ZEEROLLA

An interesting American review on the Mazdaspeed 3. There are some things i never knew about the car. Mazdasped 3 review

that's why I don't go lower then 26psi ;) I'm actually a little worried about my front sway-bar end supports. I seem to be getting a lot of noise from the front suspension (not thudding like the broken shocks though) since I had the fronts blow out on my coilovers. I think the oil that spilt has detriorated the bushes too much. Dylan didn't know your shocks blew out! I am also a little worried as i am getting thudding noises on the front suspension of my MPS, only happens over slow small speed humps or rough undulations though, but no oil can be seen on my garage floor so don't think my shocks blew itself. Sounds more like the strut tops or bump stops hitting. I was told a lot of the Madza 3s do it, or have noisy front suspension but i ma still not taking any chances, will get it looked at. Is Pedders suspension safety check any good?

watch those engine mounts with 15psi tyre pressure :P an XR5 turbo popped one recently on lowered front tyre pressure and a Mazda 3 have done it on 20psi. i know what Bill will say now, "its because they are Ford and Mazda" i am wth Redliner, street trim all the way!! :P

Not that i don't trust you George but i am sure people would want a receipt from the driving school confirming payment hence maybe paying the school is a better option. I also think we should set a firm date for payment to occur otherwise it would be really unfair for those that have paid to be waiting and waiting for confirmation, i suggest give everyone notice when payment MUST occur and after that date people are considered out. $400+ is not a small sum for some people hence i suggested this ;)

should only be 9 left, i have to contact 4 more ppl from OMC. Also got to take into consideration ppl that pull out last minute..

Man, the Drive Day was fun but not long enough to get a proper impression of the cars especially when we were only using half the track, whle the VIC guys got to use the whole Sanddown track and got to clock speeds of over 200km/h! <_< We only got an outlap and then another lap before into the pits. The 1st car we got to sit in was an MPS3 piloted by DJ and damn he drove the thing so fast i nearly shat myself! Not knowing the track personally obviously didn't help, it had blind crests and sweeping undulating corners where he attacked in 3rd/4th gears while he chatted away with you. Got a free photo with him too with his autograph so that was nice :D The bring a friend thing was canceled at the last minute due to a stuff up with the bookings <_< My favourite of the day was actually the MX5 although the engine was gutless and the pedal layout was too close together, everytime i reached for the clutch i bump the foot rest and i have size 9.5 feet. The driving instructor was in the MX5 coaching us through the bends and asking us to brake way early and accelerate smoothly shifting at no later than 4000rpm <_< But still i revved the thing out a little bit to 5000+rpm way after the instructor told me to shift up :P and it definitely needs more power. but just the chassis, steering and brakes makes this so much fun and i can why its the best selling and most affordable sports car in the world ;) RX8 was disapponting, Stivo definitely felt quicker on the straights and punchier out of corners. Although it steered and braked very well and you can feel the car telling you to race it, the engine disappointed. Its very smooth and the sound of it is awesome but you can definitely feel the weight over the MX5. The gearshifts of the MX5/RX8 was also a tad nothcy, had trouble with the RX8's 4th gear, the MPS6/3's 6speed were much smoother maybe due to tripple synchros. The MPS6 was great, AWD gripped and the car felt heavy but very stable and it felt like you could floor the throttle anywhere. It's a very nice sports sedan, but once u get out of it and into the MPS3 even i was amazed at how much more urge the MPS3 had over the MPS6. The weight definitely makes a huge difference and its also louder, steering more responsive although as you can imagine i hammered it like nothing else and i got the front wheels really protesting even with DSC on. Now we weren't allowed to switch DSC off in any of the cars while DJ can. But i can clearly see that the MPS3 in the right hands hammers and nearly everyone that drove the MPS3 said it was the most fun Also got news that they are entering an MPS3 into the Bathurst 1000. And i also know who won the latest Hot Hatch comparo by MOTOR, hint hint.. its a Mazda

I'm confirmed!! And i can also get Mazda people to come. I don't mind either places, actually i would be interested to see what mods they are willing to develop for the MPS as well.

Redliner could u let me know who has sent u an email from OMC and i will try to send PM to those that have expressed interest but have yet to send u an email. Thanks.

Drivers: M.Schumacher Massa Team: Ferrari Pole: M.Schumacher Fastest Lap: M.Schumacher

thats a scary one.. wonder what he did, probably pinched the rear brakes. Never want to be in this sort of situation.

i got insurance! i'm only 24 :P paying $1400 full comp with NRMA.

u might be pleasantly surprised Danz with the on-road price difference, most XR5 owners paid close to $40k for their cars while i only paid $42k for my MPS with extras! Unless you want the "Lux" pack which is around $46k. and Ford is less likely to bargain with stock being so limited, Mazda however has plenty of stock.

i've seen one in the flesh and it carries some nice things like the 16inch Advan AD07 tyres which is nice, and the super sporty Recaros similar to Type R ones, not like the XR5 ones (and its XR5 not SR5 :P). pop the bonnet though and you will cringe.. cheap red painted engine cover, there is a strut bar and a small front mounted intercooler in front of the left wheel. For $29,990 i am not interested. It does come with 10year powertrain warranty though and 5 year bumper to bumper. I think end of day its still a 1500cc and with a bit of mods like bigger front mount etc (losing warranty of course!) it can produce some nice figures but then the money could get you a XR5 or MPS with much more cubic inches. So its pretty clear, this one won't be a seller. ;) EVOs are nice, i would probably take it over the STI BUT for the price $62,000 driveaway i was quoted, its not little money for a Mitsubishi.

The XR5 is nice too, basically same chassis and has same brakes, but the MPS has a few extra suspension braces, also has LSD, different Jap gearbox, Jap engine etc. etc. Ford dealers are less likely to do a deal because they are rare (production being so slow) and "German Engineered". The MPS however is not so limited, sold in Japan, USA, Europe and Australia/NZ i think you can also see quite a lot of aftermarket parts for it. Resale is not the best being Mazda but at least its the MPS. Ford's resale is nothing to shout about either, probably worse than Mazda. You might also want to consider service as well, i have also heard some pretty bad things about Ford servicing and their attitudes. Mazda service has been one of the best so far, better than Toyota ;) Just me when i was looking at my next car, unless of course you go for the obvious favourite, the double-u-r-rex :P

Yep spot on, MOTOR tested the car and said shifting at 5800-6000rpm was best. But seriously with 380nm of torque at 3000rpm you can shift anywhere between 5000-6000rpm and slip the clutch a bit into 2nd and it will just fire off with no lost of boost or bogging down.

hell yeah!! big time, its actually the disappointing part of the 2.3 MZR DISI Turbo. :( Especially coming from a high revving NA where max torque is at 6800rpm and power at 7800rpm! It was hard to adjust at first, i get caught out many times and it requires a modified driving style to be honest, like i now upshift much earlier and use 3rd, 4th and 5th gear a lot more. I seldom rev past 5000rpm unless i am racing someone, at about 6000rpm is where the power/torque/boost starts to drop off, but it compensates by really hauling hard from 2500rpm. To fix this issue an electronic boost controller will help keep boost at higher revs and also an aftermarket ECU is a must to free up more to end, along with exhaust and better intercooler ;). But all these cost money and i promised i won't be modifying :P

ahh i see ;) thanks for that Redliner, an exclusive day would be better then. I will let the other people know over at OMC.

I don't know, i reckon with the ferrari grinding the hubs along the ground for traction would still probably take that one out :P :P :P i'm sure he was referring to a parking dual :P

People have asked how they can manage to run both stages in one day when its usually 1 stage per day. I know the Altezza boys did a 1.5 stage which was conducted over one day. I am also for either but would actually prefer to do stage 3 seperately as a 1 day thing due to the nature of the stage.

Drive.com.au review - Mazda3 MPS vs VW Golf R32 These ****ers at Drive has done it again.. coparing 2 totally different cars, different drivetrains, nearly $20,000 price difference.. but looked like they liked the MPS3 ("more fun") which is a total contrast to what they said a couple months ago when they did another hot hatch review, bagging the MPS left right centre.. anyway interesting read.

Zee you know my number man ;) yep for sure Dylan will let u know :D and i'm sure the other Sydney siders can get there pretty easily if they are not working It's a whole day event with 3 sessions that day. There is also a session on Thursday, i will be driving on Friday 1pm.

pick me up ? :( i would man if u r not in Melbourne and if my car is not full! I have a couple of people wanting to come as well and i am not even sure if i can bring spectators. Maybe let me get back to you ;)

Woohoo!!! I will get a chance to drive the MX5, RX8, MPS6 and MPS3 at Oran Park on Friday! It's the Mazda Performance Drive Day, i got the invite from playing a game however its only for a lap i think in each car, better than nothing though.

i have pasted this on the OzMazda forum.