new 2003.5 info

[turbolsd]

I went to another mazda rev it up event again in irvine today. I checked out the 2003.5 mazdaspeed protege again and here are the differences that I have not mentioned before. The piping is not aluminum and is rubber just like the 2003. There were assumptions that were made before of aluminum piping but the production ones are rubber. In addition, the spring rate on the clutch is different on the 2003.5 than the 2003 and the clutch on the 2003.5 is a lot stiffer. They actually got the information later in the day. They said that the clutch will last longer and less slippage but won't really affect the performance of the car. We all know the other differences: front lip, gunmetal rims, mazdaspeed knob, mazdaspeed pedals, larger muffler.

 

[murdock_]

thanks for the info

 

[chwood]

No recent word on arrival of these from anywhere though?
The dealer here knows jack.

 

[trekv2]

i was at the dealer here and he said they will arive late thismonth or early nexed he aslo sold the outher spicyorange MSP 2days ago so theres 1 MSP in my area besides mine.

 

[Yellospeed]

This is as of Fri night..

At the Port in Vancouver.. there are still orange ones left being converted.... but I did see some yellow and grey ones already there, not converted ...

 

[Newf]

I'm wondering if they put everything on hold for a certain reason......say....bushings?

 

[turbolsd]

Irvine in california has 1-3 yellow msps but they were at this weekend mazda rev it up event. The stiching is yellow on the yellow cars. So basically, you pay 500 more for a different muffler, different clutch spring, gunmetal coating on the rims. I personally like the 2003 msp better because it looks more aggressive with the current lip, current wing and the fog lights. The gunmetal rims look very nice though.

 

[Newf]

are they really that dark, or are they more of a darker silver...the pics I've seen, they don't really look like gunmetal. They are darker then the 2003's for sure, but gunmetal?

I guess Albert will show us all tomorrow.

 

[scapamouche]

They are darker silver, not a true gunmetal. I drove one at the Alameda Revitup. I didn't like the shift knob much, but my wife preferred it to the one we have. Interestingly, they had 225/45 17 Azenis on the MSPs there, and they rubbed about the same as mine did.

 

[turbolsd]

I came to realize that the test drive car's rims were actually lighter than the 2003.5 protege sitting at the mazdaspeed tent. Maybe the wheels had some kind of wax coating on it so it looked darker. The test drive car rims were actually lighter. Maybe it was just in brighter light.

 

[zerodk]

They are darker silver, not a true gunmetal. I drove one at the Alameda Revitup. I didn't like the shift knob much, but my wife preferred it to the one we have. Interestingly, they had 225/45 17 Azenis on the MSPs there, and they rubbed about the same as mine did.

I'm planning to get some new tires when Winter comes. How much is the rubbing when you have 225 vs 215 on??