Recently bought an MS3

[JingChuan]

Hey all... New to the forums here. I bought my first Mazda recently, a 2008 Black Mica GT, everything except Nav. I picked up this car from a friend who works at a dealer - someone traded this MS3 on a G35, after only putting ~1600 miles on the clock! Fortunately for me they were generous enough to take about a $5000 hit on depreciation, so I figure I got a pretty good deal.

I am no stranger to the turbo cars, having owned (or still own) cars like Mk III supra, WRX, ALMS TT, 2.0T Jetta, not to mention various other n/a sports cars, muscle cars, trucks, etc. I've enjoyed wrenching on most of the cars I have owned, substantial mods in many cases. I look forward to tweaking this one as well, but I prefer to learn my cars well before modding. I have had the opportunity to auto-x this one twice already, and I'm quite impressed, as are the other auto-xers I have driven with. As I live in Chicago, my first "mod" is the set of wheels and snow tires I picked up for winter use, but other than that, the car is as stock as it was when it left Japan. Well, other than the babyseat in the back...

I haven't found a dealer around here that I want to work with just yet. I need to find out which one is the most "mod-friendly" since I heard that many Mazda dealers are quite strict on mod allowances. In the past, my experience has been that it just depends on the dealer. To use a couple extreme examples, one dealer wouldn't work on an older car of mine because I had non-stock sized tires installed (only 10mm wider than stock!) and on the other hand, I went to one dealer with suspension and engine mods, with my helmet on the seat next to me and my numbers still on the car from an auto-x, and they still serviced my car under warranty.

Anyway, enough about me. I'm looking forward to learning more about this car, and especially taking it to the track next year (where I hope to surprise a few of the folks in my local Audi club... (upyours) )

 

[intak3_bLkMs3]

grats man cute kid... it should be a fun project for yeah.

 

[mazdaspeedster3]

Yes welcome. How old is your son? Mine is turning one in Nov. Very excited for him to start participating in the modding and maintenance of the fleet.

 

[paylew]

hehe, my son can't stand next to my car. He just sits in his car seat and giggles when I give it some gas. Congrats, you should love the car!

 

[AAMguy]

audi clubs are worse than us subaru dudes. they are so harsh mofos

and welcome

 

[mckraut]

My MS3 purchase did not come with a small child...thank god.

I need to stop being a kid before I can have one, lol.

 

[Kain]

My MS3 purchase did not come with a small child...thank god.

I need to stop being a kid before I can have one, lol.

Just do what I do: change your phone number each year before Father's Day. Out of sight, out of mind.

 

[coololddude]

good buy!! you didn't mention in the intro that you were a dwarf. nice picture of you and your car anyway!

 

[JingChuan]

Thanks all. I have to say the car has been a blast so far, although the mpg leaves a bit to be desired. Of course, the car is brand new, so I'm sure the mileage will improve over time. And I'm still getting better mileage than my 1.8L TT. I don't know if the dealer that sold the car put nitrogen in the tires or what (it has the green valve caps - normally installed when you pay for nitrogen) but I can tell you that the pressure NEVER changes in these tires. I've measured it cold, hot (highway) and extra hot (auto-x) and it has stayed at a consistent 36 psi regardless. I may shoot a little more in there for improved mpg.

The boy is 17 months old now, and likes to play inside the car when it's just parked in the garage. I let him climb around inside (gotta get him comfortable with cars early on, just like my dad did!) and he gets to hang out in the garage when I'm wrenching on one car or another.

Right now I fold down one side of the back seat to throw his stroller in there, as the cargo area isn't exactly spacious. It should be interesting come March '09 when our #2 kid is due. Mom still has the 2.0T Jetta (yes, with an APR chip) which is plenty roomy. That will be the primary family car for the time being, but eventually the 'speed will have to serve 2-kid transport duties...

 

[paylew]

The boy is 17 months old now, and likes to play inside the car when it's just parked in the garage. I let him climb around inside (gotta get him comfortable with cars early on, just like my dad did!) and he gets to hang out in the garage when I'm wrenching on one car or another.

Right now I fold down one side of the back seat to throw his stroller in there, as the cargo area isn't exactly spacious. It should be interesting come March '09 when our #2 kid is due. Mom still has the 2.0T Jetta (yes, with an APR chip) which is plenty roomy. That will be the primary family car for the time being, but eventually the 'speed will have to serve 2-kid transport duties...

My sons stroller fits fine in the back without folding the seats, it takes a little wiggling because the thing is huge but it fits! Congrats on kid #2, that's going to be fun! lol. Our son is almost 4 months and will just sit outside in his bouncer and stare while we work on our CRX.

 

[Bonafide_Spd3]

I hated having my infant seat in the back, The booster seat is so much better

 

[BillTheCat]

Wow, helluva deal! Congrats! I didn't want to pay the extra cash for the GT upgrade, so I got the Sport. But for a $5k discount, I'd have been all over the GT.

I don't have any kida, but my Black Lab pretty much matches the interior. How's the shedding issue with a blonde toddler? (rofl2)