Hey guys,

Does anyone have any experiences with the MS3? I'm thinking about trading in my current daily driver for one. Overall, it looks like a great car with a rather good price.

I searched around, but all the threads seem to be when the car was still brand new. Does anyone here own one or heard of experiences? Just wondering. I'm currently snooping around on the Mazda3 forums. It looks like it would be nice company with the Evo.

 

what are you trading in?

there have been some MS3s that have run deep into the 13s with minor mods. Probably drives like an upscale SRT4.

At the end of the day, do you really want that much torque + FWD?

 

The car is sick i haveone and love it. This thing makes mad torque! Interior is a pleasure to be in for a DD very comfortable.

 

My current daily driver is a Galant. Though if I got the MS3, I would probably leave it mostly stock. No need in making it faster than it already is. The Evo is there for a reason .

1BAD4DR, how's the ride? Is it smooth or do you feel the daily bumps and whatnot of daily life?

 

One of my buddies has one. It rides a bit softer than the Evo, and has a little more body roll, but it's certainly no slouch. Spools up very quickly. Torque steer isn't much of an issue because the ECU limits the torque in 1st and 2nd.

Overall, it's a great car. I'd even say that its a better daily driver than the Evo.

 

I've only test driven it, but I'd prefer a GTI over the MS3, I know it has less power but the spool up is way more quick and ride is more sporty without sacrificing the daily-driver feel.

I also didn't really enjoy having the ECU limit power in first and second. It makes the acceleration in those gears dissapointing at best.

If I were you I'd test drive it and a bunch of other cars. Take your time and get the car you like the best.

 

I think the MS3 falls right in between the EVO and GTI with respect to performance/(nice stuff comfort). The EVO is performance biased. The GTI is nice stuff comfort biased. The MS3 falls in between. The MS3 will kick the GTIs butt around a race track.

 

My roommate has the MS3 and its a really sweet car. Its nice inside and out, and it feels VERY fast. Its very detuned from the factory so it responds to mods very well. As far as the limited boost in 1st and 2nd, that goes away real easy with a performance ECU flash. The roomy just has an intake on his and it feels faster than my evo to me. The only drawback of it to me is that im not a hatchback fan. GTI looks cool, but never met a VW owner that didnt complain of reliability issues. Im sure they are fine if you leave em stock and can take it in and get it fixed for free.