former honda guy considering a mazdaspeed 3

[numbnuts22715]

I used to own a turbocharged 99 acura integra gsr. It made around 250 whp to the wheels. My car got stolen and stripped a week ago, so it's time to find a new car.
I havent test driven a mazdaspeed3 yet, because no dealers around me have them. I'm only in this city because I go to school here. In my home town(houston) theres quite a few at the dealers, so i'll test drive one as soon as I get the money from my insurance company. I have driven a mazdaspeed protege, and I know it's hard to compare two different cars, but i'm wondering if everything feels about the same in the mazdaspeed3 as it does in the protege. What I mean is, the protege all felt pretty solid and well built.
I've read a few reviews of how people say the steering felt a little wobbly or something like that, but the msp felt nice and solid, is the mazdaspeed3 the same way?

Does anybody have any sort of ideas of how I could get the dealer to come down on the price a little bit? or any other general advice to give a honda guy make it easier in the transition to a mazda?

Thanks a lot,
Charles

[clos561]

very nice ride (solid) handles great, sticks you to the seat for sure... a good way to get cheap ms3 would try to find a 07 since the 08's are starting to show up now..you get a few hundred off maybe...if you test drive one..youll prolly fall in love

[I vtec, do you?]

It's not much like the mazdaspeed protege imo.

The protege looked great on the outside, and the interior was pretty decent, but it didn't have much 'oomph' like the MS3 does. The MS3 will throw you back when you peg the gas, whereas the protege was more of a linear feeling of power.

[numbnuts22715]

i know about the power, i was just wondering if i could expect as much, if not more out of the ms3 than the protege.
I was pretty happy with every aspect of the protege, I know that it's not very powerful, but with that aside, everything else is extremely nice.

But it seems like the ms3 is even nicer on the inside than the protege, is that a safe assumption?

[I vtec, do you?]

i know about the power, i was just wondering if i could expect as much, if not more out of the ms3 than the protege.
I was pretty happy with every aspect of the protege, I know that it's not very powerful, but with that aside, everything else is extremely nice.

But it seems like the ms3 is even nicer on the inside than the protege, is that a safe assumption?

Very safe assumption. Mazda just does interiors well... I would say they compete with ~40k cars in terms of interior luxuriousness.

[LENNY127]

agree on that, the interior is like a 1 notch down from an audi (a compliment), I have owned a couple of civics and my family drives nothing bujt vtecs and integras. Once you drive this car you will love not only the power but compared to the hondas that are a tad too revvy for my taste the torque !! Compared to any honda that I have owned and or driven this car is more solid in every aspect , the only thing I cannot speak of is reliability as far as the engine, only time will tell but I doubt it will stand up to a honda/toyota in those terms.

[MS3ICA]

dude i used to have a 95 gsr, drove it 230,000 miles before it got stolen. it was a wonderful car...but the ms3 is better, you won't be dissapointed, it faster and everything is right in the mid range and i am now a huge fan of torque. hey im in houston too, they ussually wont budge on price unless you get a sport model that everyones already testdrove

[numbnuts22715]

dude i used to have a 95 gsr, drove it 230,000 miles before it got stolen. it was a wonderful car...but the ms3 is better, you won't be dissapointed, it faster and everything is right in the mid range and i am now a huge fan of torque. hey im in houston too, they ussually wont budge on price unless you get a sport model that everyones already testdrove



I promise you that the ms3 wont be faster than my gsr was for a while until I mod it quite a bit...
my gsr ran around a 12.6-7 in the 1/4.

I had quite a bit of torque considering it was a honda, my numbers were 246whp/221wtq.

I probably will get a sport model, I can't afford much else. I'm a college kid, paying for it by myself, so I dont have that much money.

I really appreciate the comments guys.

[shamrock]

dude i used to have a 95 gsr, drove it 230,000 miles before it got stolen. it was a wonderful car...but the ms3 is better, you won't be dissapointed, it faster and everything is right in the mid range and i am now a huge fan of torque. hey im in houston too, they ussually wont budge on price unless you get a sport model that everyones already testdrove

Why would the let you drive the sport model and not a GT model. Its not like the GT is any faster. It has another $2,000 worth of options. I dont see your point.

[numbnuts22715]

Why would the let you drive the sport model and not a GT model. Its not like the GT is any faster. It has another $2,000 worth of options. I dont see your point.

I just went by the mazda dealer, one in san antonio actually got a mazdaspeed3 in stock, but they wouldnt let me test drive it.
how gayy.

I guess i'll be waiting til I go back to houston.

[b15nut]

Sorry to hear about your loss man!! My old roommate had his Turbo'd Civic stolen a while back. That thing was a beast..all Full Race stuff! Anyway, you will love all aspects of the car. The handling, speed, interior, panel fitment...you just cant go wrong with this car. You probably have experience with torque steer so the lil bit that the MS3 has wont be an issue.

My best suggestion is to go to each of the dealers websites and request quotes. Then take the best number back to each of the dealers and so on and so forth until there is only one left...then pull the trigger.

A dealer out here offered to let me take it home for the night on my first test drive so I dont understand them not letting you take it for a spin, some dealers are just retarded.

Best of luck to you and be sure to post pics once you pick her up!!

[MS3ICA]

I promise you that the ms3 wont be faster than my gsr was for a while until I mod it quite a bit...
my gsr ran around a 12.6-7 in the 1/4.

I had quite a bit of torque considering it was a honda, my numbers were 246whp/221wtq.

I probably will get a sport model, I can't afford much else. I'm a college kid, paying for it by myself, so I dont have that much money.

I really appreciate the comments guys.

man thats awsome, i was going to get a jackson racing supercharchger but never could save enough cash...lol

[numbnuts22715]

My best suggestion is to go to each of the dealers websites and request quotes. Then take the best number back to each of the dealers and so on and so forth until there is only one left...then pull the trigger.



Thanks for the advice. I am going to do this as soon as I find out how much my insurance company is going to give me. Actually, on second thought, I might as well start doing that now, I figure it'll take a while to get everything rolling.

[Falconx84]

you won't regret it ... I left my integra for the speed3 and never looked back -- except to see just how far behind me it was!!

sold it to my roommate, lol

[MS3ICA]

you won't regret it ... I left my integra for the speed3 and never looked back -- except to see just how far behind me it was!!

sold it to my roommate, lol

did you have the gsr or the reg., did you revit to 8,000 rpm zillions of times or did you not understand?

[MS3ICA]

i met some old dumnasss who would not listen to me he said "why would i rev it past 6,000 rpm, unless i was try ing to speed on the higway", i was like no! you rev it past 6k in the lower gears to get power he didnt understad....., i saw him a couple of years later and the car was for sale peach with 27,000 miles he still didnt get it!!! the racing vetec kicks in at 5,800 rpm and screams to 8,000 rpm in each gear to go fast you stupid fucking morrrrrrraannnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Falconx84]

ls, 93 integra special - tired of wrenching on it plus I wanted some real torque and ac .... I do miss a high redline sometimes, then I tap the gas and it sets me back in my seat and makes me happy again

[mspHtown]

I used to own a turbocharged 99 acura integra gsr. It made around 250 whp to the wheels. My car got stolen and stripped a week ago, so it's time to find a new car.
I havent test driven a mazdaspeed3 yet, because no dealers around me have them. I'm only in this city because I go to school here. In my home town(houston) theres quite a few at the dealers, so i'll test drive one as soon as I get the money from my insurance company. I have driven a mazdaspeed protege, and I know it's hard to compare two different cars, but i'm wondering if everything feels about the same in the mazdaspeed3 as it does in the protege. What I mean is, the protege all felt pretty solid and well built.
I've read a few reviews of how people say the steering felt a little wobbly or something like that, but the msp felt nice and solid, is the mazdaspeed3 the same way?

Does anybody have any sort of ideas of how I could get the dealer to come down on the price a little bit? or any other general advice to give a honda guy make it easier in the transition to a mazda?

Thanks a lot,
Charles

dude, did you drive a white gsr?! i was driving through downtown SA last week and i saw a gsr shell....

[numbnuts22715]

I had plenty of torque with the turbo kit. Mine was a 99 gs-r, so visits to 8000 rpm were plentiful. This is one thing im seriously going to miss.
My car pulled harder than any car i've ever ridden in. Making my tires spin driving in 3rd gear wasn't much of a problem. Gsrs respond very well to boost. I loved it, and I miss it a lot.
By the sounds of it, the ms3 won't do bad on replacing it.

I appreciate allof the responses guys. Thanks a ton

[numbnuts22715]

dude, did you drive a white gsr?! i was driving through downtown SA last week and i saw a gsr shell....


lol, jeff you retard.
you saw pictures of the shell... if you can even call it that

[MS3ICA]

yaeh thme ms3 is awsome but the gsr incase you didn't no is one of the baselines for "the real" vtec honda used to call it "rev", the racing vtec wich made the 155wheel hp in the gsr which kicke in at 5,800 rpm like in the nsx and to follow the prelude and the new bmw m6, m3,m5, they call it varible something .cant remeber same with the porcha gt3 same they call it vario cam, toyota calls it itec or something, its all the same thing kick it in at high rpm and it accelarates the air like a turo and raises the redline capacity, theey have bullshit vtec names all over but its for gas mileage or something, not the same thing

[mspHtown]

yaeh thme ms3 is awsome but the gsr incase you didn't no is one of the baselines for "the real" vtec honda used to call it "rev", the racing vtec wich made the 155wheel hp in the gsr which kicke in at 5,800 rpm like in the nsx and to follow the prelude and the new bmw m6, m3,m5, they call it varible something .cant remeber same with the porcha gt3 same they call it vario cam, toyota calls it itec or something, its all the same thing kick it in at high rpm and it accelarates the air like a turo and raises the redline capacity, theey have bullshit vtec names all over but its for gas mileage or something, not the same thing


english please!

[numbnuts22715]

on a gsr vtec kicked in at 4400... Butterflies in the manifold opened up at 5800... the butterflies opening up isnt anything called racing vtec or anything like that... it is what it is.
vtec is an acronym for variable valve timing and electronic control.....

[MS3ICA]

yeah i know it began at 4400 rpm , but the real action began at 5,800 rpm, and what i mean by non racing vtec since ya couldnt figure it out. reg honda acord, regular previuos cleica, revular most honda and toyaota cars wich have some form of it, since you didnt catch on to what i meant...

[numbnuts22715]

i knew exactly what you were talking about. I was just correcting your statement.

[Stu C]

since you didnt catch on to what i meant...Can't imagine how that could be...

[flipstylex]

speaking of integras, i used to own a gsr , with all the bolt on you can think of ... without a turbo though, but the power just was'nt there like our ms3 nowdays, anyways, just wanted to say how good of a machine the ms3 is compared to any car out there with it's price. With my ms3 now.... its such a shame that no hondas around my area can even come close beating me from a roll or dig...(nj) maybe i just havent come across one that will(turboed..etc).. but still, its funny that at least these ricers still try to race , its all that HONDA pride thing i guess, used to be me too, i didnt care if it was a corvette, i would rev that gsr before like theres no tomorrow !! lol..with my ms3 now, i am more confident to race anyone, win or lose, i will still keep up,.... compared to my old gsr.... anyways, have fun with your ms3 !!!!!

[Bravnik]

I traded my S2000 for my MS3. So far I'm happy with the choice. The MS3 is not quite the true sports car that the S2000 was, but its close. The only thing I really miss is the 9000 RPMs and the gear box in the S2000.

Over-all I think you will be pleased. This car is very fun to drive, but be prepaired to hit 6000 RPMs in the blink of an eye. Thats probably the only thing I dislike about the MS3 is the short gears. You hit the limit of the Turbo in 1st and 2nd before you hit redline, so you really have to shift fast to maintain power. Coming from a 9000 RPM machine that pulled all the way to 9200 RPMs is a big change that takes getting use too for sure.

[LER42]

Another ex-Honda guy here. I just traded my 04 Civic Si for an 07 MazdaSpeed3. As much fun as the EP3 was, it's nothing compared to the MS3! Looking forward to getting it on the autocross course the next couple of weekends.
(drive2)

[mage182]

I've had an EG hatch for about 5 years that I've put god knows how many hours into and have loved since the day I got it. I bought an 07 speed3 in December and while its a great car it still doesn't compare to my Honda. Yes the inside is nice, and the stereo sounds good and the HIDs are nice and it has great pickup but you could take it away in a second and i wouldn't shed a tear. The MS3 is a great car compared to its rivals in the marketplace, but i wouldn't trade my Civic for anything. Just my opinion.

[numbnuts22715]

I've had an EG hatch for about 5 years that I've put god knows how many hours into and have loved since the day I got it. I bought an 07 speed3 in December and while its a great car it still doesn't compare to my Honda. Yes the inside is nice, and the stereo sounds good and the HIDs are nice and it has great pickup but you could take it away in a second and i wouldn't shed a tear. The MS3 is a great car compared to its rivals in the marketplace, but i wouldn't trade my Civic for anything. Just my opinion.

loll something i DEFINITELY did not want to hear.
it was tough losing my car and seeing it stripped to hell, i dont think anything will be able to fully replace it.
but thanks for your comment.

[CX-7owner]

I've had an EG hatch for about 5 years that I've put god knows how many hours into and have loved since the day I got it. I bought an 07 speed3 in December and while its a great car it still doesn't compare to my Honda. Yes the inside is nice, and the stereo sounds good and the HIDs are nice and it has great pickup but you could take it away in a second and i wouldn't shed a tear. The MS3 is a great car compared to its rivals in the marketplace, but i wouldn't trade my Civic for anything. Just my opinion.

(rofl)(hah)(ricer)(wow)(beer)

[CX-7owner]

Can we see a picture of this honda that does not even compare to the MS3?

[numbnuts22715]

Can we see a picture of this honda that does not even compare to the MS3?

I think hes comparing the two in a more sentimental way... He obviously loves the honda and poured his heart and soul into it. Depending on what's done to it, the thrill to drive it may be a lot higher than what he gets from driving the ms3. Also, the work done on it makes it irreplacable, whereas the ms3 would be relatively easy to replace given he has the money to do so.

I just know exactly what he means.. I put a lot of man hours into working on it and making it mine, and now it's gone. It's heard to imagine replacing it that easily.

[MS3ICA]

i can see how you put your everything into your gsr and i would feel the same.. but i'll tell ya with no mufflers and cia this thing is a beast!!! and i got the cpe standback on the way this week... no limits!!!!!!!!

[Conundrum]

I went from a 2006 RSX-S to the MS3 and I won't ever look back.

[MS3ICA]

I've had an EG hatch for about 5 years that I've put god knows how many hours into and have loved since the day I got it. I bought an 07 speed3 in December and while its a great car it still doesn't compare to my Honda. Yes the inside is nice, and the stereo sounds good and the HIDs are nice and it has great pickup but you could take it away in a second and i wouldn't shed a tear. The MS3 is a great car compared to its rivals in the marketplace, but i wouldn't trade my Civic for anything. Just my opinion.

dude youd take a whimpy civic over an ms3, i think your a littlle off, but to each his own..., i guessss?(uhm)

[numbnuts22715]

lol a civic is based on the same platform as my integra was...
Are you gonna say the same thing to me?

Theres a big difference when you put a lot of money and time in a car compared to just going out and buying it and leaving it stock.
Those little eg's can be made quick as fuck... the whole entire drivetrain from an integra gs-r bolts right in... Easy way to get right into the 13's or so... Add a turbo and you can break into the 11's or in some cases in the 10's pretty easy. I don't see whats whimpy about that...

I'm not bashing mazdas at all, I'm trying to get one, I'm just saying, hondas are easy as hell to mod, and when you do it, you get reallllyy attached. It's hard to let them go.

[CaSHMeRe]

I promise you that the ms3 wont be faster than my gsr was for a while until I mod it quite a bit...
my gsr ran around a 12.6-7 in the 1/4.

I had quite a bit of torque considering it was a honda, my numbers were 246whp/221wtq.


got a slip to prove this ??? very hard to believe on a 250 whp dc. I trust your #'s, but not your times. To many honda guys say, yeah, my car will run, blah blah blah, but never run it.

my 420 whp boosted h22 lude went 12.1 on slicks. T-72 Turbonetics Ball Bearing Turbo, Fully sleeved/built bottom end and $3000 into the head alone. All tuned on Hondata.... man i miss the Hondata/Crome dayz

For Reference:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid212/p3d3b91e7db75178bd3457becca2f5868/ed6b769f.jpg

[MS3ICA]

lol a civic is based on the same platform as my integra was...
Are you gonna say the same thing to me?

Theres a big difference when you put a lot of money and time in a car compared to just going out and buying it and leaving it stock.
Those little eg's can be made quick as fuck... the whole entire drivetrain from an integra gs-r bolts right in... Easy way to get right into the 13's or so... Add a turbo and you can break into the 11's or in some cases in the 10's pretty easy. I don't see whats whimpy about that...

I'm not bashing mazdas at all, I'm trying to get one, I'm just saying, hondas are easy as hell to mod, and when you do it, you get reallllyy attached. It's hard to let them go.

yeah, i had an integra it was great in its own way, but the ms3 is different beast.BETTER in every way!!!!

[numbnuts22715]

got a slip to prove this ??? very hard to believe on a 250 whp dc. I trust your #'s, but not your times. To many honda guys say, yeah, my car will run, blah blah blah, but never run it.

my 420 whp boosted h22 lude went 12.1 on slicks. T-72 Turbonetics Ball Bearing Turbo, Fully sleeved/built bottom end and $3000 into the head alone. All tuned on Hondata.... man i miss the Hondata/Crome dayz

For Reference:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid212/p3d3b91e7db75178bd3457becca2f5868/ed6b769f.jpg

I never went to the track, I'm just basing it on the kinds of cars and everything I beat. I really dont know for sure, but I know it wasnt any slower than like a 13. z28's with exhausts and stuff werent really a problem. They told me stock they run like a 12.9, so I'm really just guessing. If my guessimate is inaccurate, I apologize. I just know that my integra was quick, pretty torquey for a honda.. It gained over 100 wtq, and the turbo was fully spooled really low, and stayed spooled all the way to 8k. I only had the car turbo'd for like 3 months. I was planning on going to the track really soon since theres actually one really close to me.

But very nice with the prelude. I was about to buy one instead of the teg,but I just wanted a car that was a little smaller and lighter.

[CaSHMeRe]

no worries bud, i figured, most honda guys always do that...lol...

i used to be one of them and say i had a mid to bottom 11 second lude until i ran a 12.1 ... lol

either way, the MS3 is an awesome car. I truly love and enjoy every minute i have with mine!

good luck bud