A Westside TPC O.G. but new here!

[car_demon]

I\'ll keep it short. I\'m Michael B from the Toronto Protege Club driving a 02 5spd MP5 the WRC Touring Edition. Met a few of you at M.O.M. and maybe DKN\'s. The lease is coming to an end May \'06 but I wanna take it back before it reaches 80K. I may be seriously buying one near the year\'s ending regardless.

I took a test drive of the 3 Sport hatch and I was terribly impressed. I\'m saving dollars, biding my time, watching my kilometers and researching some simple modifications if I get the M3. I\'m gonna just keep my ricing simple to S/RINTAKE?, LOWERING SPRINGS & A WINTER TIRE PACKAGE IN THE SMALLEST SIZE POSSIBLE. So I\'ll be lurking like most newbies do, reading reviews, experiences, information, tips and asking not so dumb questions..,(I hope)

[Whos ur dadd]

Originally posted by car_demon


I\'ll keep it short. I\'m Michael B from the Toronto Protege Club driving a 02 5spd MP5 the WRC Touring Edition. Met a few of you at M.O.M. and maybe DKN\'s. The lease is coming to an end May \'06 but I wanna take it back before it reaches 80K. I may be seriously buying one near the year\'s ending regardless.

I took a test drive of the 3 Sport hatch and I was terribly impressed. I\'m saving dollars, biding my time, watching my kilometers and researching some simple modifications if I get the M3. I\'m gonna just keep my ricing simple to S/RINTAKE?, LOWERING SPRINGS & A WINTER TIRE PACKAGE IN THE SMALLEST SIZE POSSIBLE. So I\'ll be lurking like most newbies do, reading reviews, experiences, information, tips and asking not so dumb questions..,(I hope)

Get lost you M3 poseur. Ya got ur own P5 club. This forum is for M3 owners. We don\'t need ur kind here.

[car_demon]

...A warm welcome indeed!:sarc
Our board has been known to have small dogs pissing on big trees!;) L.O.L.
Cyberworld has some big talkers out there till they see the 6\'2\" 240lbs Black mofo at a meet.<tee-hee-hee>

I didn\'t come here to cause any $hit, so don\'t worry.:sarc

[midnightfxgt]

Hey man,

I have seen your posts, as I generally lurk the FS/GB areas of TOP :D . Let me say welcome, and just ignore the last comment, as i am sure it was ment to be a joke. The club here is pretty decent, and people should be more than willing to help. Do yourself one favour........ go get the 3 now ;)

So as a Prot. owner, and test driving the Mazda3, where do you feel the 3 was better? I always wanted a P5, but never got one, and when it came time for my first brand new car the Mazda3 was it!

~JOHN

[wtom]

Originally posted by car_demon


...A warm welcome indeed!:sarc
Our board has been known to have small dogs pissing on big trees!;) L.O.L.
Cyberworld has some big talkers out there till they see the 6\'2\" 240lbs Black mofo at a meet.<tee-hee-hee>

I didn\'t come here to cause any $hit, so don\'t worry.:sarc

Welcome to TM3 car_demon, I think I remember seeing you at MOM, Xenon/Lawrence was talking to you at one point and he looked like David standing beside you, Goliath. :p j/k

Your physical fit in the car was of no issues?

[bubba1983]

Originally posted by wtom



Originally posted by car_demon


...A warm welcome indeed!:sarc
Our board has been known to have small dogs pissing on big trees!;) L.O.L.
Cyberworld has some big talkers out there till they see the 6\'2\" 240lbs Black mofo at a meet.<tee-hee-hee>

I didn\'t come here to cause any $hit, so don\'t worry.:sarc

Welcome to TM3 car_demon, I think I remember seeing you at MOM, Xenon/Lawrence was talking to you at one point and he looked like David standing beside you, Goliath. :p j/k

Your physical fit in the car was of no issues?

dude...im 6\'3, 220lbs....this is the MAIN reason why i bought teh 3...i could actually fit in it..comfortably, hahaha

anyways, welcome to the baord...

[car_demon]

Thanks for Welcome guys! I\'ve learned to be a bit more thick skinned in Cyberspace. People joke around or at least I hope they do, hence the use of the emoticons.:)

With regards to my test drive of the sportback 3 I was impressed. Currently I\'m a driver of the P5 slightly modified with H&R 1.3\" drop allround, axel exhaust and intake; I immediately noticed the cabin space all around me was decent. Another 6foot passenger up front did not interfere with the shifter while they were sitting.

Whether it was a combonations of the 17\" rim/tires,better tuned OEM suspension and more rigid and longer chasis; the car felt \'sure footed and husky\'. This test drive was 2 days ago with still enough crap on the ground up here in the GTA(Brampton), but I would love to take her to the Forks of the Credit Road & Caledon twisties to see her manage the transitions. I encourage some of you to join some of the TPC/WRC cruises to really see how your car transition in better dry weather.

From what I could do, with the nervous salesman beside me, I noticed the most important thing. The 5speed calibration of the shifter and clutch was FRIGGIN AWESOME. I\'m a very picky and perfectionist type manual driver since I was formally taught by a British Driving Instructor 16yrs ago.

The P5 has to be modulated with conviction, purpose and desire to be smooth in the first 2 gears where most find it jerky and rubberbandish type launching from a standstill or creep. The M3 was more forgiving and graceful even if I hadn\'t established the proper shift points below, within and above the optimum powerband or point. This could be contributed to the \'V-tech\' or whatever Mazda calls it applying the appropriate torque, valve lifting, rpms etc technobable in the camshafts(blah, blah) The meatiness of the shifterknob and steering wheel was amazing. I did move off spiritedly shifting at a higher RPM as road conditions would allow and everything engaged like a knife through butter and without jerkiness. Evem downshifts were mellow.

I must admit this ranks up there with HONDA/ACURA, BMW manual trannies by which most auto enthusiast and writers say are top notch. I\'m currently reading up on your \'double cone synchronizer engineering feature. Whatever it does or improve WORKS AWESOME.

I didn\'t mess around with any of the electrical features as I was just concentrating on the driving and handling aspect which was the most important. I will book another test drive on a sunny and dry day and scare the crap outta the salesrep. Oh yeah.., the brakes got nice bite and the ABS kicked in adequately on the lightly snowy and slippery road conditions.

I hope your club members invest in winter steelies and rubber; We know that there is no such thing as an All-Season Tire only a compromise tire in our climate. I would definitely invest in steelies at least 2 rim sizes lower for cost effectiveness.

[MazdaTree]

welcome to toronto mazda3
feel free to drop by the meets too when its warm out:)

[Saphress]

Hey... well welcome to the forums.... ;) I was gonna buy a P5 in \'03 originally.... until my buddy showed me a pic of the future 3.... and damn... :D... (laugh) I waited.... People are usually always friendly here... so don\'t mind the comment, I\'m sure it was a joke? :P.... Anyway... Enjoy your stay! :P

[AskClaudio.com]

Car Demon? I think I\'ve met you before, I\'ve been to a quite a few meets of the TO Protege Club this past summer with my friend DJ Boomer. Where you the black dude selling the NHL Locked Out Shirts at that all you can eat RIBS place out in Mississauga back in September/October, thereabouts?


http://www.geocities.com/gary1081/mazdagirl.gifZoom Zoom

[profusion]

Hi dude,

I may have meet you once at a protege meet at dixie and amcoe?
I have the orange 2.3l gt sedan. All I have to say is you wont regret it if you move over to the 3.
Thats coming from someone who owned the 94 integra known for its handling. This thing absoluty rapes it and the type r. Trust me the stock tires cant handle the cars potential but still can hold beter then excellent tires on my old integra. I think you need to hear my Injen CAI to help your decsion :D . Im at 154whp from just the injen CAI and Motul synthetic oil. Im a bit more then just average driver and raced my integra and cayuga raceway a few times and cant wait to put the mz3 on it.

Hope you buy one.. there is no thinking just do it.:p

[midnightfxgt]

Originally posted by car_demon
I would definitely invest in steelies at least 2 rim sizes lower for cost effectiveness.

If you get the GT, you can\'t go below 16\" due to brake size restrictions :). Another reason to buy the 3 lol

~JOHN

[Whos ur dadd]

car_dweeb:

I was joking for sure. I don\'t even have my 3 yet. So if the peeps on this board can tolerate me, you are definitely welcome here. Them miataphiles always had an affinity for the toprotege club, so I know you got some good peeps there.

Oh, BTW, I\'m 6\'5\" and 260 pounds. I\'d eat people like you for lunch and still have room for bubble tea after. Gotta luv cyberspace... :D

[car_demon]

Profusion!, I remember you at a pre-meet at Dixie & Aimco with your 3. Spanish-Gino, Yes, that was me selling the NHL Lock-out T-shirts.And Mr.Who\'s Ur Daddy, we heavywieghts gotta meet up sometime, I\'m sure your okay in person.:sarc

[car_demon]

Some pic links of mine.http://public.fotki.com/cardemon/rides__tings/

[profusion]

Originally posted by car_demon


Profusion!, I remember you at a pre-meet at Dixie & Aimco with your 3. Spanish-Gino, Yes, that was me selling the NHL Lock-out T-shirts.And Mr.Who\'s Ur Daddy, we heavywieghts gotta meet up sometime, I\'m sure your okay in person.:sarc


Funny, okay in person :hoho ..well yeah sometime when the weather looks good we can meet up and chat.
The mazda3 once you have intrest in it you will be open to the light so call it. If you decided to get one would you lease it or buy? Anyhow this car was compared to the 100k audi.. do we need to dig up that article for you? lol. Actually The sales guy I know at Ontario Mazda 401 dixie has it in his drawer =P.

[car_demon]

It looks like I\'m gonna drive this P5 till the end of it\'s lease sched. for May 2006 or till I near the 80K mark. A few autoshows will have gone down and a few more glitches will be worked out of the 3 and then I\'ll decide.

[david3]

Glitches? no no, these are design features.

PS: What glitches are you talking about?

[car_demon]

Ooops. I meant 1st mass production \'bugs\',\'issues\',\'opportunity gaps for improvement\' that get re-worked in later models.;)

[bubba1983]

but...wasn\'t the 3 introduced in europe a year before the North American model...correct me if im wrong (except for you majic...thanks)

[car_demon]

...trust me, there is always mass production \'opportunities for improvement\'. They will come to light in TSB\'s and DSB\'s. A car made to one continents specs are always modified and revamped while building for another governments specs and regulations.

Remember the game \'broken telephone\' with kiddies sitting around the circle. Something always gets a bit distorted a wee bit.

[profusion]

Yes your correct 100%. So far the Mazda3 has had these recals that i am aware of. Crash sensor, and I think fuel pump for the first model 2004. All corrected in the late 2004 and 2005 models. Other then that its mint. That its preaty damn good if you ask me for a brand new redesigned car from top to bottom with only those little things. Other then that time will tell for the other major stuff like transmision, motor, and body. Well to bad your noting going to get it.. well if i see you ill just have to smoke you on the road :D .