Perception is reality but the MS3 may be the best balanced car Ive ever driven

[Smokehouse]

Perception is reality but the MS3 may be the best balanced car Ive ever driven

You knowafter having spent some time in some fun performance vehicles (EVO, terminator Cobra, Sentra SER Spec V, GTO, Mustang GT, Lightning, SHO, etc) I can say this little MS3 is possibly one of the best-balanced little cars Ive ever driven

With that saidthe Cobra or GTO would tromp this little thing in a straight lineand the EVO would smoke it in the corners

But then againhaving far better suspension than the Cobra, any other Mustang or the GTO, this little guy handles like its on railssure, not like the EVO can but then again the daily drivability aspect has the EVO beat hands downlike anyone who has spent time in an EVO knowsthey beat the s*** out of you on public roads and while fun for a short time, it gets old quick.

Then theres the speed aspectlike I said above, the 03 cobra I had would have destroyed the MS3 in a street racebutlike many that have driven a high HP car knowthe Cobra was insane to control at times and was tough to drive in traffic or on city streets. When it comes to horsepower, there is such a thing as too much when on public roads.

No, the MS3 is not the fastest car Ive ever driven by a long shot. Nor does it handle the bestwhat it is though is balanced and near perfect right out of the boxsomething few cars offer. I was the "I can take a beating, bring it on!!!" type until I actually I had to live with some of the cars I mentioned...at that point it's a completely different story my friends. This MS3 is so balanced...I could easily take this car on my daily commute every day...and still have fun on the weekends, something tough to obtain.



and some here talk of torque steer? Try driving a 2002 Sentra SER Spec Vthat little bastard will clean rip the steering wheel out of your hand

 

[mo08ms3]

(iagree)

 

[oaklandopen]

it all really comes down to driveability really. that's the balance you're talking about. i know a guy that has 2 rx-7s. one is a monster with a shifter so short it barely disrupts oxygen atoms during gear changes, an LSD that could rattle your fillings out on a right-angled turn, and racing bucket seats suitable for an infant. the other is a project he's working on, painting everything in some sort of sound deadening rubber, beefing up all bushings, lots of rubber between the wheel and ground, and overal just a cushy ride (for an rx-7)

you're right, it really is boring/irritating after a while to have a car like your cobra, and it being a "job" just to drive it

and btw, carefull with what you say about spanking the ms3 with any car let alone an EVO...some fanbois might get butthurt round these parts

 

[GoFast]

and btw, carefull with what you say about spanking the ms3 with any car let alone an EVO...some fanbois might get butthurt round these parts

lol

 

[240ka]

it all really comes down to driveability really. that's the balance you're talking about. i know a guy that has 2 rx-7s. one is a monster with a shifter so short it barely disrupts oxygen atoms during gear changes, an LSD that could rattle your fillings out on a right-angled turn, and racing bucket seats suitable for an infant. the other is a project he's working on, painting everything in some sort of sound deadening rubber, beefing up all bushings, lots of rubber between the wheel and ground, and overal just a cushy ride (for an rx-7)

you're right, it really is boring/irritating after a while to have a car like your cobra, and it being a "job" just to drive it

and btw, carefull with what you say about spanking the ms3 with any car let alone an EVO...some fanbois might get butthurt round these parts

im kinda confused by this reply. i dont understand a reply like this to the thread starters post

he said he had an 03 cobra. which the 03s and 04s were all like factory freaks. the cobras from those two years were fast

he's not dissing the MS3 one bit

 

[oaklandopen]

im kinda confused by this reply. i dont understand a reply like this to the thread starters post

he said he had an 03 cobra. which the 03s and 04s were all like factory freaks. the cobras from those two years were fast

he's not dissing the MS3 one bit

i was agreeing with him while citing a similar instance (friend's rx-7). the OP stated that it's better to have a car that is well rounded in all aspects than to have a car that is really good at one thing. like his cobra was fast, but only going straight. and he said his evo could run circles around an ms3 on the track, but it lacked the drivability that he needed for a "daily driver".

and i know he's not dissing the ms3, but then again i know of a crap-load of other posts on this forum that started the same way and ended up being threadjacked for multiple pages with nothing but back and forth crap about what car is better.

 

[mr_mazda329]

and some here talk of torque steer? Try driving a 2002 Sentra SER Spec Vthat little bastard will clean rip the steering wheel out of your hand

So true. Driving my friends 05 Spec-V does the same thing to ya. BTW...I think you need to drive a miata to feel some balance.

 

[Smokehouse]

So true. Driving my friends 05 Spec-V does the same thing to ya. BTW...I think you need to drive a miata to feel some balance.

I've hears that the MX-5 is a VERY balanced vehicle...

I guess I should redefine what I mean by balance though. I'm not talking about the "near 50/50 weight distribution" or perfect handling often associated with the word balance.

I basically mean balance in terms of "A little of this, a little of that". This car is perfect by no means but it has nice amounts of everything that makes a car fun to drive. Straight line acceleration? Yup. Handling? That too. Comfort? Yes. Some of everything but not too much in any category, this is something hard to attain as too much in any category takes away from livability of the vehicle on a daily basis.

 

[mr_mazda329]

I have to agree with you smokehouse. It has enough of everything and that makes it a well rounded car.

 

[ZyrehT]

and the EVO would smoke it in the corners

The guy with the video of him lapping EVO's at the road course would beg to differ.

 

[mr_mazda329]

The guy with the video of him lapping EVO's at the road course would beg to differ.

I wanna see this video... Havn't seen it yet. Not doubting it or anything.

 

[79_Limited]

I will chime in to point out the the practical hatchback. The hatch made it a true winner for me because I need something to haul stuff from time to time. It came down to the Speed3 or Porsche 993 for me. The practical side won over for me because as you well said it is very "balanced."

 

[714ms3]

and some here talk of torque steer? Try driving a 2002 Sentra SER Spec Vthat little bastard will clean rip the steering wheel out of your hand

I had an 04 Sentra SeR Spec V, and I must concur, it had some crazy torque. There are quite a few of us that stepped out of Spec V's on this forum.

 

[Smokehouse]

The guy with the video of him lapping EVO's at the road course would beg to differ.

Stock for stock though? Nearly any car can be made into something other than what it was born as. I'm talking out of the box-vs-out of the box. Bone stock a MS3 can't hang with an EVO on a track handling wise...

 

[GoFast]

Stock for stock though? Nearly any car can be made into something other than what it was born as. I'm talking out of the box-vs-out of the box. Bone stock a MS3 can't hang with an EVO on a track handling wise...

you would be amazed at what the difference the driver mod could make. my last trackday i did there was an evo out there in stock form and i was running a 1 second or so faster per lap. my car is stock also

a little perspective...while i was running faster than the evo there was a reg 3 sedan running faster then me with r coumpounds and coil overs

 

[squidmotion]

ms3 is kinda like the supermarine spitfire in WW2..


was it the fastest plane? no.
did it have the best turning, diving, range, hi-alt performance, durability of other fighters?.... again, no.

but the 'balance' of a bit of all of these attributes lead to a true killer in the skies! and didn't break the bank to build one...

and did the pilots who flew them, fall in love with the aircraft? just ask one.



sorry for the analogy, but it just kinda came to mind...

 

[Smokehouse]

you would be amazed at what the difference the driver mod could make. my last trackday i did there was an evo out there in stock form and i was running a 1 second or so faster per lap. my car is stock also

a little perspective...while i was running faster than the evo there was a reg 3 sedan running faster then me with r coumpounds and coil overs

I understand what your saying...I bet you I couldn't make my MS3 do a 0-60 as fast as the magazines report either, a driver does have alot to do with the outcome.

I was just trying to compare stock cars. There's something to be said for what a car can do stock. You can mod anything...but as I've found in my own life, the more you mod, the farther you get from reliability and daily user-friendliness...

 

[GoFast]

you are absolutely correct!! i really think the trick is to research any mods that you want to do and think about what is important to you before you start buying everything out there. some people dont care about the warranty so they do alot to their car and really pave the way for everyone else. then others mod there car and it blows up and cry about the dealer not honoring the warranty or about how unreliable the car is. so take what you read on these forums with a grain of salt and enjoy your car

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

AMEN brother

You know…after having spent some time in some fun performance vehicles (EVO, terminator Cobra, Sentra SER Spec V, GTO, Mustang GT, Lightning, SHO, etc) I can say this little MS3 is possibly one of the best-balanced little cars I’ve ever driven…

With that said…the Cobra or GTO would tromp this little thing in a straight line…and the EVO would smoke it in the corners…

But then again…having far better suspension than the Cobra, any other Mustang or the GTO, this little guy handles like it’s on rails…sure, not like the EVO can but then again the daily drivability aspect has the EVO beat hands down…like anyone who has spent time in an EVO knows…they beat the s*** out of you on public roads and while fun for a short time, it gets old quick.

Then there’s the speed aspect…like I said above, the ’03 cobra I had would have destroyed the MS3 in a street race…but…like many that have driven a high HP car know…the Cobra was insane to control at times and was tough to drive in traffic or on city streets. When it comes to horsepower, there is such a thing as too much when on public roads.

No, the MS3 is not the fastest car I’ve ever driven by a long shot. Nor does it handle the best…what it is though is balanced and near perfect right out of the box…something few cars offer. I was the "I can take a beating, bring it on!!!" type until I actually I had to live with some of the cars I mentioned...at that point it's a completely different story my friends. This MS3 is so balanced...I could easily take this car on my daily commute every day...and still have fun on the weekends, something tough to obtain.



…and some here talk of torque steer? Try driving a 2002 Sentra SER Spec V…that little bastard will clean rip the steering wheel out of your hand…

You hit the nail on the head. Anyone who is an engineer knows that good engineering is all about compromise and balance. Sure while you could throw a ton of money at attaining perfect parts and designing a perfect machine, it just isn't fiscally feasible when you're trying to sell to the majority. The really great engineering is done on a budget by experts who know where to spend the money. Personally I think the MS3 (hell I believe most Mazdas) is a textbook example of top-notch engineering on a budget. While it's not over engineered, it certainly shows how Mazda knew how to deliver a well-balanced car at an very affordable price.

Makes me wonder how they will top it with the 2010/2011 version.

 

[FMOS Racing]

I've actually owned a few of the same vehicles you have. A few Lightnings, Cobras, an SHO, plus a couple of 3-series, IS300, SVT Contour, a pair of GTIs, and a Probe GT... and while I love this car for the price, I really don't dig the handling that much. It's fantastic just off center, the reflexes are great, but it plows hard at the limit and that just bugs me badly.

For a FWD platform, I like it and the LSD definitely makes it fun to toss around. At 75% and 3rd gear or faster, it may be the most fun car I've driven... but not all-out. That honor may go to the IS300 (manual transmission), which the MS3 will absolutely humiliate in a straight line, but that little Lexus had a fantastically balanced chassis that I could change the attitude of with either the throttle or the brakes nearly at will. And it had god's own brakes. My one knock on that car is that sometimes the "emergency mode" braking would kick in when I'd stab the brakes on corner entry and that could be seriously unsettling to both the driver and the car!

I've done a lot of road course time in RWD vehicles and just love the ability to bring a little torque to bear exiting a corner and getting some rotation into the transition. I just can't do that with FWDs and so I simply don't enjoy them as much.

I actually enjoy this car more in a straight line than I do in the corners. I'm an oddball, I guess.

By the way, none of this is a knock on the car, just my observations. It's the best $21K I've ever spent on a vehicle, period.