Capt Crunch
Member
After considering everything under the sun including TDIs, GTIs, and the Honda Fit, the missus and I pulled the trigger on this, the Mazdaspeed 3 Sport:
Side trim will be removed ASAP
And the missus pleased with the aquisition:
We got a great deal on the car, $300 below invoice which as far as I can tell is unheard of for the Mazdaspeed 3. The car got 31 mpg on the way home, was comfortable, has 260 hp, and costs about 2/3 as much as a GTI to run and maintain. We decided to go new since we had the money (courtesy of the buyer of my old car) and we wanted to get a car that we could run into the ground after 10 years. Since we'd be keeping the car for so long and I'm going to be driving it 70 miles a day we got something that doesn't totally suck.
It's doesn't suck, it's awesome. Better than a non-STI WRX in every resepect except that it doesn't have AWD. It's fast (test drove a used one), handles great, has fantastic pedal feel, and the shifter is as slick as a rifle bolt. It doesn't have the joie de vive of my old car (sti swapped WRX) but it is soooo comfy, gets 1.5x the gas milage, full warrantee, and I don't have to take it to a specialist to service it. I miss my old car but this will fit my family's needs for a long time.
In memory:
Does anyone have any recommendations to what I should do to my car to keep the paint fresh?
I was (am) a big time member at NASIOC with my old car, hope to contribute a lot to this one, but my modifications will be much less substantial (no motor/tranny swaps anymore).
Side trim will be removed ASAP
And the missus pleased with the aquisition:
We got a great deal on the car, $300 below invoice which as far as I can tell is unheard of for the Mazdaspeed 3. The car got 31 mpg on the way home, was comfortable, has 260 hp, and costs about 2/3 as much as a GTI to run and maintain. We decided to go new since we had the money (courtesy of the buyer of my old car) and we wanted to get a car that we could run into the ground after 10 years. Since we'd be keeping the car for so long and I'm going to be driving it 70 miles a day we got something that doesn't totally suck.
It's doesn't suck, it's awesome. Better than a non-STI WRX in every resepect except that it doesn't have AWD. It's fast (test drove a used one), handles great, has fantastic pedal feel, and the shifter is as slick as a rifle bolt. It doesn't have the joie de vive of my old car (sti swapped WRX) but it is soooo comfy, gets 1.5x the gas milage, full warrantee, and I don't have to take it to a specialist to service it. I miss my old car but this will fit my family's needs for a long time.
In memory:
Does anyone have any recommendations to what I should do to my car to keep the paint fresh?
I was (am) a big time member at NASIOC with my old car, hope to contribute a lot to this one, but my modifications will be much less substantial (no motor/tranny swaps anymore).
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