Jas
Member
Registered: 13th Oct 04
Location: Mid Wales
User status: Offline
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anyone had a go in one of these?
going to have a look at one on Sat
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Brett
Premium Member
Registered: 16th Dec 02
Location: Manchester
User status: Offline
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Graham had one. Wrapped it up iirc 
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whitter45
Member
Registered: 15th Nov 02
Location: Norton
User status: Offline
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Graham is your best person to ask - not sure he posts on here any more
He had an off at the ring but fixed it
Think he really enjoyed the Mazada
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Robin
Premium Member
Registered: 7th Jan 04
Location: Northants Drives: Clio 182 Cup
User status: Offline
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Broster had one too
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taylorboosh
Member
Registered: 3rd Apr 07
User status: Offline
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yea graham had one.. he is staying off here for a bit but not gone for good
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marklawton
Member
Registered: 24th Apr 05
Location: Pensby, Wirral Drives:Golf mk4 GTI
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if i remember correctly Graham said parts were expensive and iam sure his kept going through driveshafts as you couldnt replace the cv's?
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belton
Member
Registered: 23rd Jul 09
Location: Kent
User status: Offline
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Graham had one that was incredible I have never heard anything like it, I think it just had a decat as well.
My mate also has a standard one ad it's awesome. I am sure you will enjoy it. Think graham had a progress thread?
[Edited on 24-07-2012 by belton]
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sc0ott
Member
Registered: 16th Feb 09
User status: Offline
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Graham had one btw.
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scottyp1989
Member
Registered: 29th Jul 07
Location: Warley, West Midlands
User status: Offline
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Did any one mention Graham?
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BarnshaW
Member
Registered: 25th Oct 06
User status: Offline
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would prefer an astra vxr
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taylorboosh
Member
Registered: 3rd Apr 07
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by BarnshaW
would prefer an astra vxr [/quot
Don't think graham would mate
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pow
Premium Member
Registered: 11th Sep 06
Location: Hazlemere, Buckinghamshire
User status: Offline
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My mate has just bought one, it's a lovely, comfy, very fast and well spec'd bit of kit.
I just couldn't stomach taxing it at £470 a year 
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Brett
Premium Member
Registered: 16th Dec 02
Location: Manchester
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by sc0ott
Graham had one btw.
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broster
Premium Member
Registered: 6th Dec 02
Location: Drives: E39
User status: Offline
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They are ok, plenty of power and LSD std, early ones cost loads to tax, later big smily faced ones are cheaper.
Loads better than an asta VXR IMO!
Mine snapped the top gearbox mount and destroyed the ns drive shaft, cost loads for a new shaft, gearboxes are a bit of a sore point on them. Parts are cheap if you avoid the dealer and know what other cars share parts.
I wouldn't have another. Mine was just over 300bhp with air filter map and a cat back exhaust
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broster
Premium Member
Registered: 6th Dec 02
Location: Drives: E39
User status: Offline
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Oh and graham had one
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taylorboosh
Member
Registered: 3rd Apr 07
User status: Offline
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quote:
Originally posted by broster
Oh and graham had one
Did he? Somebody should've said sooner
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Ben J
Member
Registered: 31st Jan 05
Location: Cheshire
User status: Offline
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Graham had one. Might be worth asking him.
[Edited on 24-07-2012 by Ben J]
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Graham88
Member
Registered: 16th Apr 07
Location: South East Kent Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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I had one incase you didn't realise.
Great cars. Way better than anything in the similar market IMO.
256bhp, 280ft/lb torque, 2.3 litre turbo, LSD standard, Bose sound system with 6 CD changer, Xenon headlights, Half Leather Sports Seats. Make sure you get one with the Aero Kit, they come with Eibach lowering springs and a bigger rear spoiler. Look so much better than the normal ones.
Expensive cars to run and maintain in my experience, but they might have come on a bit now as when I sold mine they were starting to get really popular and more UK companies learning more about tuning them and importing parts. I spent a fortune alone in shipping from America and Import Tax on every modification except for the Coilovers.
As Broster said if you learn what parts are from what car you can save money, the car is basically a Focus ST floorpan, brakes the same etc. Pads are cheaper if you buy Focus ST ones instead of MPS ones for instance.
My only troubles I had with the car were CV joints & turbo. I'm not convinced the turbo was faulty still as quite a few people are having trouble with white smoke out the exhausts, but Mazda have released a fix to the PCV system as there is not enough crankcase pressure or something thus the white smoke? It's been a while since I've owned mine so it might have been solved by now. It'll be noticeable on idle once the car is warm, you can't miss it if its doing it.
CV joints are a fucking bitch. It's part of the driveshaft so you have to buy a whole new one, at £450 a pop it's not quite the price of a £20 CV joint from a motorfactors. This was what mine looked like after it let go on the Ring
Still don't know how I managed to finish the lap and drive 50 miles back to the Villa!
Modifying them isn't cheap because there is barely any 2nd hand market due to them not being that old, and not many people really modify them that much. So everything has to be bought new and generally in America hence the postage and import tax I mentioned earlier. When I sold mine I sold the bits in probably 2 weeks as they got snapped up due to parts never coming up for sale. It might be a bit better now though...
I loved the car to be honest, it got so many looks and so many people asking questions about it as it's a sort of street sleeper. It took everything I threw it at it, including money 4 Nurgurgring Trips, Oulton Park, Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Lydden Hill & Castle Combe plus many spirited road drives.
Hope that helps.
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taylorboosh
Member
Registered: 3rd Apr 07
User status: Offline
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That was lush tbh
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CORSA NUT
Member
Registered: 3rd Aug 01
Location: Wirral
User status: Offline
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Driven a few and really like them, feel very aggressive and raw to drive.
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adiohead
Member
Registered: 28th Sep 01
User status: Offline
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I'd love the 4wd/Awd 6 MPS, but the running costs are scaring me... 
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SetH
Member
Registered: 15th Jul 01
User status: Online
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Love these cars but the drivetrain problems on a car that new in this day and age really put me off.
I wonder if this is common place or just a few unlucky people on the interwebz.
Coming from a line of Scoobies I expect them to blow up but I would be looking for top notch reliability from a 2006+ Mazda (RX8 excluded )
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Graham88
Member
Registered: 16th Apr 07
Location: South East Kent Drives: E46 M3
User status: Offline
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To be fair I did drive it hard, and I imagine Broster did too. CV joints aren't uncommon to go, it's just a stupid design and expensive to replace that's why it sticks out as a problem, if they were £20 it wouldn't matter so much
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Jas
Member
Registered: 13th Oct 04
Location: Mid Wales
User status: Offline
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I'll be honest, I've done 2k miles in my EP3 since owning it.
I just want something nice thats a bit of fun when I want to go for a spin, so I won't be driving it That hard.
going to look at a black one on Sat,
liking what you've done with the front grill there.
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big eck
Member
Registered: 20th Apr 03
Location: Tullibody. Drives - Audi B8 S4 & Fiesta Zetec-S
User status: Offline
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I was set on buying one and the cost of tax put me off in the end. The newer models are the cheaper tax band tho.
My Astra vxr used to wipe the floor with my mates old one but I have to admit its an unfair comparison as mine was pretty heavily modded compared to his aftermarket filter only job.
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