2011 WRX vs 2011 MazdaSpeed 3

[AlohaWRX]

I'm waiting until my Stage 1 acessport comes in along with my Cobb intake. I know there's going to be a huge gain in my power. So that'll shut him up. Well also I only live in Hawaii. You can't barely race here on such a small island and cops are always roaming around here at night

[sc13]

nah man **** that! its us for them! lol i was considering buying a GTI and a speed 3 before i picked my 11 wrx... awd sealed the deal for me, and like i tell everyone the looks keep growing on me

[Arki Boy]

my choice of cars too + ralliart..i bought my wrx because of the awd. i also have a 09 forester before my wrx and the car was like a tank in the snow, everyone else was stuck/sliding down the hill while I was driving like a normal road, i saw TL's, lexus' etc and yes a GTI stuck next to a curb. I can't imagine a MS3 with fwd and 263 hp on roads like that.

gti and ms3 is more like a boy racer car in my opinion, plus the stupid smiling face on the new ms3 looks horrible

[AlohaWRX]

yeah thats all true but im living in oahu so whole different story from there. But the WRX has always been my dream car and i finally got it. I'm satisfied with what i have. the MS3 just looks plain horrible. I just love the wrx, You can fully modd it while the MS3 can do only so much because it can't handle that much power with it's engine

[clarky99]

Anyone who has not driven the MS3 might not believe it, but the thing corners amazingly well for FWD.
It is still biased to understeer, but it is extremely flat through corners.
I've owned FWD, RWD, and now AWD vehicles, and the one thing that stands out to me about AWD is the point and shoot nature of it.
I feel like I have far less feel for the road, but I know if I point the wheel and give it gas, I'll get where I want to. That's probably a positive for some and a negative for others.
For me, there is no supplement for RWD when it comes to driver feedback and feeling the road.
Its just not practical in Canadian winter.

[zwrxp09]

i, being a former owner of a 08.5 ms3 can say that i miss a lot of stock features from it... handling (in any way you toss the car to), better steering (near bmw feel IMO), better interior and stereo, better seats (i realized this now) sleeper looks and the 'head-pushed-back-to-your-seat' feeling.

the '11 ms3's have improved a lot from the 1st-gen ms3's. a lot more comfort features like adaptive-HID's, push-button start, dual zone auto-climate, much more premium audio and a more forgiving-on-potholes suspension. i for one still considered the ms3 even with that smile, it's ok with me. the body looks much better than the wrx too IMO, but of course, that's subjective.

stock on both... i'd say straights go to the wrx, but on a road course, ms3 wins.

having said that, i'm not regretting my choice with my '11 rex due to the following... AWD (i just got tired of ms3's torque steer and the whole FWD system itself), softer-on-potholes suspension (i live in potholeland NYC metro) and that boxer engine drone sound.

[poly_poly-man]

nothing with fwd will every be on my list of good cars.

[souper]

Coming from a MS3 as well, and it was a great car. Not a fan of the new models... not sure what Mazda was thinking with that design. Interior is still superior and is arguably the best bang for your buck if not the new WRX.

Never had a problem with mine... and it was a quick little car. I don't race my cars so AWD was never really a requirement. I live in NE so we get tons of snow but with winter tires you would of never known it was FWD. Sometimes I had traction issues on rainy days and the torque steer was a *****... both won't be missed with the WRX. Other than that the handling was superb. Felt like it could turn on a dime.

She will be missed... traded her in for a CX7 for the fiancee who had a 4x4 and didn't like the tail kicking out on her in the snow. I took the truck over for half a year until this week when I got the WRX. Great truck but i'm not looking back!

Attached is a pic of the MS3. Can't see in the pic but I had the Rally Armor urethane flaps.... already ordered them for the WRX. I mainly got them to protect the paint but ended up really digging the looks.

In hindsight if I knew I would be getting a new car in 6 months I would of kept the speed and traded in the truck for the Cx7... but I didn't last as long as I thought I would. Been doing a lot of traveling for work lately and the truck just wasn't fulfilling enough for me. If it was winter year round I would of been happy.

[Ticopain]

I just bought my rex 2011 3 days ago but i did test drive the mazdaspeed also (had a killer deal on it since i had a mazda 3 previously)

I think the mazda had a better interior and stereo, more equipement. The steering was really stiff and precise, the clutch looked really strong (had a bit of trouble at first getting used to it, it was like she was pushing on my foot) It was cornering like a champ (the suspension was puting the car flat and you almost didnt feel being pushed to side) It was pretty powerfull, i had more push-in-seat feeling with it. Suspension was hard and seat also, not sure i would have feel confortable for a DD. I also get 5-6 month of snow condition here (Québec, Canada, worst winter in north america)so im not sure what that beast would looks like on ice and snow with front wheel drive and lot of power. Exterior is bit weird but not that ugly and its pretty sleeper. Overall, i think this car is nice but more on the race side then DD side.

The WRX have ok interior, stereo sucks but with the sound of engine/exhaust, who need the radio, i hardly put it on now. The steering is nice no complaint and i had a better feel with the clutch (smoother and i dont feel like my foot is being push back) The power is a bit less boy racer and feel smoother (still in break-in period tho, havent saw what its really capable of yet) In corner, i feel a bit more the G force, its ok, i dont race it, its a DD car. The suspension is smoother and i feel more confortable in those seat so its a plus here with the bad road we have (its everywhere here). AWD will rock in winter and there is a law here to get winter tire so i have no choice. The exterior is nicer and i think the wrx is just more prestigious than a mazda (less sleeper), i like when ppl look at my car (who dont). Overall, i think i made the good choice, the wrx is more what i was looking for a sport DD.

I know OP was looking to know which is faster but that my comparaison of both. I think the wrx must be faster from dig but on a roll the speed should win and it must be similar on a race track, pretty much depend on driver.
(sorry for bad english)

[gimli]

I went from a 08.5 MS3 to a 10 WRX, mostly to cope with Iowa winters. Stock, the MS3 feels a lot faster, has less turbo lag and a lot more torque early. The WRX has a wider power band. Launch is the about the same: the MS3 spins wheels while the WRX bogs down. You can launch better in the WRX if you compromise some reliability.

[rollazn]

The torquesteer really isn't all that bad.
It is there - especially when you think of the amount of power/torque the MS3 has, but it's definitely not a problem, at least, not to me.

At the time, I was considering either a 09 WRX or a 09 MS3. Ended up getting a really good price on the MS3 and i'm pretty happy. However, there are times I wish I had AWD. (-_-)

[Big Sky WRX]

I ran against one at recent autox- it's appears to be a very capable car (I actually thought it looked pretty good too). I was down a 1/2 second on Day 1, was able to eek out a win on Day 2- which happened to be pouring rain

I do agree w/ the sentiment about not owning a FWD though- lots of nice FWD cars out there, but my personal preference if I'm not in a RWD (live in Montana so pretty small window for it) is AWD

[Purp]

The MS3 is one ugly car. I could never drive that thing. Plus I'm not a fan of hatch backs or FWD cars.

[zax]

The MS3 is one ugly car. I could never drive that thing. Plus I'm not a fan of hatch backs or FWD cars.

If not for looks, accept the fact that a hatch/wagon is a far more versatile vehicle to the sedan. Although I agree that the newer MS3s (2010+) are overstyled IMO.

Now that my girl has a 2008 MS3, I can tell you from personal experience... the car has far more low-end torque developed sooner than any WRX I've driven to date. In fact, the car pulls harder <3000 RPM than the 2008 STi and 2007 Limited I've driven. Direct injection + a 9.5:1 CR gives the car a fantastic amount of torque just a hair off idle. Since the car is FWD, this equates to a decent amount of torque steer (although the LSD seems to do its job quite nicely) and tire smoke from a dig. From a 5-10 mph roll-out, I'd say the MS3 would stomp on the 2011 WRX (in a drag race) to at least 60-70 mph, but the power dwindles on the MS3 at only about 5000 RPM. The snail is pretty small and wheezes out pretty quickly. In a quarter mile drag race with a roll out, I'd say it's really a driver's race...

[RayfieldsWRX]

Sounds like a great car for around town. Much as I love my hybrid, it's starting to feel a little wheezy below 3000rpms now that the 90+ temps are with us.