The As Yet Un-named Mazda 3

JimbbobW1977 said:

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Sunglasses holder completely different!! Don't know why I thought it.

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That's the light at the front same for rear

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Totally different then, I don't have any ambient strip lights on the roof for a start just point light sources. Although I see you have the Cat 1 alarm, which looks a similar set up to mine although my sensors are out of sight behind grills. I also have a different set up in the rear with a large dome light.

Here's a picture of something I have always found different on mine, picture taken in the rear wheel arch above the tyre (Michelin cross climates) what's missing?

JimbbobW1977 said:

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Here's a picture of something I have always found different on mine, picture taken in the rear wheel arch above the tyre (Michelin cross climates) what's missing?

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I'm going with a suspension strut, although I suppose if it was mounted conventionally you'd have a narrow point on the load bay.

I was looking at cross climates for mine, given the width and profile of the tyres suspect it'll be like a dog on a polished floor in winter, however the toyos have only lost .5mm since I got it so still got 4mm on.

Suspension strut won't be their because of it being independently sprung, it's the damper they moved for the estate...



The cross climates so far seem good, no slipping on wet roads or leaves. Will have to wait for snow or some mud driving to see how they perform

I work at mazda get to drive all the mazdas . Like driving these tbh ,.Looks a nice clean car

jatkinson said:

I work at mazda get to drive all the mazdas . Like driving these tbh ,.Looks a nice clean car

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Thanks, oddly I like driving them as well!

#whitecarproblems

From now on I'm only driving indoors..

StevenRB45 said:

#whitecarproblems

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Ha, the Prius hasn't been cleaned in 6k miles, at the last service. Only another 4k to go until they do it again. I might have the clean the rear plate however soon

I'm liking the current mud brown look though. Its like getting a new car when it does finally get cleaned and turns back to being white

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Ha, the Prius hasn't been cleaned in 6k miles, at the last service. Only another 4k to go until they do it again. I might have the clean the rear plate however soon

I'm liking the current mud brown look though. Its like getting a new car when it does finally get cleaned and turns back to being white

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That would make me twitch that...not the dirty car so much but the thought of somebody at the garage using a sponge to grind a years worth of muck into the paint.

Left the swift for 9 months once and never again when I did get round to washing it rot had started on the wheels and the paint was just never quite the same despite being washed, then waxed and polished repeatedly.

Well still running fine, needs the wheels balanced but spends so little time on motorways it usually doesn't matter and new tyres are still due soon. Given how long the fronts are lasting may just get a 4 wheel balance and swap rear to front.

What I do like is that money is spent where it matters most cars the wheel nuts after 5 years would be orange, or the little plastic chrome toppers would be tarnished (as in the case of the 20 month old ds3) or they live under a cover. Mazda none of the above...they just chrome them properly from the factory. While the soft touch "perceived quality" of the car is not the best the actual component quality is first rate.

StevenRB45 said:

While the soft touch "perceived quality" of the car is not the best the actual component quality is first rate.

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Whilst I agree that there is such a thing as cheap and nasty, (I.e Seat,) I don't subscribe to that whole "perceived quality" bs that some people love to spout. Given the choice, I'd much rather have an aesthetically pleasing interior made from hard plastics than a bland 1 made from "soft touch" plastic.

I don't mind the perceived quality touches as long as the engineering backs them up. I do have the dreaded soft touch dash but the door cards, window/mirror switches and handles are unapologetic in their Japanese plastic but feel very robust.

The DS3 we have is the opposite of the Mazda, if you looked at them in photographs there is no contest the DS3 wins hands down it has chromed metal interior door handles, a perspex and metal ball gearknob, chrome and leather trims about the place and a piano black dash panel. But the moment you actually use the car it's obvious it's all glued on quality, the door cards bend when you pull the handle, everything rattles after 8k and there are buttons around the place that feel like you could break them easily.

Personally I prefer a single consistent level of quality rather than one that's designed to look nice at a glance but is actually behind the scenes a lot cheaper than it purports to be.

Found a nice piece of metal in one of my front tyres (though it wasn't losing pressure), this has triggered me to complete my car to do list at a cost of about 520 quid. It now has 4 new Goodyear EfficientGrip performance tyres and new discs and pads.

It's a different car, the slight lack of initial brake bite is gone and the middle pedal travel is reduced and the brakes are still far more progressive than most modern cars. It's quieter on all surfaces too.

The biggest change is through the wheel, recently the steering was starting to remind me of my old none power assistance fiat's in a bad way. On a rough surface you could feel every single ripple and imperfection through the rim of the steering. On top of this the tramlining was insane I went over a heavily cambered road near me and I honestly thought something had broken, I was only vaguely responsible for my direction of travel. Now though it's like someone has installed a filter on the wheel it communicates but isn't overpowering, tracks straight and importantly can accelerate all the way up to the speed alarm (as fast as I would want to go) with absolutely no wheel wobble.

Well Martha has wedding car duties..mainly involving moving a lot of stuff from point A to point B and getting the groom (me!) there. Don't think I'll be rocking the ribbons although we'll see what I feel like on the day.

Then it's the honeymoon chariot afterward and I'm obviously not staying at home the night before so I'll be living out of it for a few days.

Until then though doesn't polish up badly for a five year old daily with 50k under it's belt of course i'm sure nose will be horrible by the time i've put another umpteen hundred summer motorway miles on it before I go back to work...



Then once it's back to normality I have a service and MOT in August marking 2 years since I picked it up.

Currently discovering it's nearly impossible to not remember your service date in one of these..as well as emails and texts from the garage as per usual if you want to see your service history you need to download an app.

So no surprise then when a notification pops up on my phone...

It's almost as though the car doesn't have a service reminder...oh no wait it does in the middle of the dashboard.

Somewhat surprised this service includes a gearbox oil change given most manufacturers are now "sealed for life" at least until the box goes bang. Perhaps these are known for mechanical longevity due to a belt and braces service schedule keeping wear and tear down to nothing.

I think my Grande has to have its gearbox oil changed periodically as well.

puntofan01 said:

I think my Grande has to have its gearbox oil changed periodically as well.

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My puntos and unos did so not surprising given they are mechanically similar, seem to recall the interval was 72k.

Wasn't complaining even with the oil change on top service and mot at a main agent is 215 quid. Just thought it was a little oldschool given most of the major manufacturers don't seem to have a gearbox oil change interval let alone one mandated as part of scheduled servicing. A Focus or Golf of the same age list no gearbox oil changes ever.

A backwards step for gearbox reliability, you reckon?

In normal use probably not it'll easily last the warranty or lease period.

If you're planning on keeping a car long term though changing engine oil every 2 years or 30k and never changing the gearbox oil would probably increase the likelihood of major failures but the cars would be long out of warranty before any effects were felt.