2010 Mazdaspeed 3: Stress Relief

yes, but if you drove it every day, that feeling would wear off... eventually your tolerances get higher and higher and you need more to get that same feeling of euphoria.

Huyracing - I disagree.

In my experience, there are some cars which will perpetually put a smile on your face. I think it does help to occasionally drive another car.

My experiences (albeit limited) show me that my father's 99 porsche boxster is one such car. I think it's the feeling of SINKING into the car, using your left hand to turn the key, and then hearing an engine and intake DIRECTLY BEHIND your head. And those flat sixes sound good.

Similar, a 2000-2003 M5 stirs the soul in my opinion. It roars to life and burbles, but you are surrounded by opulence (especially in their extended leather interiors). The seats are extremely comfortable too.

Plenty of others. I don't know and don't think the MS3 is one, but I could be wrong.

One of my mistakes in life is buying cars that I already know won't give me that feeling:

My 2006 Civic SI....absolutely wonderful machine and a true driver's car, but it hasn't formed a real attachment to me.

My 2008 Subaru Legacy GT.....for some reason, I think I bought this car convinced it was something other than what it is. Apparently, I need to sink $2000 into upgrades to get it to where I thought it was when I bought it. Weird :)

...

My old 97 Jeep Wrangler 4.0 Sahara 5-speed was a car that i enjoyed driving everyday, as long as I wasn't on the highway for more than 5 minutes.

What are yours?

Looks like the image is covering the text again.

I'm having the same feeling this week. Just picked up a new-to-me 2004 BMW 330xi and all of a sudden driving is enjoyable, comfortable, quiet, sporty, capable, and smile-inducing. This upon moving from a soulless (but cheap and reliable) commuter car. Life is too short :)

When are you changing the name to Inside Line Vista?

Joe:

You don't even know. Get a GT35R in that Legacy and talk to me then.

Miraa - What was the economy car?

What I've only recently realized, honestly, is just how big of a step up a BMW 3 or 5 series is from my 2006 Civic.

I know that sounds really obvious, but a few years ago I was young 20 something concerned with speed and cornering ability. Now I enjoy solidity, stability, and quality as much as I enjoy thrust, steering feedback, and well modulated braking.

The civic is engaging to drive hard, but when I'm droning along at 80mph on the freeway and I notice I'm turning the radio up substantially to drown out road noise, wind noise, and interior creaking noises...well, I think I'm about ready to end that phase :)

In case anyone else was interested in the obscured text: "...pretty thankful. With all the inspections, faxes, checks and nervous hours I've been on edge. The Mazdaspeed fun factor was exactly what the doctor ordered."

I miss the old formatting. This layout takes sooo much more space.

@ Joefrompa

Interesting take on your cars and theories about smile inducing autos. I own a civic si, and its my first "sporty" or "driver's" car. Everytime I sit in it and touch the shifter, I think to myself "Magic time".

But then, I've never had the opportunity to experience any of the other automobiles you mentioned. Maybe in the future, when I've moved through several more cars I'm sure my feelings will be more tempered. But I think I've found that connection to my civic that you were never quite able to find. Magic time...

My theory is an econobox is an econobox no matter how much power under the hood. A Speed3 or Civic Si are still the same basic econoboxes as their lowly regular versions- they just go a little faster. Road noise is the easiest way to determine a refined luxurious experience versus a rattle trap small economy car. I've had 5 years of experience with the (2) Mazda3 so I'm ready for a grown-up ride that's quiet, smooth and refined.

Crowb - It's magic when I'm driving through un-traffick'd backroads and the shifter feels just right and the clutch takeup is smooth and I don't feel the DBW twitches. When everything just comes together.

But it's not quite "together" enough everyday to pull it off for me. But the things that detract for me are different than those that detract for others.

Almost 77k on my 2006 Civic SI now.....if it continue to operate the way it has to 100k, I'm going to praise Honda as much as it's gotten from others. It's been quite impressive so far considering the mileage and my very rough driving habits.

joefrompa

I almost always choose to take my 2002, my 1995 3er, or my 1999 Wrangler over the MS3. I will admit that the heap is a bit more fun to drive than the X3 , but not by much.

@joefromp "Miraa - What was the economy car?"

1995 Geo Prizm Lsi. I've had it since new and couldn't justify replacing it when 1) I had no car payment 2) it got great gas mileage (averaged 31 mpg for 180,000+ miles) 3) it had cheap insurance 4) it NEVER broke down. Well, I ran across a great car at a great price, so I finally cut the cord.

@joefromp "Miraa - What was the economy car?"

1995 Geo Prizm Lsi. I've had it since new and couldn't justify replacing it when 1) I had no car payment 2) it got great gas mileage (averaged 31 mpg for 180,000+ miles) 3) it had cheap insurance 4) it NEVER broke down. Well, I ran across a great car at a great price, so I finally cut the cord.

Just a note to say that I didn't double post. I blame the comment system.

BTW, are they ever going to add "edit". I mean, seriously. I wanted to go back and mention that like joefompa, ultimately the road noise is what irked me enough to seek out new wheels.

1986 GTI. Five-speed tranny, no power steering, just a/c and sunroof on the options. That car was nirvana for me for eight short years, until a 1994 Probe GT with all the trimmings came into my life. I knew I was making a mistake to get rid of my A2 GTI, but it had become much too beaten up from the numerous attempts to steal it. I'd love to have that car back.
Nowadays, my 325i puts a smile on my face every day, except when something needs to be repaired. The GTI -- dead reliable. But the BMW is a far-more grown-up car than that GTI could have ever hoped to be. I've said in another post that a four-door GTI might be in my future, but my future is fluid...

I guess my 3er is my favorite car; I special ordered it so that it would be built without a sunroof and with a limited slip final drive. I picked it up 14 years ago last weekend. It's not all that quick but it's very nimble and tossable. Averaging 30 mpg at 80 mph isn't bad either.