of pricey options that aren't available on the Spec V such as the nav system and sport-automatic transmission and then took the MSRP price. You may be able to get a Spec V for a little less than a Mz3 but it's not a 7k difference.

 

[Old school]

lol

As for handling. The word floaty comes to mind with the mazda 3. Look, in the real world they both perform about the same, but the mazda 3 with at least the sport package does look better.

 

[Old school]

24k compared to 17k -- What are you talking about? Invoice for a Mazda3s with 17in wheels sport package, moon roof and 6cd changer is 17041. It's possible to beat invoice on the Mz3 too (I did). Tell us what you're putting on the Mazda3 to come up with this 24k price. I wonder if this 24k to 17k comparison you're making is because you loaded up the 3s with a bunch of pricey options that aren't available on the Spec V such as the nav system and sport-automatic transmission and then took the MSRP price. You may be able to get a Spec V for a little less than a Mz3 but it's not a 7k difference.

I dont know where you live , but base 3 is 17 k and more here.

 

[Kain]

I'm on the verge of trading in my Protege for an '04 Spec V. I loved Mazdas a lot, but there's a $2,000 rebate on the Spec, plus $500 for college grad. That's a lot of car for $15,500. If price wasn't an issue, I'd get the Mazda3s, but I'm going to have to roll the remainder of my current lien into my Nissan one, and I can't afford to do that at the Mazda3 price. If only there was a huge rebate!

Another big reason is a ton of aftermarket parts already available for the Spec V plus strong support from NISMO. Mazda and Mazdaspeed don't exactly have the strongest reputation for aftermarket tuner support.

 

[Replica]

I'm on the verge of trading in my Protege for an '04 Spec V. I loved Mazdas a lot, but there's a $2,000 rebate on the Spec, plus $500 for college grad. That's a lot of car for $15,500. If price wasn't an issue, I'd get the Mazda3s, but I'm going to have to roll the remainder of my current lien into my Nissan one, and I can't afford to do that at the Mazda3 price. If only there was a huge rebate!

Another big reason is a ton of aftermarket parts already available for the Spec V plus strong support from NISMO. Mazda and Mazdaspeed don't exactly have the strongest reputation for aftermarket tuner support.

I think you'll change your mind after a test drive. The spec-v was very dissapointing.

 

[Kain]

I think you'll change your mind after a test drive. The spec-v was very dissapointing.

Actually, just the opposite. I brought home today an '04 Spec V. Traded in my '03 Protege for it. The differences are incredible. I don't race, but I wanted quick transportation that would be fun to drive to work and take on road trips. Thus, I live under 3500 rpm, and that's where it counts with this car. No 1st or 2nd gear hesitation, no lackluster acceleration from 1500 rpm, like in my Pro. I love the torque in this car, and you learn how to reign in that torque steer pretty quickly.

Everything else is a step up for me, with the exception of the dash/console area in terms of looks. There are tons more usable storage compartments in the Sentra compared to the Protege, and even the rear seat cupholders are a plus for me.

Now keep in mind I'm comparing the Spec V to my old Protege LX. If there was a brand new, non-yellow Mazdaspeed Protege going for $15,500 near me, I would probably have gone with it. But there isn't. So I didn't. So for that price, I got the next best thing.

Oh, and this was a showroom car, so they took out the shift knob to prevent theft. They couldn't find the stock shift knob, so they installed a sweet carbon fiber NISMO knob instead... for FREE. It makes shifting worlds better than the stocker. Gotta love that NISMO support.

 

[Replica]

I was just not impressed with those Spev V's. The build quality was nowhere near what my P5 is. The only thing the spec did better was go slightly faster in a straight line. The dealer let me take it to a straightaway behond the dealership, I was trying so hard to like the car, but the speed was just not there for me. I was ready to throw down some cash for it too. Maybe I need to test another one, I saw a white 03 on the way to work. I dunno, for the money, Prelude > Spec V

 

[Kain]

Did you test drive an '02? Nissan completely changed the gear ratios for the '03 and '04.

A lot of things about the Spec V impressed me over my Protege, but I think what really clinched the deal was the 6th gear. From the moment I bought my Protege, I instantly hated the 5th-gear drone at 4000 rpm on the highway. Not only was I doing 80mph in under 3000 rpm in the Spec, but I could pass in 6th, as well. The raspy engine in the Pro just about did me in during my many 4+ hour road trips. I love the throaty sound of the Nissan.

I'll still be here on these forums, though. I really don't care for the crowd at The V Board or B15, plus I gotta keep my ear close to the ground for the Mazdaspeed 3. Might be able to afford it in 3 years or so.

 

[Replica]

The 6spd didn't really impress me. The gears felt so tall that it could have been a 5 spd. I tested an '03.

Did you do that cat recall yet? Get ready to lose some power...

The Spec's do sound REALLY cool when that second intake runner opens though. But it doesn't pull harder when it happens...

I think the specs are neat, just not the car for me. It's probably a great step forward from a regular protege. The hotshot header is awesome for the spec-v's, be sure to get one.

 

[Kain]

Yeah, I understand how this car wouldn't be for everyone. It just does everything that I need and want in a car for a bargain price.

Thanks for the heads up on the CAT recall. I'll be sure to avoid that one...

I think after I put in an aftermarket HU and reinstall the amp/sub that I had in my Pro, I'm going to go with a header. The general consensus in the Spec community that I've heard so far is that a header is one of the best performance mods for the $$.

 

[Replica]

Yeah, I understand how this car wouldn't be for everyone. It just does everything that I need and want in a car for a bargain price.

Thanks for the heads up on the CAT recall. I'll be sure to avoid that one...

I think after I put in an aftermarket HU and reinstall the amp/sub that I had in my Pro, I'm going to go with a header. The general consensus in the Spec community that I've heard so far is that a header is one of the best performance mods for the $$.

Well, the cat recall saves the motor. The precats have been coming apart and the peices have been getting in the motor and somehow breaking it. There's quite a bit about the cat recalls on the Spec boards. Some people lost power, some people didn't even notice a change. I dunno...something to read up on.

The header rocks! Alot more power in that last 1500 rpm. It also might help you avoid doing the cat recall because the precat that is messed up is in the stock exhaust manifold that you'd be replacing. Anyway, I'm not a spec-v guy, so take all of this with a grain of salt.(doh)

 

[Kain]

After doing some research on that CAT recall, there's are two VIN ranges for '04s that should go in for the recall. '04s outside this VIN ranges already have it done. I checked my VIN against the recall and mine is outside both ranges. I'll still call service and/or Nissan USA just in case.

 

[razorblade kiss]

I think Spec-V's are very very ugly.

 

[Kansei]

the joint with Ford's focus platform may sound ick, but it's honestly SUPER solid, and the king of thing that billions of dollars were invested in to make work right.

Call it a joint platform with volvo and it sounds much better.

From what I remember volvo wanted in on the 3 and new focus platform for the s40 but the mazda chassis wasn't safe enough for volvo's taste so a different one was made. please don't call it ford it makes me wanna die! (my last car was a "mazda" B4000 http://members.cardomain.com/clauretano).

Back on topic, i'd go for the mazdaspeed if you could find one (I heard there are only 4 left nationwide) but I'd still take the 3 over the se-R. Solid rear suspension yuck! Also I can't stand the new styling on the SE-R, it looks like a sentra with fog lights now, it was a much nicer look in the older ones. All I keep hearing is that they really can't handle that well, they are more of a straightline car (a la Altima 3.5SE where it's hella fast but can't handle all that well).

 

[Kain]

Ya know, I heard a lot about the Spec V sucks at this and the Spec V sucks at that, but honestly, after putting 200+ miles on it in the last day, I can tell most of what you "hear" to be rumors that snowballed out of hand, like "My cuzin Ray Ray heard from Tommy who heard from his old college roommate... no, not that one, the one who dropped out... who heard from..." (blah)

My Spec V handles likes it's on rails. There's an offramp a mile from my house that I used to take at 30 mph that'd squeal the hell out of my tires. In my Spec today, I took it at close to 60 mph, and it felt so confidence-inspiring, I probably could've hit the turn at 75.

In one thread, someone was saying the turning radius was horrid compared to the Protege, like it was an SUV. Um, I made several U-turns today around bends that I couldn't make in my Pro.

People need to actually drive these cars through city streets, over hills and on the highway for a couple hundred miles first so they can make an honest assessment.

 

[rodslinger]

Ya know, I heard a lot about the Spec V sucks at this and the Spec V sucks at that, but honestly, after putting 200+ miles on it in the last day, I can tell most of what you "hear" to be rumors that snowballed out of hand, like "My cuzin Ray Ray heard from Tommy who heard from his old college roommate... no, not that one, the one who dropped out... who heard from..." (blah)

My Spec V handles likes it's on rails. There's an offramp a mile from my house that I used to take at 30 mph that'd squeal the hell out of my tires. In my Spec today, I took it at close to 60 mph, and it felt so confidence-inspiring, I probably could've hit the turn at 75.

In one thread, someone was saying the turning radius was horrid compared to the Protege, like it was an SUV. Um, I made several U-turns today around bends that I couldn't make in my Pro.

People need to actually drive these cars through city streets, over hills and on the highway for a couple hundred miles first so they can make an honest assessment.

I'll agree. I have a 03 Spec-V and am pleased with it. It isn't as refined as my 3s Sedan but it is fun to drive. The torque makes it a pleasure in traffic as it minimizes shifting. I can go all day doing 1st-3rd-6th gear skip shifts and keep up with the flow. Get some killer gas mileage driving that way also.

 

[stdntDrvr]

sorry to threadjack, but rodslinger...you need to come to our meets...there's a link in my sig.