The mazda 3 will beat nearly every 4 cylinder, non-turbocharged car on the market stock to stock with the 2.3. I live in norristown pa, think of it as a little version of philadelphia. Needless to say i see massive amounts of boy racer wannabees with thier "pimped" out civics, old gti's, tiburons, etc..... so far from my experience the mazda3 easily beats most of these cars becuase of the torque advantage. I did lose 1 race that i can remember not even being close, that was to my freinds dad's GTO lol. Thought i would try just to see how bad it would be.

 

well then that means if i drive the manual right and add CAI and headers or some basic mods I should be able to do the same that npoll212 said....GTO will murder your car in a drag but will prob be a good race around a track.

 

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also an 05 bmw 325i has 184hp, and an 05 330ihas 225hp.A 2007 328i (325i no longer in production) has 230 hp and a 2007 335i (330i no longer in production) has 300hp turbo. I dont think the speed3 will beat the 335i but it will definitely take on all that are lower.
And Gregdunn, i totally agrre with you.A Mustang GT may beat me in a straight line race, but put us both on country roads filled with hairpin turns and i can already see him in my rearview mirror. I love my 3.

 

i beat a BMW 3 series in my 2.3, and an rx8 but that one was close, the rx8 driver did not know waht he was doing

 

You musta' been the only one racing. Our cars are out-classed by both of those vehicles... unless you own an MS3. Then you'd stand a chance.

 

Or Virg, you don't have the confidence in your car that you should have.

 

No, I've beaten a newer (now a year ago, +/-)V6Mustangin mine, and I didn't even know we were racing until I could hear him pushing it hard from next to and behind me. I blew him away off the line (just my style,I wasn't really/intentionally trying to) then he tried to catch up @ WOT! I kept him at bay (behind me) until we reached about +9 over the speed limit. That's where I called it. Let the other guy get the ticket or have the accident. I ain't stupid.
If any carcould potentially beat anything else, there wouldn't be different classes and qualifying in racing. I would never take on the Crown Victoria that tried to race me one morning a few weeks ago. Big?Yes. Heavy? Yes, but much more power too. The difference is, I can have my fun and still get 26-27mpg. Try that with a Crown Vicky!!

 

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You've proven me wrong. I never thought to take on a mustang. I don't really think about racing cars.I just know my car is quick and nimble. Smart move, let the person who wants to race get the ticket, and leave the person, casually driving, alone. You probably pissed the mustang driver beacuase his V6 got beat by an i4. Good show

 

ive beat many mustangs(6cyl)with my altima (4cyl)i havn't actually raced the mazda hard yet, i dont want to beat the mazda up...not even broken in yet.

 

05 V6 Mustang 0-60is 6.9 sec, 0.79g on skidpad(5.2 seconds for the Base V8, 0.87g on skidpad)

2.3L Mazda3 is 7.4 seconds & pulls 0.86 on the skidpad.

If you caught the V6 guy asleep at the light, you'd take him.

Even with a Speed3 and corners, I don't think you'd take a new Mustang GT...here's a video of a stock Mustang GT vs a Lotus Exige S around the Top Gear track and the Mustang did surprisingly well. (Had they put the GT500 in the same test I don't think the Lotus would have won....but I don't think they wanted the Yankee car to beat the Brit.)

http://www.dpccars.com/car-movies/05...sMustangGT.htm