[Coroner]

well Ive been looking into getting either a mazda 3s (most likely 04 ) or a Nissan SE-R Spec V....
I know the 3s has a 2.3li and the 3i has a 2. The nissan has a 2.5 4cyl 6spd man. At this point im leaning towards the 3, but in a race between the se-r and 3s or i who would you guys guess to win it. O and one more question i will be putting CAI and header+exhaust system in whatever car i get. Someone told me that the mazdas sensors trip really easy, is this true?

Thanks,
hopefully a soon mazda owner (once i sell my car :?)

 

[Hexedit]

Are you looking to street race, autoX, drag race, or track race? Generally the se-r will best the 3 in any of those; however, the 3 will be a more competitive car in autoX.

 

[saluteTOme]

autoX, the 3 will take it hands down...the SE-R suspension isn't nearly as good as the 3. on the drag...it depends, the SE-R prob because of the bigger engine and it's prob lighter in weight but dont hold me to that

 

[Hexedit]

The se-r will smoke the 3 in autoX.

 

[saluteTOme]

I dunno about that...on speed channel, you see about of 3's and civics and very few SE-Rs and sicons on the road track racing

 

[Hexedit]

the Se-R has a bigger engine and a 6 speed, they will be close in numbers and driver will ultimately determine the winner, but the SE-R is the better car.

 

[Coroner]

lol i guess i was hoping for some more biased answers since you are pretty much all mazda owners. Really the thing is my friend has a 02 spec v and me and him go at it on an abandoned road lot (we keep it safe, no street racing) But i currently have an eclipse and i get killed. but here is my situation....

TWO OPTIONS

1.) a 04 Mazda 3 s (gt version i believe) with 82,k mi on it for 9,950k With all features except spoiler
its red with the red and black interior seats and lighting. 2.3li 4cyl 5-spd man

2.) a 04 Nissan SE-R Spec V with 71,k mi on it for 9,500 (could get for 9k) With all features, White with CAI alrdy installed and black interior with fogged tailights and gold brembo brakes. 2.5li 4cyl 6-spd man

If you were a 18-yr getting ready to enter college who wants something sporty, reliable, but still has some kick to the engine what would you pick. I know the insurance for the Spec is like 250 a month. not sure about mazda..

 

[MrFluffyPants]

As a current college student get whichever will be cheaper in the long run, because you are most likely going to have no money to fix anything if it breaks. But looking at your options I would go with the SE-R hands down, it already has everything you want except the headers and a few little nice extras. I guess the real question is which do you want more. :klavergreg:

 

[udontknowajck]

i will believe the 3 will be cheaper to insurance

 

[Coroner]

yea, i was thinking the insurance would be cheaper. They both have high miles on them, and im kind of worried about the se-r because i know for a fact they have some issues with them and im guessing the mazda will be more reliable...

 

[Hexedit]

I would get the mazda based on my bias!

 

[CosmicBlueMS3]

what year is the SE-R? a friend of mine owned one, think it was an 02? not positive, but it was practically a lemon and he told me that his problems were not unique.

 

[HouRman]

250 a month is very high. I bet the mazda3 should be less than that.

If you want to be competitive with your friend, then join him and get the Nissan. At least he will probably help you with a lot of things which is a big +.

If you get the Mazda3, the help is here on the forums, however that Mazda3 has 80k miles on it which is sort of a lot. (Probably a lot of highway though)

If it were me and I wanted to be competitive and maybe not necessarily try to drag race all the time. I'd get a used miata for 10K or less that's probably in better shape than that mazda3. (But then you may have to get over the image of the miata)

Or you can finance a brand new cheaper car such as a Honda fit, or Nissan Versa to not worry about repairs. Then when you graduate and get a job, you can get another "Project" car and your versa or whatever will be your every day driver.

 

[rubyred3]

[quote author=Hexedit link=topic=73153.msg1295702#msg1295702 date=1175050069]
The se-r will smoke the 3 in autoX.
[/quote]

Not so fast. When talking about autocross, classing is very important. Stock for stock, I like the 3 (even raw time, owing to its very well balanced suspension), not to mention, it is in HS (and quite competitive there against the regular mini coopers) while the SE-R runs in G-stock (where cooper S's will trounce it). Since he's talking about adding I/H/E to either, I'm assuming he would move to ST* classes. The Mazda3 runs in STS, and I can run it fairly competitively there, although on a local level only (both cars are too heavy and/or underpowered to compete nationally in either class). I believe the SE-R would have to run STX owing to its mechanical LSD, so it would get POUNDED by modded Mini's and WRX's. I'll take the 3 if its for an autocross tool only as its quite well balanced even stock, not to mention has MUCH more favorable classing.

 

[ViperDom]

WTF guys, we're not even comparing apples to apples,

The comparison should be:

Mazda3 vs Sentra (2.3NA4cyl vs 2.5NA4cyl)
or
MazdaSPEED3 vs Sentra SE-R (turbo4cyl vs turbo4cyl)

NOT Mazda3 vs Sentra SE-R thats as unfair as MazdaSPEED3 vs Sentra or any other POS 4banger for that matter.




(also, 5speeds are favorable over 6speeds in AutoX)

 

[Hexedit]

[quote author=ViperDom link=topic=73153.msg1296737#msg1296737 date=1175100693]
(also, 5speeds are favorable over 6speeds in AutoX)
[/quote]

Are they? I know they are in a drag race but not so sure about autoX...

 

[saluteTOme]

the SE-R isn't turbo...

 

[ViperDom]

AutoX is all about balance / wieght dist to be able to get your car to turn/rotate how you want it to. with that said shifting disturbes the balance of the car.

5speeds, we stay in 2nd the whole race so it is easy to concentrate on a complex coarse and look ahead 2-3 gates.

6speeds, stuck having to shift back and fourth between 2nd and 3rd
this especialy sucks when your in a slalomn were you dont want to disturb the balance of the car. Or if you stay close to redline in 2nd, its tough controling a car at redline around a turn without spinning tires. also,some 6speed'ers just say fuck it, stay in 2nd and bounce of the the rev limiter for a second or slow before they have to slow down fo rthe next turn.

With a 5speed, your always in the mid-upper range of the powerband of your engine wich is good.
With a 6speed your either in the upper end in 2nd, or lower end in 3rd.

also, obviously all of this also depennds on the Actual gearing.
hope this helps everyone to understand... and sorry Coroner for the hijack haha

 

[ViperDom]

MY BAD, o its the spec-V that indicates the turbo, DUUH :doh:

 

[Hexedit]

I dunno, sounds to me like the curse of the lazy driver. If you have the extra gear available you should be able to put the engine closer to where it makes the most power with 6 speeds instead of 5. I still don't buy your logic of 5 speeds being better. I myself have run into situations where having 6 gears closer together would have helped me immensely over the 5 speed.