Soon to be Owner Which one is Wiser

[MP3orMSP]

This may be completly dumb, but I need a little bit of influnce on current MP3 and Mazdaspeed oweners to help me on which would better my decesion making process. I have here to decide in the next 2 weeks on either a Laser Blue Mica MP3 with 5k miles on it or a Spicy Orange Mazdaspeed. Now of course the MP3 is not completly new but hardly any miles put on so thats y its a consideration. Its tag price is going to be 15900 when it comes in and Being here in Omaha for some odd reason the price of the Speed was jacked up 2k so 22500, and kind of makes me think about is this car worth spending another 7k from tthe MP3, Yes its not turboed but I have read wonderful things on both cars to which is why im torn between the 2, I was in the dealership looking at Spicy Orange tonight and must say it is quite inpressive but couldnt get to test drive. I found out that there will be a total of 4 in the state of NE and 2 will be Orange and 2 Will be Black. What my main Point of this posting is all in all, Handling is fairly similar and upgrades of stereo arent too far apart from looking at the Kenwood decks and then the sub setup in the trunk, but I only fear that going from my modded 99 Si Civic to a MP3 would it be nothing more than a beefed up suspension and not have any zoom zoom. I have devistated a large number of cars with my Si, and all though i will have much different habbits if i had the MP3 not having upgraded cluch, LSD, Turbo or internals, would I be dissappointed. I just ruled out the WRX(Cost), Type-S(Insurance) and SRT-4(Availabilty) and Im down to these 2 fine Limited Production cars with 10-14 Days to make a decision. I am really hoping that I can get some helpful informaiton on I appologize for this long string but hope that as a future member of this forum that I can get some insight on what woudl be more of a sound investment. Thankyou
MsProtege Newbie

 

[kep0ne]

buy an RX-7.

 

[dominoy2k1]

i would get the msp...

 

[uclap5]

das is pretty expensive for the mp3 jah?

and you should try to get the msp at MSRP, dont let them rip you, many ppl on this board have gotten it for MSRP.

Id say definatly go MSP, you will be dissapointed w/ the straight line performance of the mp3, and turboing it right now you will run into a few issues, though hopefully they will be resolved and spoolins stage 4 kit (i think, the one w/ the fuel management) should kick the **** out of a stock msp...

the orange will definatly stand out as well, if thats what you are looking for, nowadays pro5s come in laser so its not that unique. I dont think spicy orange will be added to the new color scheme of the mazda 3s.

 

[cjstringer]

If I had known a year ago when I bought my MP3 that a turbo version would be coming out in another year I would have waited.
Get the MSP, but DON'T! pay more than MSRP. Tell the dealer to kiss your ass and walk out the door. Let them know you are serious about wanting the car, but you aren't paying extra. Make a stand, and make sure you have the whole day to waste. The dealer I bought my car from had it marked up 5k! (What was that s*** about??) After 4 1/2 hours, I paid $100 under MSRP and drove home in it. Just draw a line and be ready not to cross it, no matter what they tell you. I had walked out the door 4 times, one time even had the door to my car open and was about to sit down. Every time, the salesman, then the last 2 times, the manager, came running out to ge tme to come back in and talk. It's a hagglers dream, and car salesmen get a kick out of it also.
Good luck man! let us know how it turns out!

 

[PA_MP3_Man]

Yeah you can haggle that msp down to MSRP for sure and if it's a dealer you can probably get the mp3 for 14,300 or so (I just looked up private party seller on kelly blue book for 5000 miles, it's worth $12,500 so you should be able to get them way down from 15900). But if you get the mp3 you can get the spool stage 1 turbo kit that puts 160 WHP and the stage 3 kit that gets 220whp. Both more than enough to beat an MSP. I think the prices are $2500 and $3400 respectively if I remember correctly. Still a lot less money than the msp. If I had the cash between the two that's what I would do.

 

[Newf]

Well, an MP3 with a Turbo kit is going to be faster then the MSP for sure. At least in a straight line. Let's not forget the MSP's LSD, firmer front end larger front sway bar etc. somewhat wider tires, better clutch and so on...

But, I'll put it this way. My mp3's is for sale, and for the intention of getting a MSP assuming everything falls in place.

 

[MrMp3]

I WOULD GO WITH WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD

NUFF SAID

 

[slug420]

tell your dealer you will NOT pay more than MSRP for your MSP

let him know that you are educated and that you know there are MSPs sitting in showrooms across the country waiting for buyers. Demand does not seem to be what they thought it would. If they want to call your bluff then fine, contact another dealer (I and many others in the MSP forum will help you) and buy your MSP for MSRP, not a dime over, and have it shipped to you for what? 500 bucks? somethin like that I think. Even if its 1000 to ship, you saved 1000 and can stop in and show it to your dealer so he knows he just lost commission. Granted the car WILL sell. But the salesman you talk to when you go in there might not be the one who sells it if you pass it up. Tell him that, ask him if he wants the commission or not.

as for the srt-4 i dont think they are gonna be that hard to get a hold of. A popular car yes, but i dont think they are all pre-sold and waiting to fly off the showroom floors.....i could be wrong. generally speaking, if you are considering the srt4, then you will be disappointed with the MSP i think (170 vs 220hp) srt4 is fast as sheet, msp is an absolute BLAST to drive....(srt4 may be too, but the power of the msp feels so right to me I cant imagine the srt is as good a match....

MSP vs. MP3. I personally would go the MSP route (I just did a month ago hehe). You could go faster with a turbo mp3 but may have issues with a 3rd party turbo. and are you aware of the 2003.5MSP? it will be out in several weeks/months depending on who you talk to. A few cosmetic changes and 2 new colors (grey and yellow)

whatever you decide....have fun!

as for the msp vs. mp3
as for mp3 vs. msp

 

[MPChi]

If money is not an issue, get the MSP at MSRP. It seems pretty obvious that you want the extra 30hp. And if you are paying for the $2k mark-up for the MSP, you might as well try bargaining a WRX at that price. Its been done.

MP3 with an aftermarket turbo is cool, but with all the tweaks and installation that you are going to run into, it may cost you a lot more than you think you will. Plus there is always going to be some reliability issues after a couple years or so with your set up. Not good for long term use if you plan to keep this car for many years. However, if you want to play it safe and don't do turbo mods, not much gain can you pull out of this car, like 10-20 hp for NA tune.

So here is the deal-

MSP:Cost more stock, faster, slightly tighter handling, more realiable with a turbo, LSD, better stereo.

MP3:Cheaper, slow mods without turbo, looks better in some of the minor details IMHO(rims, color, badge...etc.) Slightly more reliable in the long run if no turbo.

I had to make that same decision half a year ago, and I actually picked up a yellow MP3 with 3k miles instead of waiting for the MSP because both money and reliability is on my top priority. Performance is cool, but only if you don't mind paying the extra few grand.

Good luck (2thumbs)

 

[Stou]

I have a Turbo MP3 and a 2001 Civic (2 doors).

Plain stock the MP3 is faster than the Civic but not fast enough if performance is one of your concern. The MP3 is a way up the Civic in the handling departement. It's almost like if you compare the handling of an Integra Type R and a Toyota Corola!!!

It cost a lot to do a good Turbo conversion of the MP3. It is faster than the MSP but it's lot of work and it void the guarantee. If I count how much it costed me to do the Turbo conversion with all the exhaust, the clutch and everything, my MP3 costed me almost the same price as a WRX!

So once again. if you want performance and handling and have the money, go for the MSP.

If you want a good car that is very fun to drive and don't want to spend to much money, go for the MP3

 

[MrMp3]

good point stou

 

[1sty]

The MP3 is way market up since they probably didn't even give the person that traded it in $11K for it.

I would offer them $13.5K on the MP3 and $20K on the MSP.
They may jump at one of the offers.

 

[dibblejr]

Dude,
If you can get the MP3 price a little lower, you could buy a after market Turbu kit that will give you more boost than the stock MSP. You could also buy larger tires, clutch system and Tochigi-Fuji LSD and still be under the $22k mark.
However as mentioned above you would be out of warranty. I have owned several mazdas in the past and have hardly ever used the warranty as long as you read up and understand boost your engine should never give you any problems.
Big factors are oil changes and a turbo timer before shutting down the engine.
The call is strictly yours, its your money at stake. Do what you think is best.

 

[SKY]

I would buy the MP3....coz you pay much less than the brand new MSP and with the $ you save, you can buy parts and mods.
MSP has Turbo and MP3 is too slow? If you think this way, forget the mazda then, if you want a fast car, go get a Prelude or a Type-R or a SE-R Spec V, or even an old RX-7.

Tell us what you got when you came up with a decision.

Good Luck!

 

[PhyschoMP3]

My friend just got a WRX for 16,000 used at a car dealer it had 15,000 miles. And he has the Vishnu stage zero upgrade and it now has like 285hp and hits 13.3....