aksilx

very nice, is that turbo?

usdmJON

Well congrats with your choice. Cant say a lot of us would have made the same one. But awesome. Enjoy your mazda man.
But I agree with trent. The gap was not intentional.
So in the end you trading the ilx in? What was its value and whats the new value of this and what does it have that the ilx didnt?

opboarding

Nooooooo spdandpwr you jumped ship on the ilx??? Is it because I called you sandpaper all the time? I promise I'll call you by your birth given username from now if you come back.

neveronlineilx

Congrats on the pick up. I actually ditched a 3 and went to the ILX (mine was not a speed though it was a touring, because it started out as my wifes). I could not stand the trunk size at all and I really was not super happy with the reliability of Mazda nor the customer service of the dealers near me (their prices are outrageous! for service and oil changes...LOL).

As far as my front grill I will see what my dealer does when I bring it in for the oil change and squeaky brakes. Im not in no hurry because Im at 50% for oil and I know the brakes are good just squeaking.

spdandpwr

It wasn't the easiest or most rational choice, believe me. The ILX was/is a GREAT car and, to this day, I still don't know why people rag on it.

But, here's what it came down to:
- ILX was being offered for $22,500 on trade in (with the damage it had)
- I needed to make $500 in repairs (not covered by insurance from accident); plus wait for it to be repaired from the accident -- the quality of those repairs had me worried
- Modifying the car to the standard I wanted required $850 springs/suspension and $1200 for lsd (prices are with installation)
- At the rate I was driving, I'd be over mileage by $3500 at the end of the lease term if I wanted to turn the car in

Thus, I was thinking...what's a high performance car that's inexpensive and offers similar tech. The options came down to the following:
- Ford Focus ST
- VW GTI
- MazdaSpeed 3 w/ Tech

Both the GTI and the Focus were way overpriced, coming in at 1k or more above the Mazda's MSRP when similarly equipped (and, even then, they did not have all of the features of the Mazda). Mazda was also offering a $1,500 rebate and I managed to get the car for 24,600 before TTL. After my down payment, I was rolling in 4k of negative equity which is outweighed by the price of the mileage surplus I'd pay, the fact that I now have nav, and the cost of modding the ilx to get more performance out of it.

I wouldn't normally recommend a decision to trade down from such a great car, but, in my case, the numbers worked in my favor.

aksilx

good choice on the 3, you're going to love the turbo.

Once you go boost it's hard to go back to NA hahahaha

usdmJON

I guess I dont understand why the ilx needs to be lower than the speed3 to enjoy it. I guess I understand the lsd thing but with our open diff its the same unless youre cornering so hard the wheel on the open end (yeah I dont know the correct terminology) I dont think anyone drives their ilx that hard yet.

Driving the ilx hard in mind. I got a ticket yesterday.
Ill describe it more in my thread later but long story short a 65 in a 45 turned into just a no front plate and front side window tint. Fromm 400+ to. 15 $ court fee. Awesome.

neveronlineilx

Out of those three I would have went with the 3 too. I have always been one of the few whomm actually thing Mazda went too big on the power it an awesome car performance wise but it just doesnt hook. I think the car would perform better with a more linear turbo, or some waaaaaaaaay stickier tires...LOL!!!

I like the look of the Focus and I could probably get a great deal on one thru my brother in law (works at a dealer) but I have never been a big fan of ford so that alone would have killed it for me.

VW I have heard/seen/and witnessed to many horror storries to go that route... I know there are hardcore VW fans out there but most of them have been plagued with electrical issues aas well as other problems with them.

Good Choice hope you enjoy it!!!

usdmJON

And the suspension you were looking at... that honda performance suspension. Was shit and waaaay over priced. Honestly, you cant feel our open diff verse full lsd. Just cant. Car isnt being run hard enough in the right settings. Suspension should have only cost 250 before install because the springs we have will make your car look better than the honda performance suspension and probably allow for less body roll too.

But honestly it sounds like the mazda is right for you. Seems you wanted something a bit more because racecar than because luxurysedan. And no doubt it looka great. Just not a mazda guy. Never will be. I would have picked up the vw myself.

spdandpwr

I had a vw before and like the power delivery (check my sig), but the Mazda was just a much better package. 30k for a GTI is insane.

Regarding the suspension I was going with, I wanted a reliable stock-ish alternative. People have had good reviews on the HFP and it would provide neutral handling characteristics inherent with a well-tuned suspensions. Driving the ILX at triple digit speeds isn't confidence inspiring, the car feels very loose on the road (the feeling is exacerbated by the light steering that gives the car a twitchy feeling).

The ILX is great, but I feel like because of the predicament I was in with mileage and repairs, I would lose out if I didn't dump it. Especially with the inception of the 2014s.

JMJ3rd

Congrats on your new car!

spdandpwr

It's definitely all your fault

spdandpwr

Thanks!

usdmJON

Wtf triple digits? Yeah thats not what the ilx was made for at all. Yeah sure theres the endurance and street build ilxs but those have heavy work done. You totally wanted a race car; not a luxury sedan.
Any more shots or plans for the mazda?

JMJ3rd

I thought it was just me, but you nailed it!

JMJ3rd

Anyways, now that the front is fixed, the ClearBra gets installed tomorrow! I'm on nights tonight, so tomorrow will be a long day.

usdmJON

Damn. I thought I was unsafe. Glad none of you live where you could endanger someone I love.

JMJ3rd

Closed road. No Traffic. You're safe.

chinoxii

OK is anyone here has 2 step/launch control on their ILX? I found out not too long ago that when my car is in full stop and I rev the engine up to 4500rpm it will bounce back and forth. I am pretty sure that my 8th civic didn't have that, I had to use my flashpro to have that feature. My car is 2.4 6spd ILX.

kurtatx

I was considering a Speed3, too. However, for me it came down to I wanted a more premium feel for a car that was going to have to last seven or eight years. also, the pitiful gas mileage and such.

neveronlineilx

Was the engine cold? If you try and take a cold engine into vtec it will not let you till engine temps get up there a little bit and oil pressure increases

I doubt it actually has a 2step thats why I ask

Trentimus

The ILX does have a rev limit and recovery on launch. Adjustable with FlashPro.

neveronlineilx

Thats funny I have revved it a few times and never experienced it, I guess I never revved it past 4500... Thanks for the info Trentimus

spdandpwr

There's flashpro for the ilx that'll do exactly what you're asking for http://www.heeltoeauto.com/hondata-f...roductid=66157

spdandpwr

He's right. The 8th civic also had this from the factory. It's only when you're completely stopped...when you're rolling you can go to any rpm.

spdandpwr

The mpg is definitely not stellar compared to my ilx. But, when driven conservatively (like I did with the ilx) and on colder (less than 80 degree) weather, I can get similar mid mpg readings. On a 25 cruise through suburbia I averaged 35.1 in the speed with an average speed of 35 mph. The ilx on the same route was about 36.4

Trentimus

Yeah you have to be dead stop, 1st gear and revving

chinoxii

Engine is completely warmed up.


I still drive my civic and after I sold my supercharger, I went back to stock tune and now I dont have a launch control. I am pretty sure stock si didn't come with this. Does this mean that our ecu is more performance tuned compared to civic si?

Trentimus

Our ECU is more performance oriented, yes. Less rev hang and launch limiter(maybe on 9th gen civic)

chinoxii

Here's the video...

JMJ3rd

Is that the stock exhaust?

usdmJON

I believe so. Doesn't sound that loud for revvin it like that with the windows open. The ambient noise seems loud as well.

chinoxii

Yes, all stock.

Timmy18

I think this is just a plane ole Honda style rev limiter. You could use it as launch control, but it wouldn't be ideal. Too much wear and tear on your drive train plus those RPM's are right where the engine makes all of it's torque, so wheel spin and hop would be worse then a skilled 2,500RPM launch.

My 04 TSX 5AT has a rev limiter at 5,000RPM's. The CR-Z, Insight, everything from Honda even bounces off a 4,500 RPM mark like this. Why would the Hybrids have launch control? lol.

Would be nice to see what it does if you do drop the clutch. Leave TCS on. Maybe the ECU knows how to deal with the wheel spin form those RPM's. Then do a regular launch with and without TCS on and see which is faster of the three. I'm not paying for a new clutch though.

usdmJON

JMJ3rd

ClearBra and the paint treatment came out great. She looks very beautiful all cleaned up and polished. Sure wish the springs were on her. That would really seal the deal! I'll get pics when it quits raining.

Road trip to Richmond, Texas tomorrow. No less than three to four hours of driving, total.

chrisdonnelly

finally got to lowering my car. long story short.. both axles came out and it took forever to get them back in! (two days) had to call a friend of a friend to help us. but I also did plastidipped the wheels, emblems, and grille! now I'm all PMM'd out lol

sorry my car is disgustingly dirty in this picture!

usdmJON

Did you use any gloss anywhere? Looks good.

chrisdonnelly

I did not, I kind of want to now though. looks kind of dull. I did one layer on the wheels though.

JMJ3rd

It looks really good! Get a good side view of it! What springs did you use?