anyone have a mazdaspeed 3

[grimm]

I was reading in automobile that in a comparison between the mazda 3 2.3GT and the wrx tr, vw gti, and a few other cars the mazda 3 out performed them all. I was kind of shocked at this. so i was just wondering if anyone on here had one and if so how they like it, and have you done any mods to it.

[CHAOS]

if you are talking about the car and driver comparison it was the mazdaspeed 3 not the gt...

[grimm]

yea that might have been right. but i really thought it was the speed 3 gt?
i'll double check tonight, when i went online to car and driver the comparison they had didn't include the wrx which the one i was reading did.

[Broken5hift]

just so we are all on the same page, the speed3 is the turbo version, the regular mazda 3 is not turbo'd...... the title of the thread might be a little deceptive.

but back to the topic, yes the speed3 is a dangerous car. i'd like to test drive one, the engines look bad ass

[grimm]

just so we are all on the same page, the speed3 is the turbo version, the regular mazda 3 is not turbo'd...... the title of the thread might be a little deceptive.

but back to the topic, yes the speed3 is a dangerous car. i'd like to test drive one, the engines look bad ass
thanks i edited the title, as you can clearly see i'm not exactly sure which i am talking about. I'm pretty sure it;s the mazdaspeed 3 touring or gt?

[Broken5hift]

thanks i edited the title, as you can clearly see i'm not exactly sure which i am talking about. I'm pretty sure it;s the mazdaspeed 3 touring or gt?

nicely done :mrgreen:

yea your talking about the mazda speed3.

the GT version just has all the options you could possibly get for it on the stock non turbo'd engine


the speed3 was the car in the recent car and driver mag that was whooping ass

[CHAOS]

the mazdaspeed 3 is def a beast... i just cant get over the fwd aspect.

[Loserkidwac]

I was acctually looking into the speed 3s...there is a 2 versions of the MS3 and yes one is the Mazdaspeed 3 Grand Touring or the MS3 GT, which just has a bunch of extra stuff dumped into it like navigation, theft system, rain sesitive whipers, Bose stereo, etc....

Both are 263-hp and $22,935 and $24,650 MSRP respectively...so for the price they are pretty bad ass cars and look HOT!!

[Loserkidwac]

the mazdaspeed 3 is def a beast... i just cant get over the fwd aspect.

yea thats kind of what turned me away from them...only if they were AWD then I'd probably have one in my driveway right now:cool:

[NOPSTNS]

the original plan was to make them awd but the rear diff had clearance issues and the cost to redesign the entire rear of the car to fit it was more than whats worth it when u limit build numbers to 5k for each of the two years it will be sold. so battle torque steer they engineered a new type of TCS called active torque management, which is a fancy way of saying they limit power output in first and second gears to about 60% and 77% respectively. you dont make 100% of its power until third gear, which sounds gay but its very much needed. the "go to" gear is third. for those who will be drag racing these things should be short shifting the first two gears just to get to third that much faster, u will run faster times that way.

and there are two trims, sport and grand touring (commonly pronounced as being "GT" )

and 263hp is low ballin it. they make that much to the wheels, same goes for the "280" ft lbs of torque....yeah, they make more than that to the wheels as well......

[CHAOS]

and 263hp is low ballin it. they make that much to the wheels, same goes for the "280" ft lbs of torque....yeah, they make more than that to the wheels as well......

proof?

[redline]

proof?

yeah true, 260+ to the wheels? Maybe on Turbotrix's dyno!

[CHAOS]

im not saying its not true... i just want proof.

[redline]

The 3 features the same turbocharged 2.3-liter DISI MZR engine from the Mazda6 MPS/Mazdaspeed 6. For this application, it produces 263 hp (184 kW) and 280 ft·lbf (380 N·m) for the European market, while the North American market will receive a retuned version rated at 263 hp and 280 lbf·ft when running on 91 octane gasoline ((R+M)/2). This is routed through the front wheels rather than an four-wheel drive system as on its big brother. The Australian market receives the Mazda3 MPS with the same engine as the Mazda6 MPS with 190 kW of power. The engine was listed in the Ward's 10 Best Engines. It was reported that a dealer option is available to increase its power to 300 hp.

Now if the 300hp car is available it would put down right around what was quoted. Sounds like a little beast.

[dubjinc]

heres what automobile mag had to say..

"Even more important than those peak (hp) numbers is the shape of the torque curve. The shape of the curve dictates what you feel when your right foot is buried in the carpet. Some engines make close to their peak torque for a significant portion of their operating range. Others make their peak torque at only one small point--the rest of the time, the engine is delivering only a fraction of that thrust."

"Turbos, by nature, have reduced operating ranges, but the Mazdaspeed 3 seems to be particularly susceptible to that limitation. It has prodigious torque in the midrange, but the engine feels anemic below 3000 rpm or above 5500. Honda's normally aspirated Si makes at least 85% of its maximum torque from 2000 to its redline. That means that if you floor the Honda's loud pedal anywhere between two and eight grand, you'll have at your disposal at least 85% of the maximum quoted torque. VW's turbo GTI will hand over at least 70% of its peak number at any time from two grand to its own redline. The Mazda is far behind the others at 20%."

Not to mention their dyno showed 216 hp and 245 lb-ft wayy off factory claims to ground.

[redline]

heres what automobile mag had to say..

"Even more important than those peak (hp) numbers is the shape of the torque curve. The shape of the curve dictates what you feel when your right foot is buried in the carpet. Some engines make close to their peak torque for a significant portion of their operating range. Others make their peak torque at only one small point--the rest of the time, the engine is delivering only a fraction of that thrust."

"Turbos, by nature, have reduced operating ranges, but the Mazdaspeed 3 seems to be particularly susceptible to that limitation. It has prodigious torque in the midrange, but the engine feels anemic below 3000 rpm or above 5500. Honda's normally aspirated Si makes at least 85% of its maximum torque from 2000 to its redline. That means that if you floor the Honda's loud pedal anywhere between two and eight grand, you'll have at your disposal at least 85% of the maximum quoted torque. VW's turbo GTI will hand over at least 70% of its peak number at any time from two grand to its own redline. The Mazda is far behind the others at 20%."

Not to mention their dyno showed 216 hp and 245 lb-ft wayy off factory claims to ground.

Still decent power for such a small car, it was just 260+ to the wheels sounds a little out of hand for such a car.

[NOPSTNS]

direct injection kills a car's top end, thus the claims of low thrust at high rpm.

ill go find the link for my hp numbers....

[WRXD]

Sport compact car got 250 somethin to the wheels on a bone stock MS3. Its in last months issue I beleive.

Mazda claims that freeing up the exhaust and adding an intake would yield close to 30whp. Even if its only half that, thats a hell of a car with very minor bolt ons.

[dubjinc]

yeah, i saw a video of a protoge speed and it gained about the same hp from intake and exhaust.

[Loserkidwac]

I should show you the stock MSP S-pipe its a huge restriction along with the 2 cats following the downpipe...

[NOPSTNS]

may issue of sportcompactcar says 250 whp and 284 wtq
removing the air filter gave 4 whp and 6 wtq
mazdaspeed cai and exhaust gave 10 MORE whp and 12 MORE wtq for a grand total of 264 whp and 302 ftq

biggest whp gain was at 5970 with a gain of 32.8whp
biggest wtq gain was at 4250 gain of 32.8 wtq.

respectable

[sportyrider]

I have a Speed 3 Grand Touring. Bought it for the gas mileage, 20 city/30 highway.:roll:
It feels like it needs to breathe better, like a Cold Air Intake and Cat Back Exhaust from the dealer might help. It has both Traction Control and Dynamic Stability Control that you can turn off, but the wheelspin sucks.
It only has 500 miles on it and so far raced a BMW 3 something on the Blvd and killed him. People are always pulling next to me thinking I'm driving a grocery-getter and I surprise the crap out of them.