It's been a coupla weeks since I got my Speed 3, and the "break-in period" is over. A couple of times I've been next to an eclipse with fat exhaust, or maybe a civic with the same, and tried to get them to get on ita little bit, just to see what happens. So far, the looks of the car being fairly similar to the base 3 (at a glance), I haven't had any takers. I wonder if they just don't know what a speed 3 is yet, or look at it and see base 3 and think "no point". I'm gettin' kinda antsy to throw my weight around, anyone else have this issue? BTW, I don't see it's sleeper stylingas a problem, more of a benefit, but sometimes I wanna have a little fun. [sm=teetertooter.gif]

 

Same thing here, which is fine by me. Makes it all the sweeter when you annhilate one of those guys without warning. I think once word of mouth gets around about the speed 3 things will change. As of right now it is still a very new/rare car to see on the road that your typical driver does not even know about. The only thing I am planning on doing to the car appearance wise are some new wheels. They will be gunmetal 5 spoke 18's. Very clean, nothing flashy. I'm not a huge fan of the stock wheels. Too heavy looking and a bitch to clean.

 

I've been egged on by one Soobie, one Eclipse (surprised the crap out of him evedently), and a handful of others like 'stangs & 350's. Though I've never seen another Speed3anywhere yet, a few people around here seem to know they are players. They also may be tipped offwhen they see me move through traffic like I'm not in a Camry -- attracted likea shark to water with a whiff of blood in it. I try hard not to take the bait, and usually succeeed.

 

I dont get stares too. I feel like a budget minded 40 year old family man cause I dont get atares from the tuner crowd. But I was able to spank an Si, a prelude, audi, wrx.. wrx and speed3 have simliar times on 0-60, but from a rollin start they just cant make a pass. It's very sleeper. and if you take out the small font mazdaspeed 3 badge, most people wont know unless they did research on this car. I only had two people asked me about the car and they're surpirese that it comes with a turbo, I guess they dont kbnow speed 3.

 

I have had my car for almost 4 months, and had only 1 person speak to me, who actually knew what the car was. It was a kid at a gas station. When I say kid, I mean about 18 years old. Otherwise, no one here seems to know what they are.

 

when older crowd ask me what car I drive, I tell them mazda 3. I dont see the point tellin them it's the "speed version" cause they wouldnt know or care about the difference. Unless I'm speakin to a car buff. It's a good thing I think that our cars can just blend in, unlike wrx or sti, the hood scoop and the big wings tells everyone you're probably a teenager. I was torn between wrx and legacy gt. Legacy gt was too mature for me, it looked like a camry or a ford fusion from the back or sides. with speed3 it was just right. More horses and torq , better mpg, and sleeper stylin.

 

what kind of eclipse you raced, a gt?

 

I certainly would not call it a race. I don't have much of an appetite for tickets or wrecks. Just stabbed the throttle1st and 2nd-- enough for him to see the S3 was fast. I did some research later and found that he should have beenabout as fast, but I did not know that at the time. It was a brand new Eclipse; I didn't notice anything special about it. I think they all havea 3.8L V6 making around 250HP now.

 

The new eclipse comes with a couple of different engine sizes and power outputs - the gt spyder might be able to keep up with us in a straight line, but I am guessing our handling is a bit better. And I'm not convinced they could keep up anywhere, at least when they're not in the shop.

 

Oh yeah, I finally got someone to respond on the highway. He ate me alive. Like I wasn't even there. I saw him from about an eighth mile back, and sped up a bit to catch up to him.... I thought it was just gonna be a regular stang, or maybe gt, but nope... I pulled alongside and revved the engine a bit, just to get his attention. I knew I didn't have a chance in hell, but I wanted him to flex that 500 hp. I just wanted to see his car move. Shelby GT 500's are fast, by the way. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty fast.