Mazdaspeed or Spec V

RuggedMazda

Member
:
03 MazdaSpeed, 93 Supra TT RC toy.
Hey everyone, today I put a deposit on a Mazdaspeed ( I think
I was lucky to find a dealer that would refund my money if I was
not satisfied). Anyway I was looking at a Spec V & I did get to test
drive one. It was very impressive & handled very well IMO.
I also went to the forum for the spec v's & read alot about them & what the owners thought about them ( got some mix feelings though). So my main question is they ( spec V onwers) say that
the internals of the Mazdaspeed are at the max with this turbo,
is this true? I mean to me the Mazdaspeed should be a nice platform to start with & I do want to mod it in the future.
If anyone can give some info on this it would greatly help me in my final decision. Thanks....
 
Do a search form "Sentra" or "Spec-V". This has been discussed to death. The short answer is: you want a Mazdaspeed Protege.
So my main question is they ( spec V onwers) say that
the internals of the Mazdaspeed are at the max with this turbo,
is this true?
No.:rolleyes:
 
somewhere in a thread on this forum, someone posted something, saying basically during development, engineers upped the boost of the MS Protege to produce over 250HP with stock internals with no problem. It was the tranny that had problem handling all that torque, so they downtuned it to retain good reliability....

can you say boost controller? ;) :D
 
The Mazdaspeed will be right up alongside the Spec V in terms of performance.

Handling, I'd really have to say it's got the Spec V there by a fair bit.

Looks....well the orange color might not be my favorite, but the body styling on the Mazdaspeed(and MP3 of course) are just top-notch...it's just a very good looking car. Add in some very nice Racing Hart rims and you are doing good.

Interior - once again the Mazdaspeed has the Spec V beat hands down...maybe the new Spec V looks better than the old, but I still say the MSP looks far better...and with an awesome stereo system that blows away the Spec V one.

Having a factory installed turbo does mean the door is open more for some mods that will seriously up your performance a lot quicker than the naturally aspirated Spec V.

Finally, don't forget the fact you'll be driving a car that is not only very limited whereas the Spec V is cropping up everywhere, you get a car that is visually separated from a normal Protege while the Spec V for the most part still looks pretty much the exact same as it's other trim types.

Can you tell which car I prefer? :)
 
Hey guys thanks for the info & I will do a search.
It's great to know that the car has good potential as I
thought it would. I also feel the same about the looks
of the mazda as to the spec & thats why I have the money
down......Thanks again.......
 
SCC listed the first 3 mods they would do to this car, and indicated they expected to see significant performance gains out of eachof them.
1. Exhaust
2. Bigger intercooler
3. Boost Controller

I was thinking the engine may already be tuned to the max, but it certainly doesnt appear that way
 
im starting to hesitate myself on this one. if the MSP comes in in october and is priced around $25,000 CDN then ill get it but if it isnt then i think a slightly larger SER for $21,500 is a much better purchase.
 
MSpeed said:
im starting to hesitate myself on this one. if the MSP comes in in october and is priced around $25,000 CDN then ill get it but if it isnt then i think a slightly larger SER for $21,500 is a much better purchase.

Do you mean a regular SER or a Spec V? If it is the Spec V, I believe my friends got theirs for around 24,000 with the sound system and all the goodies. I'm thinking almost certainly tho that the MSP will be more than 25,000 Canadian...the MP3 was 18,500 US and came to about 24,500 Canadian...can't see the MSP only being that little more.
 
speaking in USD, the MSP will have 20,500 on the sticker (if its on the lot long enough for the sticker to get printed out, and assuming the dealer isnt charging over MSRP) and I have seen spec-Vs around here for 17,500 on the sticker
 
yea bigblue im talkin about the spec v. with sunroof, spoiler and system its $24,500 but without that "sport package" the spec v is $21,500. i even managed to talk my local dealer down to $21,000 flat for a new 2003 model in under 15 mins. i would much rather have a MSP but lets face it... its just a protege and too much is too much
 
MSpeed said:
yea bigblue im talkin about the spec v. with sunroof, spoiler and system its $24,500 but without that "sport package" the spec v is $21,500. i even managed to talk my local dealer down to $21,000 flat for a new 2003 model in under 15 mins. i would much rather have a MSP but lets face it... its just a protege and too much is too much

hehe just a protege...hmm fine cool with me, more of them for us who really want them then :D
 
The Spec V is just a sentra...on factory crack.

Spec V is a good car at a great price...but the MSP is now the overall fwd top dog.
 
The US MSRP prices being: $18,540 for mp3, $20,500 for ms-p (both include freight)

so prices w/o freight are:
$18,020 for mp3
$19,980 for ms-p

Canadian MSRP for the mp3 w/o freight is:
$23,795

do some algebra:
19,980/18,020 = x/23,795

and you solve for x to get:
x = $26,383

so my guess is that the price will be somewhere from $25,500 or so to about $26,500
 
sleeper_ said:
The US MSRP prices being: $18,540 for mp3, $20,500 for ms-p (both include freight)

so prices w/o freight are:
$18,020 for mp3
$19,980 for ms-p

Canadian MSRP for the mp3 w/o freight is:
$23,795

do some algebra:
19,980/18,020 = x/23,795

and you solve for x to get:
x = $26,383

so my guess is that the price will be somewhere from $25,500 or so to about $26,500

I'm in the exact same boat. Spec V or Mazdaspeed?

Here's what I came up with.

MSP MSRP hopefully will be $25,500-$26,500. Spec V (has to be a Spec V because of the LSD (helical) and has to have the $2,500 options package to really compare with the MSP - ABS is nice) would be $24,500.

Then I throw on the $750 discount from Mazda's Graduate program. Sure I pay tax on the $750, so it's more like $650 savings. That'll hopefully bring the MSP down to $24,850-$25,850.

From there, here's how I rated the cars:
Styling/colours - both are about the same in my eyes - no points here
Performance - MSP is faster, awesome 0-60 time for the price, 6th gear is kinda cool, but fairly useless
Handling - MSP, I was pretty impressed when I test drove the Spec V but as long as the MSP isn't too far off the MP3, it should still be better
Stereo - MP3/CD vs CD. I can live with getting used to the small buttons vs. not having MP3 playability at all. MSP again.
Fuel efficiency - unknown - 2.0 Turbo vs. 2.5 NA. Anybody have any thoughts?

So I'm going with the MSP, depending on MSRP.
 
im with you odp but i would rather opt for the base ser spec v. ill just put an aftermarket crazy stereo in later and i can definately live without a sunroof or the spoiler which doesnt really appeal to me. i would get the ABS though... winters and all :D

all in all im expecting to spend $22,000 CDN flat for a 03 before taxes and crap. i still want the MSP but not if its up in the $27,000 :eek: range. just hope that it wont be. either way im good cause the 03 doesnt come out for another month and thats about the same time that the MSP should be here so ill have one or the other either way :)
 
Sorry to talk about the Spec V here . . .

I remember hearing a rumour about them bringing the ABS option to Canada for the Spec V, but still unsure. A couple @ freshalloy.com have driven '03 Spec V's and they say they're quite different.
 
yea thats what i heard. the tranny is completely different and the motor is alot smoother and has been slightly redesigned, guess ill have to try one out :D
 
I used to own a 92 SE-R (and still would if not for a certain uninsured driver that rear-ended me) and loved it, but the current generation is not the same in the handling dept. Can you say "solid rear axle"? (Nissan's "multilink beam" is designed to save money, increase interior room and understeer for the lawyers, NOT to drive around cones). Aesthetically, the SE-R is butt-ugly, especially the droopy hamster butt (the Jap-spec Sentras look better). I would be the first to rush out and get a new 94 SE-R if they still sold one, but the current Sentras are a cost-cutting compromise. I think SCC noted that when the Nissan HP hype cleared and they did finally test a SE-R Spec V, the 2000 Sentra SE (with the original SE-R SR20DE motor) was faster!

The current Proteges have a much better designed chassis and suspension, and much better looking. You do get a price cut and more bells and whistles with the SE-R though.
 

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