TH0001 said:I drove the Mazda 3 Speed and suprisingly liked it quite a bit.
It's only surprising if you are basing your judgments on stats in magazines. HP and Torque ratings, and 0-60 times are a *very* small piece of the fun to drive factor. If printed numbers where all that mattered the "pocket rocket" segment wouldn't even exist. Give a smaller car a good steering rack, make it so it handles well without being harsh, and gear it correctly and you don't need a ton of power to have fun. That's the basic formula in my mind and the MS3 does it the best. Ever wonder why the MK1 GTi is still the peoples choice even though it is the slowest ever made?
The reason I suggested you might like the MS3 earlier in this thread is if you look at what they did to turn a regular 3 into a MS3 versus the other two cars you see a much clearer picture of why it might be more fun to drive than the other two. Also, IMO (and opinion is all it is right?) I think the interior perceived quality is nicer in the 3. And this is coming from somebody that just talked his lady into a Subaru. So I'm not biased. I just think the MS3 matches what you are looking for better.