Hello,

I'm new a new Mazda owner and to this site. My previous car was a 2001 Honda Civic Ex. I now have a 2011 Hatchback in white. I can definitely say the Mazda is a driver's car! It handles so much better stock than my slightly modded Civic.

Mods:
I'm still looking around with what parts I would like to install to meet my needs. So far, I think I may get the MS3 wheels and some coilovers to start things off.

Audio:
Definitely plan on upgrading the lousy stock sound. Still working on what I'm going to install, but I'll post the progress.

 

Congrats! I picked up an '11 Speed3 also on 22 Aug. Mine is Liquid Silver. It's a monster Zoom Zoom machine. I agree that the stock sound system leaves a lot to be desired.

 

hello, i too have an 11 speed3 in liq silv metal am a little upset with its accel. i had an 08 speed3 and it was faster

 

I came from an '07 Mazda6 S (V6) into my S3, so my comparisons are different. Compared to the 6, the S3 is a freakin' rocket. I have read on this board about soooo many easy bolt on mods that will make a significant improvement over the awesome job the Mazdaspeed group has already done.

 

dont get me wrong the day after i got my 11 spd3 i whipped an older but highly modified acura tl. i pulled him in 5th gear. it just took a little learning the new car .the gearing is diff.

 

They also limited torq in first and second gear to help with pussies complaining about torq steer.

 

@benspeedn: I presume your '08 S3 was a 5-spd with the '11 being 6-spd. I can see how the gearing differences would be enought to throw you off a bit.

 

no 08 was a 6 spd but mazda put some sort of electronic damper in the trans so the gears wont hit so hard. and it slowed accel just a bit. also the 11likes more rpms. in the 08 i raced it in 456 in the 11 you have to use 345 gears. 18 the 08 id drop 1 gear at 80mph in the 11 i drop to 4th