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But there was a light at the end of the tunnel. A cure for Projectitis. It's simple, and I'll share the secret with you:
Buy a car that isn't a piece of shit.
Yeah, I didn't think it was that easy either. But I looked at my budget, and went and bought the fastest thing I could afford:
And it *is* fast.
The formula is pretty simple. You take a ranted-and-raved about chassis, drop it, stiffen it, and then throw a Ward's Ten Best motor:
Direct Gasoline Injection, 9.5:1 Compression, and a smallish turbo reaching a 15.6 psi max (although people have recorded spikes into the 19's).
That translates into 268hp and 280lb-feet of pavement shredding torque. Have I mentioned I have an enormous hard-on for this car?
You put that torque to the ground through six forward gears and a torsen limited slip differential. I probably would not have bought the thing had it been Dodge Neon-esque and not had six speed and LSD. But you combine the six speed, the direct injection engine, and a torsen LSD...and it was a package I couldn't turn down.
My favorite bit is the subtlety of the car. At first glance, it's not really that different from a regular, mundane, run of the mill Mazda 3. It's the little things that make the difference:
Larger rear spoiler, different rear valence:
Unique foglights, front valence:
And you've already seen the pretty subtle "Mazdaspeed".
You get a bling oil cap:
And cool little chrome accents on the doorsills:
You also get some really comfortable, stylish, supportive seats, but I didn't include pictures of those cuz I'm laaaaaazy. If you're made of twigs with skin wrapped over 'em, you might slide around a little, but if you're my size, they're perfect.
My only beef is with the shifter. See, this is the same trans as the Speed 6, including the same shifter. It might be my imagination, but it seems a little better in the 3, but it still isn't the rifle-bolt shifter I'd really love. But with 0-60 in under 6 seconds, I won't complain.
I mean, would you?
I just wanted to show it off a little. Don't misunderstand, it's not perfect. The electronic throttle can be a bit nannyish (it's the main way the Traction Control works) the shifter can be a little vague and notchy, and I don't like the fact that it's got 18" wheels. 17" would be much more better. But on the 2-3 shift, when the turbo comes on full, you pretty much forget all that...you also forget about having any shit projects, too. I mean it's a nice, new, warrantied car that's probably about as fast as my old Supra. That is, fast enough.
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