MS3@ Geneva 06.

[Rogue]

man....

i haven't felt like this for a car since I first saw the Protege5. I waited a year before I could buy one.

I really want this car. (2thumbs)

 

[RODSCALIP5]

man....

i haven't felt like this for a car since I first saw the Protege5. I waited a year before I could buy one.

I really want this car. (2thumbs)

Yeah I know what you mean. I wanted to get a CX7, but after seeing these pics I might just get the MS3. Can't wait for pricing and release date in U.S. Looks like it is coming with a Bose system also.

 

[Newf]

could it look any more bla?

And too bad I was right....No stereo. At least nothing good. That BOSE pos can kiss my ass.

Hopefully there's something stereo'wise special under the dash using the same screen as the nav? I can only wish

 

[RODSCALIP5]

Here's the Sedan(old pic from last year):

 

[Rogue]

did either the MS6 or MSM have a better stereo than the stock/BOSE?

speaking of POS, what does the POS mean on the navi control?

 

[Rogue]

Here's the Sedan(old pic from last year):

looks more like just cosmetic stuff, kind of like the Mazdaspeed RX-8.

 

[goldwing2000]

speaking of POS, what does the POS mean on the navi control?

POS (Position) key
Displays your current position.
( page 18)

 

[PR5Matt]

we are forgetting that the mazda3 5 door starts at 17k and some change so 23k seems reasonable. remember that when i got my p5 it was 17k and a msp was like 20-21k so yeah it shouldnt be too much of a price increase.

I was told 23K by a local dealer who went to a preview of the MS3 and CX7 and CX9 by Mazda. He also said that FWD vs AWD wasn't clear. He thought ours would be AWD. But he was firm on his assurance of a 23K base price.

 

[Rogue]

Based on what they did with the Mazdaspeed 6, the 3 will probably be $22,990 for the "Sport" model, and about $24,920 for the "Grand Touring." Grand Touring will include leather interior, Advanced Keyless Entry, 8-way heated driver seat. Moon Roof will only be available on the Grand Touring.

I hope the Mood Roof will be optional for both. I really lilke mine in the Pro5, but don't want leather interior.

 

[RODSCALIP5]

Based on what they did with the Mazdaspeed 6, the 3 will probably be $22,990 for the "Sport" model, and about $24,920 for the "Grand Touring." Grand Touring will include leather interior, Advanced Keyless Entry, 8-way heated driver seat. Moon Roof will only be available on the Grand Touring.

I hope the Mood Roof will be optional for both. I really lilke mine in the Pro5, but don't want leather interior.

As long as they keep those seats it should be all good.

 

[Rogue]

no moon roof in the pics.

Is "Mazdaspeed" used globally or just USDM?

 

[RODSCALIP5]

no moon roof in the pics.

Is "Mazdaspeed" used globally or just USDM?

Just USDM and JDM I believe.

 

[Rogue]

so the fact that the seats are stitched with MPS may cause us to get the regular seats to cut costs (not having to have seats stitched MPS and Mazdaseed).

 

[Antoine]

Thanks for posting more pics Rods (thumb)...I've added them to your original thread as well!

 

[RODSCALIP5]

Thanks Antoine (thumb)

I really hope they don't short change the U.S. on these seats, I really doubt they will.

 

[CHICO2003]

I think that Mazda will keep the price about $23 thousand, but let me tell you why. I think that Mazda is gonna market this car more against a GTI and the new Civic Si, which both start around the 20-22k range. Those prices are for the base model. While there is no doubt in anyones mind that Mazda will offer some options on the car to jack up the price, and their profits. Mazda would not need to alter the sticker of the regular 3 if they did this. Someone could get a fully loaded 3s for about 22 or 23, or get a base Mazdaspeed 3. They don't need to have a few thousand dollar gap between a fully loaded 3s and the base Mazdaspeed 3. Take your WRX example. While you can buy a WRX TR for about $24k, if you take the WRX and load it up on options it will hit close to $32, which is where the STI starts. This might entice the consumer to move up to the high performance model of any car. They could have the slower one with a bunch of options, or for the same price, they could have the high performance model for the same amount of money

While your logic isn't terribly off, saying a car will be X simply because they will be marketing against certain cars (that have already established their pricing) isn't bullet-proof. I'm not a fan of VW so I'm not sure what the hp rating is on the new GTI (nor am I going to bother and look it up) but chances arre its' not in the same ballpark as the MS3 (with what many believe will come with 230+) the Si is a modest 197 so it's already got a huge legup on that supposed competitor. While hp obviously isn't everything (take the srt-4 vs msp debate for example) when the cars being compared are relatively equal in the other categories (such as fit/finish, reliability, etc.) it can be what puts one on a higher level the the rest. Though it's impossible to compare a car that hasnt' come out yet to brand new models, in a hypothetical world, if the ms3 has a discernable edge over its competition in a key category, they'd be wise to price it slightly higher. Again, so many factors go into all of this.. .(maybe the VW's got something the mazda doesn't) so it's barely worth talking about...


As far as the fully loaded (minus the nav) 3 vs the upcoming MS3 goes... You mentioned a "base" ms3. this much certainly hasn't been made official yet either. If mazda were to use the same strategy with this car as they did the first 2 mazdapeeds (what you see is what you get) there won't be a "base" version. that said, while the fully loaded 3 may offer some buyers things they cannot get on the ms3 (leather seats for example) to price the 2 cars roughly the same (despite the leather) would be absurd.

Your WRX example is sound... here's why. While you can juice a non-STi WRX up to the 30k range, nobody does it. (so why does subaru have it as an option?) no clue! maybe it doesnt' cost them anything to have some options like $3k 17" bbs wheels (part of what gets a wrx up to that territory) so they figure, why not? Personally, to juice a WRX up to that level and NOT get the Sti is just crazy. So you say to me... but I want my leather seats and don't like the big wing on the Sti! LOL If you like your leather seats so much just get a damn audi! as far as the wing goes... chop it off! But I digress...

While it's possible to load a 3 up to the 23k+ range, most buyers don't... I suppose that's reason enough to expect/hope the MS3 will sell for about 23k

Since you can buy a fairly well equipped 230hp awd 06 WRX for $25k, it'll be interesting to see how well this thing sells. Back in 03, I bought the MSP because it was a good 5k less than the WRX... if it were only 2k less, I may not have gone the same route.

 

[CHICO2003]

we are forgetting that the mazda3 5 door starts at 17k and some change so 23k seems reasonable. remember that when i got my p5 it was 17k and a msp was like 20-21k so yeah it shouldnt be too much of a price increase.

Mazda 3 (wagon) S starts at $18,175 while the GT (basically adding leather seats) stickers for $19,725

Based on these figures, $23k is a steal! Hell, the Scion TC supercharger costs like $5k (with installation) and merely takes the 160hp TC to a more respectable 200hp Sounds like there will be a 70hp increase (with a bunch of other improvements) for far less coin. seriously guys... if it wasn't for the wrx, this car would steal the F'in show! It's a good thing the new rex is fugly as hell..... I guess the more I think about all of this, the more I understand mazda's decision. I'll be pullin for em!

.....still hope it comes in sedan form though! haha

 

[Mr. 4500 RPM]

You know there is one thing i dont understand, and well you go from bashing the mazdaspeed3 to then praising it? Come on who are you fooling...you want a wrx and couldnt afford one so got an msp, its fine and perfectly natural and ok but if your unhappy with it then thats your mistake not ours. I understand your concern about it not being awd but in the end its not our decision so just buck up and suck it up. so yeah no more of this side tracked jibba jabba more ms3 press release info.

Mazda 3 (wagon) S starts at $18,175 while the GT (basically adding leather seats) stickers for $19,725

Based on these figures, $23k is a steal! Hell, the Scion TC supercharger costs like $5k (with installation) and merely takes the 160hp TC to a more respectable 200hp Sounds like there will be a 70hp increase (with a bunch of other improvements) for far less coin. seriously guys... if it wasn't for the wrx, this car would steal the F'in show! It's a good thing the new rex is fugly as hell..... I guess the more I think about all of this, the more I understand mazda's decision. I'll be pullin for em!

.....still hope it comes in sedan form though! haha

 

[Newf]

Here's the Sedan(old pic from last year):

damn, if only....

 

[CHICO2003]

i was just teasing you about the speeling. but like it or not, spelling and grammar can and do impact an argument's credibility.

Like it or not? Dude... that implies that I'm not a big fan of "spelling and grammar". (btw, when grammar enter the mix? last time I checked, you got on my case for not spelling torque right!) As far as impacting an argument's credibility goes... I'll agree with the grammar part and even the spelling part to an extent. (if it's severe enough) I'm guessing my one spelling mistake didn't affect (notice I didn't say "effect") my credibility. But thanks for pointing it out! : )

what do you hope i'm kidding about? the spelling joke or the fact that FWD/AWD ultimately makes no real difference to almost anyone on here besides for bench racing?

If you read my post again, it should be clear what I was refering to. (since it preceded my point about just how important spelling is on a forum like this. But anyway....

i think the point of bringing up ferraris wan't that ferraris have AWD, but that this is a frickin' economy car, not something absolutely dedicated to the highest performance possible.

A "frickin economy car" huh? (btw, i spelled frickin wrong) lol but seriously... the WRX, Sti and Evo are based on frickin economy cars but somehow that didn't stop their respective mfrs from putting in the system that's suddenly synonomous with "the highest perforance possible." ie. AWD

a little extra weight (and 2-300lbs is not "little") certainly can be offset by extra power...as long as all you care about is accelerating in straight line. EVERYTHING else besides that suffers...weight is bad, period.

You pretty much made my point for me. Originally homeboy was sayin it was an extra 500lbs. Though there's no way to know for sure, it seems like it might be closer to 300lbs. You just said 200lbs is a sizeable difference... in which I agree! One of my pet peeves in debates (if this could be considered one) is when people exagerate the truth to help prove their point. as long as we're sticking to facts (or something close to it) I'm cool.

AWD doesn't make the car corner or stop better. some of us care about those last 2 things a lot more than the first.

and some of us care about going fast, traction in any weather, cornering and stopping on a dime. Why not have it all? Since it's obviously a lot easier to give a car better breaks (and make it corner better for that matter) than throwing in a new drivetrain, if I had to prioritize, I think you know which one I'd choose first.

as far as safety in the snow, i don't see how AWD is safer. all cars have "4 wheel stop" and "2 wheel turn"...in other words, AWD helps you get going, but doesn't help any other place.

You serious? LOL Look, FWD is certainly more than adaquete for most. I have an awd element and, after seeing how much better it handles in the snow than my fwd msp (with pretty kick ass snow tires I might add) there definitely is an advantage. but you're right... it's not going to help you stop better. (duh) or even turn better.... well, that's debatable. getting out of a turn with awd (or rwd) is usually easier and more controllable than fwd. (less understeer) maybe it's psychological... afterall, the msp's slidpad rating is superior to the wrx... but that car just seemed to have that "on rails" handling even more than my car... I chalked it up to awd but who knows?

another way of looking at it is: "it gets you to your accident faster."

so awd gets you to your accident faster? sorry dude, not makin any sense there.

that said, i have nothing against AWD, but: A) it's not a magic performance cure-all...AWD isn't necessarily better; and B) there are valid reasons that mazda has (maybe) decided to stick w/ FWD for this car.

i don't think they have to do with "fear of trying something new" or "happy with mediocrity." if those were the case, the miata would be non-existent, and we'd still have the 626 and 929.

it just so happens that the decisions that were made were not the ones you'd make. fair enough, but that doesn't lessen their validity. i'd prefer that the 3s came in at about 2300 lbs...but i'm not running mazda, and i can understand why it doesn't.

whoa!! slow down there tanto! never said mazda was happy with mediocrity! quite the contrary! Listen... I know my rants may have been misconstrued as mazda bashing. I call it tough love. seriously... i freakin love mazda! I'm like that father you see at the game yellin his brains out... only wants to see his son hit a homerun. so what if this car is merely a failed attempt at a triple? they'll still score it a double on the scorecard! but enough baseball analogies... not even baseball season for cryin out loud!

As for your 2300lb weight ambition... I could throw that "this isn't a frickin ferrari" line at you... but I won't!