What do you dislike most about your Speed 3?

Oh and it's getting old when every ricer (rei) out there in their pimped out civic, etc (fart can, injen sticker, massive rear spolier) wants to race me at the light. It's hard to resist embrassing them sometimes which isn't good because I wanna keep my drivers license.
 
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i dont like how easily the paint chips. other than that, no complaints, then again, it's quite an upgrade from a contour SVT, although the SVT had a good refinish on it.

Except on the rocker panels (I know at least the regular Contours had weak paint there.)
 
well seeing all this makes me feel a lot better. I thought maybe I was an idiot. But it does take some effort to drive the car.. Not a big fan of the clutch or gearing. And the tires do suck really bad. Wearing on them is crazy.


I agree about the clutch, its wound me up in some somewhat embarrassing moments.
 
VERY TRUE! THAT AND THE FACT I NORMALLY HAVE THE RADIO BLASTING.

BUT THIS IS KINDA THE WAY I LOOK AT IT.. WHEN THIS CAR WAS MADE THEY HAD TO CUT SOME CORNERS TO KEEP THE COST DOWN. SO THE SQUEAKS AND CRAP I WOULD JUST TAKE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT BECAUSE I STILL CONSIDER THIS VECHICLE A STEAL FOR THE PRICE REGUARDLESS.
I second the motion on that point, if you want a quiet ride get an Lexus, Acura or other high end vehicles but if you want fun and a rush stick with the noise as you bring the noise(headbang)
 
1) Paint chips, by far.. ******* irritating. Everytime I wash it I find one or two more.

2) Rattles.. Mostly stuff I can fix though.. little center console lid-thing and the glovebox.

3) Clutch could be way stiffer, it's a sports car after all. (thinking about getting a new one actually edit: new clutch) But it's not a bad clutch, it's actually really grabby and I love how it drops to the floor after the catch point, just hate how un-stiff it is.

4) Sounds: Sometimes little things like paper or something will fall from my center console and get sucked into the sub's 'air duct' (for lack of a better word) under the passenger seat.. which then makes a horrible rattling when you have the bass high, and it's a b**** getting it out. Oh and bass is kind of weak for a Bose system. Don't get me wrong, it sounds way nicer than the regular mazda speakers, and I love it, but the bass could be stronger. And one more thing regarding sounds: My passenger doorhandle is loose or something and makes a horrible vibrating sound when I play my music past like vol 18, really annoying me and I think I'm going to have it replaced.

5) Rear sway bar stop sucking plz.

6) OEM airbox, turbo hosing, and intercooler are very inefficient. But I guess it keeps costs down.

7) Suspension could be a little stiffer

That seems like a lot, but most of it doesn't bug me that much.. really just the paint chips are the most annoying thing.. the rest, after all, I can all fix/change.
 
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the one main thing that bugged me most, and i haven't read anywhere about anyone else complaining, was the accelerator pedal was too easy to push. literally, the natural weight of my foot would push it down, it was like i had to hold it up. after about twenty minutes of driving,(highway), my foot would ache from holding it up. i tried different seat position, height, forward, back, nothing really helped. so, i took out the pedal, took it apart, and found that the spring was easily replaced by a thicker one from the hardware store, and now it feels like my other cars. it stays where i push it to, not any farther, not any less. i know, it sounds like a silly thing, but it really did take away from the fun of driving it for me....

so far, only one rattle in the center console, haven't narrowed it down yet. other that that, i am pleased so far sound/noise wise.......

oh, i really wanted to unlock my trip computer, but being an '08, the trick didn't work. i bought a 2006 radio from ebay, 15 minutes later i had a working trip computer/radio. so, now i have fixed most of the things that bugged me, i am doing some shifter mods today, that should wrap it up for me, quite happy for the money spent really...........


davey
 
The car seems great, the only think i can think of that i dont like it is the steering. dont get me wrong the car handles like a champ but a tighter steering ratio like the evo or sti would have been nice. everything else is great so far. im completely happy!

You would hate the srt4
 
paint is thin and i hate third gear i always get stuck shifting into third on wot... i dunno what it is.. other then that i love it oh and wish it came with a stock boost gauge. and sunroof would be nice..
 
I don't mean to "threadjack" but if you guys are experiencing paint chips, could you specify where they the worst, and what color you own?

I would imagine that some have it less worse than others. Some colors have to be very delicately painted in order to be done right, and that inefficiency may show more weakness.

I have been on two test drives and put a deposit on one today that's still on it's way.

The car did great over rough pavement, it wasn't tough to drive. Clutch and gearing was awesome, tires are a little noisy considering they are summer tires on 30 degree weather.
 
I don't mean to "threadjack" but if you guys are experiencing paint chips, could you specify where they the worst, and what color you own?

I would imagine that some have it less worse than others. Some colors have to be very delicately painted in order to be done right, and that inefficiency may show more weakness.

I have been on two test drives and put a deposit on one today that's still on it's way.

The car did great over rough pavement, it wasn't tough to drive. Clutch and gearing was awesome, tires are a little noisy considering they are summer tires on 30 degree weather.


I've got black and dont have any chipping problems yet. It's an awesome car. Sure there are some small things just like with any car. Dont sweat it. You will love it.
 
I hear ya, I absolutely love the car. Just didn't want to make a mistake on the color. My dad's been in auto body collision for a long time and he was telling me how crystal white pearl will be incredibly hard to repaint, should I ever have an accident or request to repaint (ie. chips). The way anything "pearl" has to be done, is in 3 stages, and if it's not done right then it'll never match.
 
I hear ya, I absolutely love the car. Just didn't want to make a mistake on the color. My dad's been in auto body collision for a long time and he was telling me how crystal white pearl will be incredibly hard to repaint, should I ever have an accident or request to repaint (ie. chips). The way anything "pearl" has to be done, is in 3 stages, and if it's not done right then it'll never match.

If you're in an accident, the insurance company will compensate the shop more for 3-stage refinish, at least any self respecting insurance company. most of ours are 2-stage though, not sure about the white....
-I have my chipping problems (black paint) on the front bumper and hood, naturally I suppose, but I have a chip on the rt fender and the lt rear door, just odd places to me to take one piece of salt or stone and chip so easily...drives me crazy, never had a vehicle chip quite this easlily. Otherwise I really love the car and glad I chose it! (breakn)



P.S. The SVT had 206k on it, and no signs of rust, not even on the rockers.
 
Has anyone thought about installing 3M ClearBra on certain parts of the car?

If we could get a general consensus of where the majority of the chips are, that'd help. I know most cars nowadays, are coming with 3M ClearBra in certain areas (ie. my SS has it on the rear doors, the 350z/G35 has it, STI/EVO has it on sides).
 
pet peeves

The Bose stereo sucks - it sounds like crap and cannot play mp3 files! Also, the gas mileage is lousy ...
 

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