I wanna throw in that the car is'nt perfect. They've battled torque steer with limiting system that kills power when the wheels are'nt damn near straight. And that's all find and dandy if you plan to only go to the grocery store and all but anything more or anywhere near a track, though seemless, it blows. I mean i'd rather use skill and feather a turn than mash the pedal to the floor getting the power a computerI have'nt tuned and have no control over allows me to get. So theres one good reason this car won't ever be a super sport compact. Honestly. The inginuety and the forsight that mazda uses keeps it practical, and it'll keep it from the serious track i think. No doubt it's hella fun still but would'nt you have still bought it if it had more torque steer?

Some of you may not have realized just how much it kills it off. And for anything but a serious race it's 'okay', but.... find yourself an empty parking lot far from the eyes of old ladies or law enforcement, grab second at like 10mph, go half turn, mash it and then gradually turn in. don't worry it won't be too spectactular. But yea. i'm done.

 

Bro, I got popped for 57 in a 35. I wasn't even thinking about speeding. It's very easy to do.

 

Well, I just went to go look at the car today at the Mazda dealer and I've gotta say, it has some really nice interior (loved the clutch, very smooth and refined). There's also a lot of space in the boot and the rear seats. Overall, the car looks nice!

Only bad thing though was I couldn't test drive it because they didn't have the shifter ***** on the shifter (and I'll be damned if I'm shifting with a medal stick with a thread on it).

Just wondering though, what is the top speed of the car with completely stock internals?

 

Haha shipped without shift **** attatched eh? It's a 24second install lol. They prolly just did'nt want to do test drives for it. Stock Top speed is electronicly limited 155mph. If you pick one up i hope you enjoy it, for the cash it really is the best value in it's class.

 

Yeah, I was talking with them and they said they shipped in (even though they had water marks on it from the dust storm/rain storm a week and a half ago). I like the car in general, you use it like a regular hatchback and drive it like a sports car. I LOVE how the rear spoiler is also easily removed too (only 4 bolts and it's off). Only thing not so cool is how the engine has that intercooler on the top of the block.

 

Soon there will be a front mount intercooler kit for it. It's just a matter of time. If you get one hopefully it's adonized black or paint it black so it would still look stock from the outside and it'll still surprise people tryin to race u.

 

i definitely agreewith that. very easy to speed with out even trying. i was on an empty highway doing 60 and before i knewit, i looked down and my speedometer was at 90

 

I'll be interested in how much more power is gained from the FMI setup. It's looking kinda pricey, with some other mods being cheaper and netting a good bit of power. TMI is'nt so bad really, espeacially in competition cause you're always moving. As for quarter mile times, it could be bad, i know the strip here is crazy huge and super packed. It could land you in line quite sometime, and the heat soak would be a factor. And having a freashly started engine even if warmed up 30 minutes earlier is'nt good either. CAI is the part to have. It'll be woth the money, and will net good sounds from that lil turbine. As for exhaust man, my car is stock all but K&N drop in and a bit of ait box modification. I get looks ALL the time. From the tuners cause they hear me and wanna check everything out. From the peopleplanting flowers in their yard becaus ei'm some POS kid with a POS car that i made loud and annoying. Then old (60+)people hear me and hit the brakes. They think of my as a threat and slow me down. It's loud enough, mKay. And the power would be nice but absolutly not if it increases volume or give a rice sound. It already is low, boomy and burbles.

 

Mywife complains about that in my n/a/ 3!! She says it seems you're going much slower than you really are and she's afraid she'll get a ticket w/o trying one day.
I did a few years agotoo, but now I'm used to the feel of the car and I sometimes feel like I'm going slower...

 

hey guys i just registered to this site. i have a completley stock 2004 mazda3s 2.3the only thing i have done is went with some 18" tsw mondellos, with toyo ti-r's. It looks really nice right now but would like alittle more performance. it is a new car to me and I am up for any suggestions. I will post a pic of it when i get a chance. thanks