So I am getting married in a couple months, and my fiance is driving a 97 Accord with 177k miles on it. So she wanted a Yaris, and I wasn't quite content with that decision. So I introduced her the Mazdaspeed 3. She fell in love with it and won't look at a Yaris now. I am closing on a house at the end of the month so I can't cosign until after the closing, but we went and looked anyways. We found two at a Mazda dealer in Gwinnett. The salesman comes out and asks if we would like to test drive. I say sure, he tells me the only cars that can keep up with it are cars like my Evo, I didn't correct him at this point. The car is really nice and will be great for my fiance, but it is no STi or Evo like the salesman was claiming, but that's fine. It has some other points that will make it a great second car. Power was good, interior was excellent, and the ride quality was nice. I finally had to say listen my car is an STi, not an Evo. I don't think he knew the difference. Anyways, the Speed 3 will be joining the family as soon as I get my house.
a friend of mine and Jason's has one. nice car. he claims its as quick as a stock 04-07 STi. IMO its CLOSE. but for a stock FF car, its a great buy. only thing i remember him saying they are having trouble with is the aftermarket tuning of the direct injection system. he said people were bolting on bigger turbos and fuel pumps, but there wasnt any injector upgrades and they would blow the engines rather regularly. but for your intents and purposes, it should be a great buy. I would hold out for the 2010 models, they are going to be faster, and have better suspensions IIRC. not to mention they look great
I have always loved tha mazda 3...ALmost bought a speed 3 instead of my Legacy but it was just a little too small for my bikes and kids.
edit: found a few articles: http://www.motortrend.com/future/spied_vehicles/112_0810_2010_mazda_mazdaspeed3_spied/index.html
Damn Robert, no wonder you haven't been posting lately, been a busy boy. Congrats on the house, fiance, and the MS3.
The speed3 is a GREAT Package for the price. You should be able to deal as this is the last year with that body style, the new Mazda3's are even nicer and there will be a new Speed version of that as well...
Ya they are nice! My girl friend started a grand am. Then a jeep wrangler. Then a scion tc 2nd 1 in ga. I got the sti and she wanted a turbo. So we got a srt-4. Now a evo mr. And now she talking cayenne turbo dam! So the moral of the story is be careful what u show her cuz she'll want more! Lol
Haha, ya I showed her the Evo X, and she really liked it. So now I am trying to keep her focused on the Speed 3. I am considering waiting for the new speed 3 to come out, but we will have to see.
Ya we almost got a x! The trunk was 2 small. I think that the evo was the best car that we've had except the sti of course! Just be sure that it is a great car for the long haul just like ur marriage will be! Good luck and congrats!
I didn't think the new speed 3 was going to be released until 2011 at the earliest? Anyway, is your fiance a guy? I just always assumed you were...well, look at your sig and you can figure that one out yourself.
Haha, ya despite my sig I am marrying a woman. I was trying to be ironic, everyone always has some bad ass sig with some shot of their headlight or doing some badass pose in front of their car, so I figured I would go for the gayest sig on wrxatl, I think I accomplished that. I think we are gonna go ahead and get the current speed 3, hopefully there will still be some new ones left in a month or so.
Good luck with the new car and marriage. I really like the MS3s and want one myself. That will probably be my next car. Will she be autoxing it with you? DS?
nice dude!! I've seen a couple trade in's for stupid cheap with decent miles on them...something else to consider right now.
She said no autocross with her car, but she doesn't know what autocross is, I plan on introducing her this month. Like everyone else she says you aren't wrecking my car, but once they see how safe it is they change their minds. I saw Carmax had some with about 9k on them for about $19k so that is always an option.
Awesome, I hope to see you guys out there. I think the MS3 is a great deal for what you get. The interior is really nice and it's a fun, functional and fast car ps I totally dig your sig pic
I really liked the MS3. Some of the styling in the interior bugged me. I don't like the way the display in the dash worked. The handling, power, price and practicality was great though. As gotsol said, the GTI is a really nice package for about the same price new. You don't get the power or as much grip as the MS3 but the interior is much better and it does drive extremely well.
Just updating, we bought a Red MS3 last week and we love it. It's so much easier to drive around than the STi, but still provides a fun driving experience. While it's not as fast as my STi, I would say it's fast enough for her. It is pretty impressive on the handling side too. I had a little torque steer at one point but that's the biggest downside. So far though I am loving it, and on the highway I am getting about 35 miles to the gallon on average, which is not that bad. Only surprise is finding out Danielle is pregnant 3 days after buying it, but I think it will serve well as a little family car.
damn...congratz on the house, the car, the fiance and the baby...did i leave anything out? now its time to slow down!
:eek3: A baby... cool... yeah... hnoes: Hahaha... Kidding. I hear they're the best gift ever. And you should have gotten her a Forester! I hear they're the ultimate girl car.
Well, I didn't ever say that *straight* girls love them! That probably explains why for some reason when I get behind the wheel I have the overwhelming urge to get fish tacos for dinner... what's up with that? http://jalopnik.com/5139493/the-top-11-cars-of-2009-most-likely-to-get-you-laid
I drove an old roommate's MS3 and didn't like it much. It feels powerful but both the torque steer and the wacky clutch engagement is not fun. I'm sure they fixed the clutch already. But, it IS a lot of "boot" space and you're gonna need it soon enough. Congrats on all the good stuff happening in life man! Enjoy your life while you can cause it'll stop once you the baby pops out.
Why dont you bring both the STi and MS3 out to the dyno day and have a little competition to yourself? http://www.wrxatlanta.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24095 Be there!