dre2600

I'll be putting down a deposit today for a 2005 Mazda 3s sedan, taking delivery in early October, the Civic just hasn't been the same since I rolled it and I fear impending problems, its been a good run, but it'll be nice having some extra displacement and switching from auto. to std. trans.

civicstyle82

iTrader: (1)

Sweet deal...the Mazda 3's are nice cars.

CdnSilverStreak

Which package/trim level are you getting?

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

Nice. Get some HID headlights for it.

dre2600

It'll be a Mazda 3 GT, which gives the 2.3L engine, which from what I've been reading is easy to extract HP from with minimal mods.

The HID headlights (and the nav. system) don't come as an option on Canadian models, only on American models.

MrWong

iTrader: (4)

If you roll a car don't they usually write it off?

Btw good choice on the Mazda, I drove one and I love the interior. The low end torque is nice too.

dre2600

The car approached write-off status, but didn't quite make it there, the fact that it rolled w. only ~5000km on it had something to do with that. That and the fact I was hoping on not having insanely high insurance rates for the next 5 years.

kornsined

iTrader: (7)

good choice. i thought they did come with hid's?

dre2600

Nope, HIDs are only an option on the American model, I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to import some though and fit the OEM variety yourself, or even buy an upgrade kit.

You can see if you check www.mazda.ca vs www.mazda.com and try to build a 3.

Blown

Congrats on the purchase, nice to see another civic owner go Mazda! However, from what I know there isn't many mods available for the Mazda3. And, there isn't such thing as easy HP(unless you own a turbo and you crank up the boost). I am speaking from experience. On my P5, with I/H/E, plugwires, and grounding Kit, I was only able to get about 18whp over stock.

dret

iTrader: (4)

congrats man... love the interior in those things compared to the civics... is it leather trim?

dre2600

Intakes with custom MAF sensors (because apparantly the ECU won't allow you to just plug in an intake and sometimes will throw a CEL) have produced upwards of 10whp on the dyno, but are still in R&D. Cam changing will be harder owing to the timing chain, but all in all I think one could conceivably add on a good deal of HP w. bolt ons to the 2.3. Also one might find limited parts interchangability from the SVT Focus owing to some platform similarities.

No, the leather trim felt kind of flimsy, its too slippy too. The cloth seats on the GT are nice, bolstering is good and you don't slide around.

JDMVTECB20

Intake - 1 hp
Header - 2 hp
Exhaust - 3 hp
Grounding kit - 0 hp <- better grounding = easier starting, less light dim with voltage drop.

18hp on bolt ons is wonderful if you really got it, I wouldn't complain. Those cars have a lot of front end space... turbo!

Stif2k2

Love the 3s.. .Congrats on the new whip.

OniChi

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on the new baby... hope to see it sometimes in the near future..

dre2600

The only thing thats odd about the block on the 3 is that there is no VTEC-like variable valve system, instead they have a variable intake system. That is to say, there is no high/low cam profile, its rather odd.

JDMVTECB20, do you mean to say that those are the gains one should expect from modding a 3. Early dynos of the 3 w. exhaust, cold air intake and header have shown results closer to the figure I quoted. Theres not much aftermarket support, but I'm optimistic, apparantly they're selling very well, me, I've got to wait until Oct. before mine is delivered, damn 05s.

Blue-Wolf

iTrader: (1)

Those are really sharp looking cars, for sure. I was tempted to get an older one before the civic. I opted for the Civic tho cause of the price mainly.

kornsined

iTrader: (7)

what kind of lights are those? i just always thought those were hid's.

dre2600

But the base Madza 3 is only $17,500, thats less than the Vic and you get a 2.0L 148hp engine. The GT I'm picking up has the 2.3L and it was only $22,500 or so, whereas my Si-G, w. tax and ext. warranty and all that was more than 22.5k.

They're halogen lights. HIDs are not an option here, I guess they figure us poor Canadian can't afford them.

Btw, if anyone knows someone who'd like to buy a blue Civic Si-G coupe w. 45k on it and an extended warranty drop me a PM.

Blown

The protege5 both has VTCS and VICS. (variable tumble control system & variable intake control system). Both of which help with low-end torque and highend HP. What has changed with the Mazda3 engine then? Bigger displacement and sequential valve timing. But, I question Mazda's HP sometimes. They screwed up on the RX-8 already and what else?

It will take a least a couple of years for parts to come out for your car. It's been 4yrs now since the P5 has been in production and the parts are just coming out. So, be patient about them.

kornsined

iTrader: (7)

Yeah for my 04 SI-G I paid 21.5k before tax. After it equalled out to 23.1k with all the taxes and garbage.

MrWong

iTrader: (4)

Are you using your car as a trade in? If so how much did the dealer give you?

dre2600

My car has about 45k on it, and its a 2003, the dealer offered me only $16,500 for it, which I think is shyte, owing to the fact that the car has very little wear on it. Consequently I've been trying to sell it privately, I figure I can maybe get $2k or so more for it, becaus you see used Civics going for about that much on car dealer lots and they don't have things like a 7yr. ext. warranty.

And Blown, I don't think Mazda screwed up the RX-8, its a beautiful car, but they had to make it economically viable because the 2seater sportscar market is a competitive segment. Also, they've improved things other than displacement, the new 2.0L on the base Mazda 3 puts out 148HP and has been noted for its good acceleration and smooth running, this would be an improvment from the 130HP on the last model of Protege.

The new chasis has some parts availability. For example, an LSD from the Protege can be fitted onto the tranny of the 3 owing to similarities, and I've heard that certain suspension components from the SVT Focus, and though I do hate Fords, you can't argue that their suspension setups can be pretty impressive.

Blown

I got the same deal on my civic when I traded it in. Thing is, when you trade in, you only pay GST on the portion that's left. However, when you sell privately, you have to pay GST on the whole car. Sure, you might get $1500+ more on a private sale but you'll have to pay $1200+ more on GST and wait until you sale the car. Sometimes, trading in is a sweet deal.

Mazda did screw up on the RX-8. It was supposed to be 250bhp and in reality it's only 238bhp. Also, Mazda wasn't given as much control over the design of the RX8 as they would have liked. And, from a lot of us are seeing dyno'ing the proteges, Mazda has over-rated their engines in power.

Mazda makes a better handling car than ford anyday. And, what I've seen/raced on the street, the new Mazda3 is slower than the Protege. Mazda made the new car bigger and more refined. Which means it's heavier and slower.

dre2600

Well, I wouldn't necessarily be paying the GST, as I'm not buying it, that would be the buyer, so in the end I wind up with only 1-2k more than the dealer would give me and thats not necessarily so bad. Sometimes trading is sweet, but when your car is produced in as much volume as Civics are, sometimes you get shafted =\

I don't think they screwed up the RX8, in terms of horsepower rating, the RX7 (and RX8) weren't exactly straight line monsters, they were cars designed to hug the turns and they do that job very well. As such, the current RX8, with its most excellent weight distribution is certainly not a failure. And just wait until Mazdaspeed has it's way with the engine of the RX8 to see increased power output. The good thing about Mazda (as opposed say, to Honda) is that they have in-house tuning.

I really wouldn't say the new Mazda3 is slower than the Protege. I've been trolling the Mazda3 boards and a guy ran 15.3 w. only a CAI (vid: http://members.optushome.com.au/louiselau/mandeerun.avi ,vid may or may not work, server has been sporadic). Runing a time like that sure is faster than the previous gen. Protege, as for added wright, though that has been decried by quite a few people, its been made up for by better handling (improved suspension, more rigid chasis). Maybe the base model 3 is with the 2.0L engine, but the 2.3L will give you a run for your money and competes directly w. the Civic SiR (which has a less friendly power curve and less torque, but less weight and superior gearing).

Blown

Man, you don't understand. With a private sale, lets say you get $18K(very generous) for your car. So, you take that $18K to purchase a $22,500 car. The bottom of the line price is $22,500+gst - $18K = $6075 out of your pocket for the Mazda3.

Now, on the flip side, you trade in your civic and get $16,500 trade value. The bottom line price is $22,500 - 16,500 and then you add GST to the difference. So, thats $6420 out of your pocket. That's a mere $345 more but you don't have to deal with the hassle of sitting on your car until it sells.

I beg to differ. Just because you have a 50/50 weight distribution, does not mean that the car can corner quickly. It only means that going through a corner you will experience neutral handling(no understeering or oversteering). Handling is a factor of suspension and tires. Man, you really don't know your cars and manufacturers. The new Mazdaspeed RX-8 only has a lightened flywheel and minor mods to the intake/exhaust which means not more than 20HP over the current version). And, you're saying Mazda is better than Honda? WTF man, Honda spends way more money on R/D for their engines than Mazda does.

From that same forum "I have been to the Drag Strip with my stock Mazda Protege 1.8L DOHC (122 horsepower, around 100 horsepower to the wheels) with a single sports muffler and I have got 16.293.

You are telling me that the best time you could do is 16.204 with a 160 horsepower Mazda3 ???????????????????? "

And the girl who ran the 15.3 has the Australian version of the Mazda3. So, in reality, that isn't comparing similar cars. I know this for a fact, the Australian version is more like than Japanese version than the North American. Look at me wasting my time on such a stupid thing like this. Until you learn more about cars, it's not even worth my time to continue in this discussion.

MrWong

iTrader: (4)

Keith you are so bitter man.......lolz

dret

iTrader: (4)

man thats too much to read..

dre2600

Man, you need to calm down. Tone down the rhetoric a little bit and come to grips with the fact that you a) don't thoroughly read what people write and b) don't research enough some of the stuff you say.

I was hoping to get more than 18k for my car, owing to it's pristine condition and 7yr warranty. I have no problem with making a free thousand dollars over what I'd get at the dealer, especially since I have another car to drive in the mean time. I'm happy you can do simple math, but you needn't be so presumptuous. If my car does sell for only 18k, then yes, it wouldn't be worth it, but trying my luck to see if I can get a higher price never hurt anyone.

I'm aware that 50/50 weight distribution doesn't make good handling. But a lower center of gravity owing to a lighter engine and a more rigid chasis do. As for the tires, if someone can afford a $40k car, I'm sure they can spring for tires, I fail to see why you'd even mention that. The RX8 isn't about raw horsepower, which is why 20hp isn't necessarily a big deal, the engine also has no torque, it wasn't meant for outunning large displacement engines in a drag race, it was designed to handle the twisties. As an aside, I said wait until Mazdaspeed "gets its hands on it", this being in the future tense, many people believe that they will upgrade the engine further, possibly even providing a turbocharged version, as the previous gen RX7 saw.

Furthermore, never did I say that Honda was better than Mazda. I said they have no in-house tuning firm, which means we have to turn to potentially less reliable and warranty-voiding aftermarket parts. Honda's R/D is 2nd to none and many large auto firms buy technology off of them, but in our case we only benefeit from Honda's R/D in fuel economy, not necessarily performance (which is why we no longer have our double wishbone suspension, so as to increase interior space and appeal to a target demographic, which is what Mazda and all car firms are really all about). The fact of the matter is that Honda hasn't produced a decent economy sports auto. in quite some time and the present SiR is not highly regarded.

As for the 15.3 on the Aussie version, try reading the specs. The Aussies have the same block, compression,weight and gearing as we do. (http://www.mazda.com.au/specifications_pl.cgi?ID=45). The engine is simply tuned differently to deliver less horsepower and increased torque. That 15.3 was owing to low reaction time and a good driver. The Mazda3 can easily, with a decent driver and in the case of the 15.3 a CAI break into the 15s, you can't form an opinion on a car's performance options based on someone who doesn't know how to even properly drive it.

Feel free to reply to this post when you finish knowing absolutely everything.

Blown

I know more than you could ever know about cars and I have read your posts thoroughly. It is you who can't comprehend anything I wrote. You definitly lack general car knowledge. Furthermore, it is not even worth anymore of my time to explain anything to you.

Re-itterating once again:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....rticle_id=1404

-Mazdaspeed has their own version of the RX-8. See, no turbocharger?

-Here's what R&T said about the stock RX-8 - "The stock RX-8 tends to display a "floaty" nature over bumps and rises; it also leans noticeably through sharp corners. Because of the soft suspension tuning, getting around a racetrack at full speed can be somewhat tricky in the stock model" Built for the twisties you say?

-Mazdaspeed parts will still void your warranty.

-Just because the engines displacements, CR, BxS, etc.. are identical, doesn't mean that all the rest isn't. I know for a fact about that. There are such things as emission controls, intake manifolds, cam profiles, ECU, timing, octane used in australia, and more that are never listed. Do you know that all those things are identical as well? Since you're all knowing about the Mazda3.

- My simple math skills are actually showing you the economics of the whole situation. In reality, $1500 extra from a private sale is in reality only $345 when purchasing a car.

- Pristine condition is not defined as 45K KM and 1 roll-over accident.

- Economy and sport don't belong in the same description of a car.

I laugh at the "don't research enough some of the stuff you say." Hahaha, anyone else here knows that my car knowledge is extensive.