what should i buy?

mysweetfracture said:
i would like anyones opinion pertaining to the msp or any other car in this genre of 20g sport compacts

Ah justification, driving an MSP just means you are no longer impartial. Do not believe people only look for owners opions or you will always be wrong. Thats only one side of the story at best.
I have driven the car a total of 4 times. 2 cars hesitated 2 did not. Weather was everything from 60 degrees and dry to 90 and humid. Also aside from the turbo I have the same car.

From my driving experience with the car, the MP3's dunlop SP9000 give it a superior feel and grip. The hesitation is not something I could tolerate in a new car that is supposed to be a performance car. Both cars I test drove had rattles my car took 20,000 miles to develope.
The clunk is a gaurentee and I have some insight there others do not and if Mazda holds to its typical self, it and the hesitation will never be cured.
Simply put given the long list of issues people have reported here I can not see spending $20,000 for a car that will get on my nerves more then anything else do to improper consturction. The clunk I live with on the MP3, add the hesitation and I would be RIP s***!

So for $20,000 I can buy a car that's suspension is great but will degrade and constantly make anoying noises in 3000 miles and a car that has a turbo that basicly will not spool thus producing minor power increases over a normal protege. No thanks. I'll keep my $20K.

Disclaimer
Keep in mind I am OG on this site and was here when the plans for the MSP were just being reported. We were all VERY excited about it! Then one by one our excitement was s*** on by constant reliability and perfomance problems reported about the car. There is no reason for the car to be like this. Me and those of my opinioin still like the MSP alot and view it in many ways like a child of our own that has been beat up. We want to go beat some ass ourselves. In my cross hairs is Mazda for seriously compromising the performance of the MSP from where I know it can be and SHOULD be.
 
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I have had my MSP for 7 months today ! 12,500 kms so far, and i love the car. It does have the clunk and the hesitation issue,but i haven't addressed them yet. The dealer denied the clunk the first time, so rather than waste my time at the dealer again, i'm waiting for the fix from Mazda. I know it will be a while, if it ever gets done.
I love the car, which is bone stock. It delivers enough performance for me, as i use it as a daily driver and like my warranty.
I test drove the Spec V and liked the car, but i had my mind set on the MSP. I was told I would never find one, so when i did, my mind was set. These cars have been compared to death on this board, a search will lead you to them. I would buy the Spec without the option package to save the $. The stereo in it is pretty weak.
The Type S is a nice car, although I haven't driven it. From what I have read, it is a typical Honda in the fact that it has to be singing to be moving quickly. You can probably relate coming from a GTS.
I would buy this car again, as i said, i'm not looking to mod my car that much, and i haven't had to do anything to my car performance wise yet. It's a blast to drive.
As for practicality, i like the look of the P5 as much or more than the MSP. I was looking for a P5 when i happenned upon the MSP.
I hope this helps.
 
I'm looking at getting a Mazdaspeed in a year due to the following:

-TORQUE, driving bmw's has forever addicted me to TQ. Although high rev-ing engines are fun, I like torque too much to settle for a Honda type motor.

-SUSPENSION, I autoX, so naturally this is a big deal to me. Simply amazing performance. Stiff chasis with great engineering.

-TURBO, turbo's yield higher hp gains than NA engines. this will help me reach 200whp with very little money.

-LSD, another plus for dragging or autoX

-LOOKS, i just love it.....
 
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Oh yes.. Good call...

The LSD was also a big plus for me to push toward the MSP. I hated spinning just one wheel in my Honda. I think the Sentra also has a LSD but I just did not like the car for about 20 reasons. Although it did look cool in yellow.
 
MSP: Good look, nice handling (very confident). power woes can be solved. unique, has some growing pains (power delivery & suspension noise), unique.

Scubbie: Too heavy and plows like a tractor. Trannies aren't that bad. You have to understand why people break their trannies. Launching from high rpm with an AWD isn't going to make alot of street type transmissions last too long. Good car though just not the car I wanted

Sentra: Friend drives that car, not bad. No LSD and a little bit more flexy chassis. Enough ummph in that 2.5L engine though. And Nismo aren't for everyone cuz they're really expensive but factory backed and tested for ultimate compatibility.

SRT-4: Factory aftermarket support and good drag racing package out of the box. DaimlerChrysler is serious about sports compact car segment. Not a bad car to start unless you want more humane interior.

RSX-S: BOSE speaker system (not bad sound quality). Amazing engine but peaky power. Flexy chassis. 6spd. missing LSD. too many aftermaket support. too many "drivers." expensive repair work or any maintence since it's an acura. Friend owns it, a nice car, but not for me except the engine. He likes the car however.

But about build quality, I don't know if the RSX-S is a better build car. What are you referring to? Fit and Finish? You know the new Enzo has some fit and finish problems as well, and you know the cost of that car.

Matter of taste my friend. I think my MSP is build with a good quality. If people are telling you how slow Mazda is fixing problems, you should do some research on other car companies, too. I can think of on top of my head where Toyota denies there's an engine design problem in their Siena van that leads to slugged up engine, and Toyota has the best "built" quality.

All the big corporations are going to take as long as they can to do something about it cuz if they fix every minor complaints they would have very little bottom line. You know some of the complaints from H2 owners are this car sucks too much gas. If you're GM are you going to fix that? Seriously, unless people are dying from faulty design aka Firestone/Ford issue the car companies aren't going to put fixing minor issues on top of their to do list.

No offense, but I think the whole Lexus, Acura, Infiniti brand names are hoax. Helll I even asked one of the Infiniti Representative at NAIAS of why they would rename some of Nissan cars from oversea as Infiniti. and his reply, cuz american buyers won't buy a luxury japanese car if it got Nissan on it, but if we come up with a different name, they would. Just a side vent.
 
I had settled on a Cooper S -- it drove like a go-kart, had no turbo lag, no torque steer, and I liked the idea of going back to smaller cars that could drive circles around bigger cars... but I'd had 3 RX-7's and a miata, so I wanted to give the MSP a chance. I didn't like the tail or the orange... but I went and drove it the first night they had one in Virginia Beach... and wound up driving it home! I drove Nissans, Focus SVT's, Mustangs, Neon R/T's (SRT-4 wasn't out yet). I love my MSP and think it is the best deal out there -- I had excellent service from my dealer (Hall Mazda in Va Beach) though -- they fixed my stereo and my windshield with no hassle.
 
feel horrible that you people put up with such utter bad design of a vehicle...nothing like, well i have such and such problems that i knew i would have but i dun care, cause its a mazdaspeed...it was like you all got it in your head and just couldnt resist to buy the car...its ok to admit, i had a friend that did that once with a 240SX....he saw it on autotrader and he wanted it so bad because it looked so awesome, by the time he bought it, it could have been missing body parts but he wanted it so bad it didnt matter...it turned out to be a piece of s***, like the mazdaspeed (but of course the 240SX had less problems and it was seven years old, your MSPs havent even hit one year yet)...dont buy the MSP, youll just be the next forum member complaining about the problems but still loving the car.

oh, and:
<img src="http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/mp5/mspsuck.gif">
 
I am one of the members that does not complain because I knew about the problems before I bought it. Its a really great car. I was pretty much in the same situaution you were in about a month ago. Budget of around 20k. I considered all of those cars. The RSX-s I ruled out because of the lack of space and missing doors. Also, it was more expensive. The spec v, i drove one and didnt like it. The next day as I was driving by the dealership, I saw it being towed back to the dealer, it hadn't been in a accident or anything, I guess something major went wrong. The focus svt, well I do not like fords and the it doesn't have the styling like the MSP. The civic si like others have said is not anything really special. Subaru wrx was very powerful but the fit was not right for me and the styling on the 04's is kinda bland. So the msp fit me just right and I really like having the only one in my town and everyone comes up and asks me about my car. This morning getting out of my car, this guy like in his 40's comes up to me and starts talking to me about and was like thats really nice I have never seen it before. At my sister's apartment, we were standing outside putting boxes in the car and this guy that lives in her building was like I really like your car, she did not even know him but got to know him after we started talking about cars, his was a nice prelude. If you can wait a little while then you might be better off because mazda may fix the hesitation issue and the clunk.

Is there going to be a 2k4 model? If so they may fix some of the 2k3 and 2k3.5 shortcomings, who knows.
 
Is there going to be a 2k4 model? If so they may fix some of the 2k3 and 2k3.5 shortcomings, who knows.

if i was going to buy one, thats what i would have hoped for i would say.
 
According to reports all Protges are over, the next one will be the mazda 3. There was word of another run of MSP befor eth cutoff but they will be 2003.5s
 
According to the press releases I have read the production on the 3 is all butunder way and they will be at the dealerships come November. The strange thing is that the wagon 3 is the one being shown but many reports say the sedan will be first, very weird. The Mazdaspped division is now developing the MS miata.
 
so then it will probably be awhile before we see the mazdaspeed 3? Since the miata is next and they will probably come out with a mazdaspeed miata, 6, and rx-8 before the 3?
 
MOst likely yes, especialy since rumor is the MS RX-8 is already being designed although I am sure the MS3 is too.
 
RazorP5 said:
feel horrible that you people put up with such utter bad design of a vehicle...

Please STFU already. Between you and 1st"pissed it isn't an MSP"inNH..this crap is already old and dated.

We can all play this game. :) (and I love the original MP3 and the P5)
 

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