No doubt, no doubt. Haha like I said, my buddies ms3 gets worked on constantly, so I get to watch and help it all come together while he goes broke. Haha

 

Went and test drove a MS3 today, and I've gotta say I was underwhelmed. It's still just a mazda in the end, and I'm not in love with how a fwd car drives. The eager to center steering wheel, the understeer, and torque steer, just not totally sold. Then I went and test drove an 08 G35s. It had 130k on the clock, but I wanted to drive it just to see how I liked it. It is seriously a different ballpark than a speed3. Interior quality, and layout it much better (don't feel like I'm driving a rental or economy car) and it was supremely smoother to drive. I also messed with the paddle shifters for a second, and I like those for sure. That was my only praise of the speed3, I liked the 6 speed, but I haven't driven manual in 2 years so half the fun was just driving it again.

Decided I'm not going to totally eliminate g35's from my search, just going to be aware of the oil galley gasket issue, get the oil pressure tested, and I'm talking to my bank about their warranty company they provide, and the cost etc. If it's gonna cost me $2k over the 3-4 years I'm financing, I'll just go without the warranty. If it's $1500, or under (the average price I've found to get the gaskets done) it would still be hard to justify, simply because most warranty companies still want a co-pay from what I've found. Funny thing is, I have a larger selection of 07-08 G35's in my price and milage range than MS3's, or GTI's even.

Here's another question for you guru's, what special issues is an X model going to have, over a normal rwd version. Any speed, or handling differences?

Also, can I add paddle shifters to and 07-08 model? read a thread a week back but couldn't find it, but iirc they can be added to the base model.. really liked those

 

I bought my 08 G35x with ~ 65 000 miles in 10/2014
I have driven it quite a bit and the one option I wish I had that I didn't know about is the...
THIGH EXTENDER. I'm only 5'8, but my legs are disproportionately longer.

I also recommend running it through a automatic car wash --edit-- "touchless" --edit--,as I have learned the weather seals seem to wear out. Check the ones around the windshield as those are the ones my car had an issue with. Although, the windshield was also replaced at one point, which could also be another cause for this issue. I can't really provide much advise on the mechanical spectrum so I'll leave that for the more seasoned owners.

Regardless, your choice in buying a G is right on.

 

I'm very against running any car through an automatic wash, it's hell on your paint! One of the first things I do when I look at the exterior of a car is look for swirls, and signs of bodywork. I'm just waiting on my motorcycle to sell, then I'll be picking up a G asap!

 

Oh, yeah, about that torque steer on the ms3: as soon as the ecu detects ANY torque steer on a launch, it limits power instantly. Those things are seriously hard to drag race.

 

Either am I, but it was "touchless", the goal was mainly to see how well it resisted against water.

Then again the chemicals used could be harmful to the paint. But it was a one timer and imo a quick way to check for leaks caused by worn weather stripping.