I went to the mazda rev it up event at Hollywood Park and it was very good. There was a test drive center where you can test drive the miata, protege5, mazda6, mpv and the mazdaspeed protege. The test drive center had a course very similar that is somewhat similar to the competition course and you are able to take the car onto this course. Well the main differences between the 2003 and the 2003.5 is that the 2003.5 has aluminum piping, mazdaspeed shift knob and pedals and the shift boot is stiched. Everything else is the same except for the spoiler and the front lip. The exhaust is bigger and during the test drive, the car is quite a bit louder than the 2003 msp. The car felt exactly the same and the acceleration was the same but just louder. The msps handled very very well and the car oversteered but very easy to recover and the lsd really came into effect on the track. The rims on the 2003.5 are darker but the look of the 2003 look more agressive. After being able to take the mazdaspeed onto the autocross setup, you are able to tell the ultimate capabilities of the car. You can't really tell the capability until you take this car to an autocross because there are just angles, turns and strategies used that can't be applied because the streets aren't setup for this purpose. It felt better than the integra type R, my previous vehicle.
The suspension set-up is unbelieveable. The car is very controllable and once you think it is pushing the limits, the time needed to recover is very minimal.
The suspension set-up is unbelieveable. The car is very controllable and once you think it is pushing the limits, the time needed to recover is very minimal.
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I'll be running my MSP in the first run group of the day, starting around 9am. If you make it, I'll take you out on course with me for a run... The car handles AWESOME!!! I am STOCK except for my tires (225/45-17 Azenis) but I'm usually competitive with the modified WRXs in my class....
