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Well, 160 of them actually. Obviously not a scoot, but a blast to drive none the less:

The weather has been great but we all know what's coming sooner or later right? A guy needs a car in this state, so sue me.

Licensed Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Posts: 1323 Location: MPLS

Is it a real Mazda or a LML copy?
Those are pretty sweet!

Licensed Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Posts: 511

is that the 5 door m3?

Yea the 5 door Mazda 3. Made in Japan, not India...

Licensed Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Posts: 511

They have some performance model, the i3 something like that. Did you get that one? I like those M3s.

Why the M3 instead of a WRX? (Genuine, not smartass question. I don't know anything about the Mazda line unless it's an RX.) I'm just a numbers whore. 220 > 160. Pricing works out on the WRK to 1K per pony, which isn't too bad. Come to think of it, the STi works out to about the same, but it's a big jump from 22k to 30k.

Or an Evo, which is right in ze middle.

Licensed Joined: 19 Jan 2005 Posts: 511

I drove a WRX and they do rock, but so many dollars for those. The Mazda is just a little more reasonable.

*Last edited by Jeff on Wed Oct 19, 2005 10:57 am; edited 1 time in total*

All the 5 doors are the sport model (2.3L engine and 17 inch wheels). I have heard that Mazda is planning a Mazdaspeed version of the 3 that may include AWD and more power but that is 2007 at the earliest.

My biggest problem with the WRX is it's looks. I love the AWD and the horsepower, but the thing is just kind of ugly.

The total cost of the car and insurance would have been much higher as well.

Just as long as that was the part of the equation I was missing.

I do llike the Impreza look, though. Even the ugly bug-eyed thing of yore has its charm.

And I meant $100/Pony. $1000 * 220 = holy crap.

$22k negotiated is right in that relatively sweet spot of affordable. But the higher gas and insurance premiums for a turbo-powered machine do tend to do nasty nasty things to the TCO. Great things for the TFO. (total fun of ownership.)

I actually like the old bug eyed Impreza, I really hate the Edsel front end on the new Imprezas though. The same thing with the new Audis and Jettas too. Something about the vertical grille on the nose bugs me I guess:

I got the '05 version of the 3, they had a ton of the ones in the color and trim line I wound up with (ABS, side airbags, sunroof, 6 disk changer) so I got it for invoice. Plus I got the "private party" price on the Golf I traded in which suprised me a bit. I guess my point is that on top of the normal price difference between the Mazda and the Subaru there are some good values to be had on Mazdas right now.[/img]

I hadn't seen the new Impreza yet- I've been trying to tune out new cars as of late. That is plug ugly. I'd thought the Tribeca front end was horrible, I didn't think they extended it across the entire line. Ok, the Mazda does look a lot better!