wow! a BAD Mazdaspeed3 Review!!

[tsunami]

eh probably not the best car to have in a country that is almost always wet and rainging/foggy and has all those other options to choose from for a hot hatch.

 

[Hikaru9]

Strange...

eh probably not the best car to have in a country that is almost always wet and rainging/foggy and has all those other options to choose from for a hot hatch.

Off topic but it's interesting to me that these people (in the UK) purchase more convertibles than any other country. (first)

 

[neit_jnf]

Jeremy Clarkson also loved the RX-8, except, hmm, in the wet...

Originally Posted by Vermilion
This review means nothing when the author of it says the RX-8 is a good drivers car.

Agree... NOT! Have you even driven it?

 

[Kansei]

This review means nothing when the author of it says the RX-8 is a good drivers car. (shocked) (yupnope)

You've gotta be kidding me. The RX-8 is an AMAZING driver's car.

I do agree that there's a limit to how much power is useful, and it's definitely lower for FWD than RWD. I'd rather have a car where I could swing the tail out on command than a car that I could.. understeer and torque steer on command.

The RX-8 is beautifully balanced, graceful, has no turbo whiplash and turns on a dime.

Is it just me or did Mazda cater waaay too much to the SRT4 kiddies with the MS3?

 

[CTGrey02]

The cars fine for what it is. The power I'm interested in using is going to be for highway passing and manuevers anyway. Trying to wind a 130 HP focus up to passing speed isn't fun when your used to going far faster.

 

[Rainman]

Torque steer? God, did they ever drive the MSP? Compared to my MSP, the torque steer of the MS3 is very, very tame.

R

 

[Az Mazda Driver]

ehh dont worry bout the review its just someone trying to change peoples opinions in every single magazine i ve seen, the mazda speed always came out on top its gonna be the most popular car this year it kicks ass. today while waiting at my dentist aka "hell" i read an import tuner mag and it compared ms3 to WRX and ms3 kicked some massive butt

 

[Mocoso]

he also loved the vette. that was the only car he actually laughed in bc he was having so much fun. then he faced against the tvr saggaris and the vette got it's a$$ handed to it. lol

You must have missed the episode where he took a vette out to the dry lake, rigged it with autopilot and shot the hell out of it with a mini-gun from a chopper.... entertaining as hell but painfull to watch nevertheless....

I do admit the MS3 has stiffer competition in Europe.. in the US there really arent that many cars in the price/performance/looks category that the MS3 falls into...

 

[jacen]

I like it the way it is. I didn't want, and don't need the weight of, 4wd or AWD. Granted, on day 2 i put snow tires on it so I haven't pushed it too hard in any corners, but it feels good now. I'll be having fun with it all summer no matter what this article said.

For torque steer, try driving a 190whp/150wtq FWD car on a road course with sticky tires without power steering! I was instructing in someone else's car and now know that I will be keeping the power steering in my track car after that experience.

 

[Pololo_MS3]

This review means nothing when the author of it says the RX-8 is a good drivers car. (shocked) (yupnope)

Excuse me?????

Fun factor the RX8 is hands down WAAAAY better than the MS3. Let's be realistic here. Power is NOT everything! No way I can take the turns as fast as I did with the RX8 even in stock form.

I MISS my RX8 a lot and I miss my first generation Miata even more! These were fun cars to drive. These are definitely a driver's car in my opinion.

I do like the MS3 and it was a good "compromise" for me when I decided to replace the RX8 that got totalled. It's a good car but no way it's a "driver's" car. Steering waay too vague and the same goes for the shifter.

I think I am bit biased towards RWD and I miss that in the MS3

My 2 cents,
Carlos

 

[Hikaru9]

Excuse me?????

Fun factor the RX8 is hands down WAAAAY better than the MS3. Let's be realistic here. Power is NOT everything! No way I can take the turns as fast as I did with the RX8 even in stock form.

I MISS my RX8 a lot and I miss my first generation Miata even more! These were fun cars to drive. These are definitely a driver's car in my opinion.

I do like the MS3 and it was a good "compromise" for me when I decided to replace the RX8 that got totalled. It's a good car but no way it's a "driver's" car. Steering waay too vague and the same goes for the shifter.

I think I am bit biased towards RWD and I miss that in the MS3

My 2 cents,
Carlos

Having driven the RX-8 and the current generation MX-5 on the track, I wouldn't say its (RX-8) fun factor is waaaay better than the MS3. Not saying the MS3 is better, either... just different. Perhaps, it's because you were used to the RWD, and I've driven FWD all my life.

I do agree about the shifter, however. I wonder if the Mazdaspeed short shifter will improve the feel of it at all. ^_^a

 

[djarkitek]

that review makes me want the car more

 

[neit_jnf]

^^ yeah me too!!

too much power and torque!! crazy wheelspin in the wet! drooool hahahaha

 

[FlyinMSP]

This wouldn't be the first bad review. A couple of others (such as Top Gear), also from UK, gave the MS3 not so stellar ratings. ^_^;;

Except the ones from North America, most reviws of the MS3 are either negatives or so so...

 

[h0rde]

Excuse me?????

Fun factor the RX8 is hands down WAAAAY better than the MS3. Let's be realistic here. Power is NOT everything! No way I can take the turns as fast as I did with the RX8 even in stock form.

I MISS my RX8 a lot and I miss my first generation Miata even more! These were fun cars to drive. These are definitely a driver's car in my opinion.

I do like the MS3 and it was a good "compromise" for me when I decided to replace the RX8 that got totalled. It's a good car but no way it's a "driver's" car. Steering waay too vague and the same goes for the shifter.

I think I am bit biased towards RWD and I miss that in the MS3

My 2 cents,
Carlos

I'm with you. I owned my RX-8 (and still do at the time of this posting) for over 3 years, and the MS3 doesn't even compare. It's not a sports car, and the RX-8 is. The only reason I'm buying the MS3 to replace the RX-8 is that I can only afford one car and I need something more practical for all weather...the MS3 was the only thing on the market that I could see myself "tolerating," when I'd really just prefer to keep my RX-8 - it's a fantastic car.
The MS3 is faster in a line, but that's the only superlative it's got.

 

[SwampAss]

not to further the this car vs. that car but my stock E46 325i handles considerable better on all seasons than does the MS3 on potenzas. That's not to say the MS3 handles poorly by anymeans. I just like the feeling a RWD car give when hucked into a corner. I like being able to throttle steer the car. I can't do that in a FWD car. I can only slide more off the road.

 

[Vermilion]

Just because I said the RX8 isn't a drivers car (to me atleast) doesn't mean the MS3 is any better or even could be worse. The guy talking is just full of s*** and if I wanted a good drivers car i'd get a miata which IS a good drivers car.

 

[DeepBlue]

Ok look fellas, you can't compare RWD vs FWD because they are 2 totally different characteristics. No car is better than the other it all depends on your personal likes or dislikes.

As far as the MS3 is concerned, you can't beat the fun to punch it going 70 mph and watch the cars drift away when you reach 100+ mph in a couple of seconds. While taking off from a dead stop is not it's best suit take her on the highway and see what she was built for.

I have no trouble taking her through tight turns as she screams while her wheels howl. Just give it the gas on the turns and she'll pull you through.

 

[VermZ06]

The reviewer has a hard on for the GTI and is a bit upset that a little japanese automobile company known as Mazda can blow the doors off the competition in the fwd market. The MS3 is the best bang for your buck period.

It's just like when they review american cars and say the vette is totally unrefined, or americans don't know how to build cars. Well how many victories does the vette have at LeMans? More than most.

 

[FunkyBuddha]

The reviewer has a hard on for the GTI and is a bit upset that a little japanese automobile company known as Mazda can blow the doors off the competition in the fwd market. The MS3 is the best bang for your buck period.

It's just like when they review american cars and say the vette is totally unrefined, or americans don't know how to build cars. Well how many victories does the vette have at LeMans? More than most.

Yes it might be the best bang for your buck but you gotta think that the torque on a FWD car is too much. That's what's wrong with North America ....everyone thinks bigger is better, more is not enough. Sure it's fun in a straight away, but what happens if you want to have the same fun in some tight mountain roads? No one can deny the fact that a fwd car will understeer, no matter what the power rating is. But if you add considerably more power to the car, the understeer will get worse. And that's what the reviewer experienced and wrote.