And it’s ancient at this point.

It engages the RTFM tracking.

Very similar boats! I miss mazdaspeedforums, even more when someone posts a dumb question around here. I really had no intentions of trading my 8 year old MS3 with 36K miles, but I was really impressed with the 4th gen. I really only considered the -Accord 2.0T with a 6 speed when I decided to make the move, but it turned out they were all gone by Spring 2020 and they just hadn’t announced they weren’t making more. It’s hard to make a case for any alternatives now. Integra or GTI, but both have serious drawbacks.

I had mine for 8 years - from 2 miles through around 36,000. 2012 tech package. I didn’t really expect to replace it but drove the new 3 while shopping for my wife’s car. This was not long after lockdown, in kind of a sweet spot where used car prices were climbing and new cars were incentivized heavily. I got a lot for my MS3 and got the new one for well under sticker with 0% financing. It was a deal that I literally could not refuse.

I don’t get to do much fun driving, and I only drive to my office 1-2 times a month, so much of my driving is errands or dropping my kids off. I miss the turbo when I’m passing on a 2 lane road, but not that much in daily driving.

To put it another way, the new one is 90% as fun but 150% better to live with. It’s vastly more comfortable, shockingly quiet, the tech is about 20 years newer, shifter/clutch are better, and you’re not giving up much with that chassis. I think better tires will get back a lot of it, and the people going on about the inferior rear suspension are clowns from what I can tell. Visibility is a little worse out the back, but you gain a camera. Gas savings are not insignificant between using regular and gaining 5-10 MPG.

My only real beef with the car is the cylinder deactivation, and I’m hoping to find a tune that turns it off. I hate the way it sounds and feels. Otherwise, no regrets. Keep us posted!

MT 3 is a great daily. Cheap to run, fun to play with but comfortable and quiet when you just need to drive somewhere.

I would actually say it’s more like driving an RX-8 than an MS3. I won’t say I don’t miss the extra power of the MS3, but it pays dividends at the pump.

As someone that went from an RX-8 to a MS3 to a 4th gen 3 Premium 6MT, but has plenty of seat time with the turbo drivetrain in my wife’s CX-9s, you are on the right track. The automatic is really not fun and the weight distribution is somehow even worse with the turbo than the MS3.

Racing Beat did a lot of the parts on the Mazdaspeed Protege and it’s predecessor, the MP3. I can’t recall the source of the turbo on the MSM. The MS3 and MS6 were mostly in house and corporate parts bin with Volvo and Ford bits.