Looking at buying a 2 soon and had a question...

its not the steering wheel controls that I like, its the feel of the leather wheel. I don't mind at all reaching my arm out to change the radio, im not THAT lazy.

And the 5 sport does have the steering wheel controls, but no leather wrap. Feels slippery compared to mine.
 
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as a sport owner and as a person that likes to modify his car, i opted for the Sport instead of the Touring.

I did this knowing that when I put my aftermarket stereo in, the steering wheel controls would no longer work. Now, there ARE adapters and such that can allow them to work, but when you switch out the headunit, I believe you also lose the full functionality of the display and you will be stuck on whatever you leave it on. IE Temp stays temp for the rest of your existence unless you install the stock headunit back in.

CC to me was kind of whatever, and I knew that most DBW(Drive by Wire) cars nowadays you can install aftermarket CC units because they're pretty much all built in already, you just needed a controller as someone else mentioned.

I planned on swapping the rims, so no need for alloys there. The seats in the Sport are comfortable and I don't think the Touring is any different just the different design. Leather wrapped steering wheel....meh....

$1500 isn't too much so it's definitely something to consider. Having everything already installed OEM is much preferrable and soooooo much less of a headache. Question really is...do you want to spend the money.
 
My points exactly.
Everything that is "extra" I've replaced for a lot cheaper than $1,500.
New wheels, DVD Head Unit, and I'm going to have seats fabricated. So to each their own I suppose.
 
Well, I don't care about the audio stuff. I've never changed from the oem audio system, if the car had it, because I just don't care that much. I just want it to work. lol The steering wheel controls I could also care less about, because I would probably rarely use them for the radio over reaching my hand over. The leather wrapped wheel is a want, though, as are the seats. So, really, if I could hand build a 2 with only cc controls on a leather wheel and have the nicer seats, I would be happy not having the spoiler, fogs or alloys. However, I'm more than willing to spend the extra money for the convenience of having what I want already installed. The rest is bonus stuff.
 
eyeballs said:
its not the steering wheel controls that I like, its the feel of the leather wheel. I don't mind at all reaching my arm out to change the radio, im not THAT lazy.

And the 5 sport does have the steering wheel controls, but no leather wrap. Feels slippery compared to mine.
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Haha, no implications meant. I just wanted to give the OP an opinion from the minority.
 
Being a relatively new 2 owner, let me give my opinion here.

My first Mazda was a totally base model MZ3. I still have it to this day. By base I mean totally base. It was fun for cheap thrills for a while, but then certain things started to get old to me. Then I got the MS3 and the base model is an overload of controls and different options. It's borderline space ship in there, but all I do is drive it like a race car so most of that doesn't matter to me at this point again.

I went to the dealer looking for a daily driver. I might mod it, I might not. It's in the air. What I did recognize was that the touring model had a lot of comfort offered over the sport model as far as the driver is concerned. The small touches are really what makes the difference. I drove both before I made a decision and I immediately didn't like the seats in the sport model. Call me crazy, but I thought they were just... too stiff. Then there are the other bits like the alloy wheels and leather steering wheel that all just add up a bit. That and fog lights. They are awesome fog lights in the 2. Not like the nearly cosmetic only ones in the 3 platform. Other than that, they drove the same. For the price difference, it just made sense.

It quickly became a no-brainer to me that the touring model was the choice for a daily driver. If you are looking to run the car B-Spec, you want the sport model.
 
PassivAggressor said:
As a sport owner, I regret not having cruise control and a leather wheel.
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same here, i didnt think not having CC would be that big of deal but makes it a pain when driving out of town on the highway...but i also have the speed3 and my gf's mazda3 with all the bells and whistles so its not like im stuck without CC or steering wheel controls
 
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I agree on all points. Once I sat and drove in the touring, I knew that was the better choice for me.

daustin said:
Being a relatively new 2 owner, let me give my opinion here.

My first Mazda was a totally base model MZ3. I still have it to this day. By base I mean totally base. It was fun for cheap thrills for a while, but then certain things started to get old to me. Then I got the MS3 and the base model is an overload of controls and different options. It's borderline space ship in there, but all I do is drive it like a race car so most of that doesn't matter to me at this point again.

I went to the dealer looking for a daily driver. I might mod it, I might not. It's in the air. What I did recognize was that the touring model had a lot of comfort offered over the sport model as far as the driver is concerned. The small touches are really what makes the difference. I drove both before I made a decision and I immediately didn't like the seats in the sport model. Call me crazy, but I thought they were just... too stiff. Then there are the other bits like the alloy wheels and leather steering wheel that all just add up a bit. That and fog lights. They are awesome fog lights in the 2. Not like the nearly cosmetic only ones in the 3 platform. Other than that, they drove the same. For the price difference, it just made sense.

It quickly became a no-brainer to me that the touring model was the choice for a daily driver. If you are looking to run the car B-Spec, you want the sport model.
Click to expand...
 
Touring all the way. Get the 5-speed also. The shifter is unquestionably one of the finest feeling shifters around. I cannot imagine driving this car with anything other than a manual shift. Now go get you one.
 
I always replace my stock wheels on my cars.
I knew I wouldn't ever use Cruise Control.
Every trip computer I've owned has lied to me!
I don't like silly red piping on seats.
I'm not a big fan of the appearance of the fog lights on this car either (the silver bezel-ring kills it for me) and I know from past cars with fog lights that these don't make that much of a difference in vision.
Steering wheel-controls radio controls are wack especially when the radio is 6 inches from your hand and closer if you're shifting, and in general I want to replace the steering wheel eventually, too..
I wanted a sportier looking spoiler if I ever did get one, too.

So, the sport was the choice for me, but if all of those options are something that makes it or breaks it for you, there you go.
 
samsavell said:
I always replace my stock wheels on my cars.
I knew I wouldn't ever use Cruise Control.
Every trip computer I've owned has lied to me!
I don't like silly red piping on seats.
I'm not a big fan of the appearance of the fog lights on this car either (the silver bezel-ring kills it for me) and I know from past cars with fog lights that these don't make that much of a difference in vision.
Steering wheel-controls radio controls are wack especially when the radio is 6 inches from your hand and closer if you're shifting, and in general I want to replace the steering wheel eventually, too..
I wanted a sportier looking spoiler if I ever did get one, too.

So, the sport was the choice for me, but if all of those options are something that makes it or breaks it for you, there you go.
Click to expand...

I second all of the above.
 
I like the steering wheel controls, not because I'm lazy, but because using the ones on the head unit means taking my attention off of driving and on to finding buttons and that could end pretty badly.

Personally I feel like the car just seems incomplete without the Touring stuff, especially the spoiler. My friend has a Sport and the different interior and plastic wheel aren't any fun either.

I don't know where some of you guys live that you feel comfortable putting a $1000 in-dash unit in an economy car. These things are easy to break into and even if your home is safe, other places you might park probably aren't. I'd do one myself if I didn't think it'd last all of about six hours before getting jacked.
 
I love the interior of the touring and envy those with cruise control. I bought a sport because I'm a cheap ass.
 
SubCompactor said:
Touring all the way. Get the 5-speed also. The shifter is unquestionably one of the finest feeling shifters around. I cannot imagine driving this car with anything other than a manual shift. Now go get you one.
Click to expand...

It feels even better with a short shifter (sssh)

-Derrick
 
I could cheap out and buy a new sport, but the misses is having none of, "But, I can get cruise control from the aftermarket.", so it looks like I'm going for a touring. I found an alright looking, certified pre-owned 2012 for $12,9XX. Gonna try to talk them into that price out-the-door since it was obviously modified by the previous owner. Black rear badge, garish red caliper paint and it appears to be completely missing the stock intake that I'm going to have to replace (if they already haven't) and/or change. I really want the certified warranty. I've got plenty of ammo for them, I think.

-Decent cash down payment
-They're slow sellers (1100 brand new units per month)
-It's been previously modified
-I could easily spend $700 less on a new sport somewhere else
 
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I don't think it's worth buying the used one, honestly. I paid under 15k OTD for my Touring, and if you're financing the $2k difference is almost negligible in your monthly payments. A modified car that was traded in that quickly tends not to have been treated very well and will probably be nothing but trouble. You also get your choice of color, don't have to fix the messed up parts, get a full new car warranty, and get USB iPod/etc connectivity if you just buy a new '13.
 
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