My submissions to the thread, sold/traded my BMW 335i Coupe and Mazda 3 Hatch for these two. Had a baby and had to get rid of the coupe. Happy we had a healthy baby boy, sad I had to get rid of my coupe, but for the price and performance I'm happy with the MS3.

 

le 1.8

but i won't be spending the time to make it le epic lol

just replacing the current motor and since while i'm at it.. little things here and there like finally putting in the exhintake mod that i've had sitting on my desk for couple of months now. lol

motor has 62k miles vs my current 179k miles with too many issues i don't want to tackle.. lol

 

^ Ahhh, makes sense. I forgot they upped the displacement to 1.8L.

 

Recent news....someone hit mine at a theater. The rear of the car is mangled.

No note. No witnesses.

 

thats so effed up...

how bad is it.

 

 

Its drivable/fixable. Im taking it in tomorrow.

People suck.

 

Ugh sorry to hear about your rear end dude. Is that weird to say?

 

 

Damn that blows!!

 

Thanks for bringing up this thread.

Here is the Mazda 3 I bought on Friday. I'll have to get better photos, but for now:

Poor iPod photo, but it's an iTouring with the Skyactiv engine/system.


It's great to drive one of these again:


The instrument cluster's new color scheme:


So far I really like the car. It feels much faster to me than the specs suggest, especially on a nice set of curves. Part of the justification was finding something both fun and fuel efficient for my long commutes, but the car is far more fun and nimble than I expected.

I think the clutch take up is easier than the previous 3 I drove, but it's been a while.

 

^ Congrats man! It looks great and it's good to hear it feels faster than the specs say. The handling isn't a surprise though, it's a Mazda, it's what they do best. I'm sure you'll be seeing 40+mpgs on the highway. And I didn't even realize they were 6spds. Learn something new everday.

 

That's a pretty nice stable of Mazdas you have there! How do you like the CX-5? I've only heard great things about them. Looks killer in black btw.

 

hmm.. didn't know a mazda3 could be a fun car.. all i remember was the previous gen.. my friend hated it. lol

and the CX-5 looks good i would say.. hate the CX-7's look.

 

Thanks! We love the CX-5. The Skyactiv engine is "slow" but the driving dynamic makes up for it. The power is enough for a small crossover. My wife is getting about 27.5mpg, driving it hard. I'm sure we'd hit close to 30 if she stayed off the pedal a little.

 

That's pretty much right on par with all the reviews I've read. Nice that your SUV is getting better MPGs than my mid-sized sedan lol. I'm sure you feel my pain in that department with the MS3 though.

 

Hmmm I've seen that instrument panel in another car before

 

Thanks! I think making it a 6 speed helped raise the MPG rating, as sixth gear puts a 75 MPH cruising speed at a little over 2K. I also think the feeling that the car's faster than the specs suggest is helped by how nimble and eager it feels. Well, and a lot of people driving potent cars drive them slowly, so it really doesn't take much hp to carve through traffic.

So today I was heading into work, took some backroads with a lot of curves, hills and switchbacks, decided it was a James Brown kind of day, and had a great time driving into work and gettin' funky. Only danger with that is feeling so good that by the time I get to work I could lay a massive smooch on the first ultra-cool woman co-worker I see. Anyway, a couple of shots (I forgot I can't edit the original after a certain time).

 

Any plans on modding?

 

Carraway, I think you belong in a Mazda commercial. Congrats on the car!

 

I love 3s.

I really think Mazda is one of the only (mainstream) companies that I really like their whole lineup.

 

Flipster - I'm debating modding and will hold off at least until I know the car better. The first ones I'm considering are fairly boring, just the speakers and tires. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I want to see how the car would do with something more aggressive than the Bridgestone Turanzas.

The audio system isn't bad, but it's also not great and I'm used to replacing the stock system in cars. While doing so was fairly easy in all my other cars, removing this one would leave about 37 non-functioning buttons (give or take a couple dozen), so I'm looking at the speakers.

---
Aman - Thanks! I'm hoping the honeymoon period lasts for a long time. I'm also working on getting my skills with a manual back up. I haven't done anything embarrassing like stall it, but my heel-toes aren't too consistently smooth yet.

 

MarbleGT - When I was walking around the Mazda showroom while waiting for paperwork and the like, I was even looking at the CXs without feeling like they're trying to suck out my soul (like you get with most SUVs and minivans).

---

I'll try not to sound like a Mazda commercial, but if anyone is considering a 3, you may want to e-mail a dealer for an internet price. Mazda must have some pretty hefty dealer incentives, as the price was under TrueCar's dealer cost and far below invoice.

 

 

^^^Nice shot! The car looks great and I really like the brickwork on the house.

 

Congratulations on your baby, and your new Mazdas. The CX-5 was rated the number one little SUV in the latest issue of Car and Driver. "driving dynamics" was the main reason it won.

 

@SuperTrooper169 - Nice and clean, awesome pic!

@SlowLane - Thanks! Good to hear the CX-5 was on top, earlier this year/summer some other mags/sites consistently rated it second to others because of the "slow" engine.

 

Got to love the rotary. Purchased new 3/89, picture was taken last month. Fairly stock except for a Hallman MBC, 12 lbs, a GForce ECU, 3G fuel pump, wheels that we replaced in the early ninety's, precat removed, but still the factory OEM mufflers:

 

Wow beautiful RX-7! So freaking clean!!!

 

Very nice guys. I've been neglecting my Mazda for a bit. Didn't do anything new to it, but it's still running strong. Almost at 20k miles at the moment, and I had it for 3 years.

AND I LOVE THAT RX7

 

Thanks guys. Just wanted to add that is the original paint.
Car hasn't been in the rain since 1992 and never snow etc.

 

My wife will be in the market for a new vehicle next year. I told her about the CX-5 and she likes the sound of it, especially the skyactive MPGs. I on the other hand am kind of concerned with the lack of power since I'll be driving it on trips especially once we have another baby. The only other small SUV that stands out at me right now besides the CX-5 is the Rav4 V6 4x4. 269hp and 0-60 in the mid-6 second range still high-20 MPGs on the highway. The Rav4 also has a 3rd row seat where I don't believe the CX-5 does, right? It will be a tough decision between the handling/MPGs of the CX-5 and the power/reliability of the Rav4.

 

Was wondering where you've been! I haven't done much to mine besides the TMIC lately either. The only other mod on my list right now is a Sure Shortcut and weight, otherwise I'm 100% happy with the performance I have right now. 51,000 miles and counting (21,000 of those mine) and I still get a huge smile on my face everytime I'm in boost.

 

Lowered yet?

 

 

Between the wife and I...in the last say 8 years..

2005 Mazda 6 4 banger
2006 Mazdaspeed 6
2006 Mazda 3 5 Door
2012 Mazda 3 5 Door

Yea...we like um.

 

Hey! Yeah, I've been busy with work/married life/diablo 3. bahahaha

I'm 100% satisfied with the performance. It can definitely go much faster with pretty low budget but no point. You will love the Sure Shortcut and weight. It changes the shifting manner a lot. Much shorter and crispier.

I probably won't do anything else except the suspension mod.

I've gained about 5 pounds for the past 2 months. So, technically, yes, it's lowered.

 

Then the only thing lower is your potbelly over your belt.

 

 

hey hey hey i'm just a skinny tall asian