Considering a 03.5 MSP...

Elderain

Member
:
2003.5 Mazdaspeed #2
I've been considering buying a new 03.5 MSP, so I figured I would look around and see what I could find out about them, so I stumbled on over here :) I keep hearing about this hesitation/stumble problem that the MSP's have. I was just wondering if this was something that would adversly effect your decision if you knew about it before you bought the car. Also is this problem something I would be able to feel or experiance on a test drive with the car? If its something I would notice, I think I would go test drive one and see how much it would frustrate me on a daily basis. Any info to help me make a decision would be great. Everything else about the car seems awesome, and would love to join the crowd of you guys here soon :)
 
It depends on your preference and how you drive your car. If you drive defensively and shift at 2,000-3,000 rpm, then it would not be a problem at all. If you drive normally but once in a while you want to push it, it will annoy you. If you drive aggressively quite oftenly and shift above 4k, it will anger you. If you bought this car with an intent to street race in stock form, your face will be at 1000 Farenheit. Personally, I bought this car because it's pretty much a complete package. I didn't buy this car because I wanted to street race. The hestitation does not bother me because I have enough power to change lanes. This car isn't made for drag racing but it should not have this stumbling problem because that is not a characteristic of a new vehicle.

Does it bother me if Mazda does not cure this problem? In general, then yes because this car shouldn't have hestitation in the middle of the power band. However, this extremely noticeable hestitaion and stumbling does not bother because there is enough power to suit my needs but if Mazda does do a correction on the ECU, you bet I would take it.

An example of this hestitation would be flooring a good condition car and then give it half throttle and then flooring it again.
 
Last edited:
naw, i knew about the hesistation.

just look at the interior of the car. it all comes standard man, forget the turbocharger, its nice plain nice in there =p
 
..Still the best $20,000 I could have spent...

on a car. Whether you choose a 2003 or 2003.5; you can't go wrong!
 
Same here. I didn't now about the hesitation, and didn't feel it during the test drive. Probably because I was so in love with the car long before I bought it. (I waited two months for the dealer to get a Titanium MSP in.) The car comes stock with everything I used to dream of putting on my Protege LX, and then some.

Clunk, hesitation, no sunroof, no cruise? OK fine, I'll take one.
 
I plan on buying a new MSP as soon as I sell my truck. I have
however been really bothered by this stumbling/hesitation issue.
I did notice it during test drive but otherwise loved the car. I feel
like it would be frustrating when you want to drive the car the way it was made to be driven. I' know there is some parts
available to help problems but none have fixed it yet. I feel Mazda
should fix it anyway and you should'nt have to tune around it.
Just my opinion.
 
Well i guess you can make up your mind now. I will say this i have driven the srt-4 its quick but its a neon i use to work for dodge so dont by it. They will get it right some day. I traded a nissan ser for this msp the ser was quick but i didnt like it to much was very small inside. The msp gives you everything you have to have in a car power radio and looks its all of it BUY IT.
 
Hmm

Mine dosent do this. It runs great all the way across the powerband. The only thing I have ever had is a slight pulsing in 3rd and 4th gear at 3500-4500 RPM and it doesnt do it any more with JOE's MBC installed and my car set at 10-12PSI.
The pulsing was so slight it was very hard to notice and it did this very infrequently and only at WOT.
 
Back