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The As Yet Un-named Mazda 3

Introduction

Well it's here my Mazda 3 Takuya 1.6 petrol, 36k on the clock, 61 plate. It needs a name!











Woo discs all round, and 17s as Standard



Loving the interior, fronts nice with heated sports seats, plastics do get more japanese as you go further back



Cruise (finally) and built in phone



6 CD Changer, with bluetooth phone and streaming, also dual zone climate



Loving it so far, ride is firm but not harsh, doesn't feel as slow as I feared it might, though have to watch speed as its deceptive after the swift.
I can kinda relate: I admire the last Puntos whenever I see them around, but at the same time, I'm still immensely satisfied with my current 1, which is paid for, and I really have no desire to part with it any time soon.
 
I can kinda relate: I admire the last Puntos whenever I see them around, but at the same time, I'm still immensely satisfied with my current 1, which is paid for, and I really have no desire to part with it any time soon.

It's not just another 3 though..

it's an mps..so same engine as fitted to the current focus rs in a 260bhp state of tune. Mechanical LSD at the front as well.

It's even reasonable to insure for me, just over 350 quid..and I know all my kids seats and that will fit.
 
I wouldn’t bother with the Octavia - yes it gets good reviews but generally from magazines who are in bed with VAG and get a lot of funding from advertisements. I’m a member on the brisk Skoda forum and the amount of issues and faults on these is quite comical. After our experience with the A3 with numerous faults for what was meant to be a prestige reliable car no thank you!

On a side note the Citroen was leaking oil I noticed... the last person to service it never bothered to tighten up the sump plug!!!! So I’ve given it a full service myself at a cost of £65!!
 
This is protesting at the end of it's easy life at the minute..hasn't had any mechanical faults obviously..because it is Japanese.

But it's down to getting washed once a month due to other time commitments so it's perpetually brown at this time of year. Last month picked up a nail in the rear tyre...then the week after got a stone so wedged down the back down the back of a front brake disc I was convinced a wheel bearing had failed and the corner had to be pulled apart to get it out. Then naturally the week after the car texted me at 4am to tell me it's battery was getting low and I should consider taking it out for at least 30 mins...(car genie). Also my new mainly now 9-5 commute has meant it's averaging 35 mpg..again not broken just it spends huge amount of time idling in the dark with everything turned on. Upside is it's been a consumate family car, taking 3 adults and a childseat with baby crap in comfort and not really noticing the extra weight until I hooked 5th gear on a hill and thought "well this isn't pulling like normal..oh yeah I'm 4 up" Also freed of daily grind traffic it did 41 mpg fully loaded on a mix of roads so its still healthy just not getting the opportunity to run.

I've decided it's going to be replaced in the next year unless money takes a down turn. It's not broken, it's not worn out but it's starting to show it's age in places (mainly the drivers seat which after 72k has started to wear/disintegrate on the drivers side bolster) and I just fancy a change. Quite fancy a 308...for the 1.2 turbo, massive boot, spare wheel and glass roof, but considering a newer 3 but it's not the most practical idea.

We'll see when we get there..might test drive the Pug and hate it or suddenly decide I can live with the slightly cramped interior in the new 3.
 
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Rather random mod completed...it now has battery with 1/3rd extra capacity and twice the cold cranking amps.

Not really required for it to be honest, but the weird JDM size battery is 150 quid in anything other than a basic spec where it's 120 quid + postage. But a top spec bigger battery is 98 quid and the battery box is bigger than required so you can fit it without mods, plus the electrical system is ok with it.

It now starts hilariously quickly even if everything is switched on at -3..like breathe on the key and it's running compared to churning over 3 or 4 times on a cold day. Also I have absolutely no qualms about running round with literally everything from Heated seats, to all the lights, to full heating and demisters on at the same time as it's got the capacity to support it whereas previously the lights would dim if you steered (electric powered hydraulic ps pump) at low speeds.
 
Was it 'marginal'
From new or just this last season?

I tend to find these things deteriorate unnoticed.

Often my older cars would be rejuvenated once a battery actually died..
All the sensors actually seeing 13 volts.. rather than 11 ;)
 
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Little from column A and a little from column B, the old one wasn't holding a charge well but it was producing at least 11.5v as that's the threshold for the OBD monitor to send a text!

The dimming of the lights is something that's been discussed on the 3 forum at length. The power steering pump uses a lot of juice at low speeds so it takes a bite out of the battery as the time the power steering works hardest is usually when the engine is barely above idle so the battery has to fill the void. Mine no longer does it regardless of current electrical load (but did it when I picked the car up 4.5 years ago) which would suggest the standard is a little undersized possibly for weight/cost saving.

Although the interior lights are brighter and an annoying thing where if you locked the car from the interior shortly after starting it would bounce back has stopped. That would suggest it was also bit marginal at 7.5 years old.
 
So...having decided that I pretty much don't like anything that is on sale in budget enough to commit.

Decided instead to spend about 2 monthlies on a new car on my current one and keep it until something I really want is in budget.



Pioneer DA230 with attendant DAB aerial


Brings the stuff in 3 in line with the C3, so 7 inch touchscreen, Android Auto and Apple Car play, Bluetooth and DAB, has a phone connection hidden in the central armrest so phone is out of sight.
 
Given theres 4 years between the best & last figure (to the day as it happens) I'm very happy with that. She's clearly still in very good health, especially considering the "best" figure was attained on a slow run to Scotland in 2015 and is only the average of 180 miles. Today's figure includes some round the doors and getting stuck in traffic over 370 miles and a lot of time at 70ish on the motorway not so would actually probably have been in the later rather than mid 40s in the same circumstances. Also I have the AC on at all times as part of the climate control.

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Normally does 600 miles a month.. has done 370 since Monday, other than the attendant beard of flies shes still going fine. Even the AC is still cold despite not having any additional maintenance to it (it does get a check every 2 years as part of the service schedule).
 
To be fair you've been getting pretty similar numbers to me in a 1.1 which probably weighs quite a bit less than a 3. Saying that I do about 70-80% of my driving in slow moving traffic.

Traffic has me down in high 30s, low 40s in summer or at worst 36s in winter.

I think you might be surprised by the weight while it's not sub 1 tonne like the Smart quoted weight is 1180kg-1355kg. Which to put it in perspective is anything up to 400kg less than an equivalent Vauxhall Astra of the same age. So fully laden I still weigh less than an empty Vauxhall, but still have a 5 star ncap and all the toys. Mazda was one of the first manufacturers to pursue weight saving in new models and this generation of 3 was said to be 15% lighter than the one it replaced.
 
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Van Mode activate!!



Old Chair to British Heart Foundation...had to literally hammer this through the back door of the house.


Also took a tub chair to the mother in law..

To make way for:


Original plan wasn't to load both, I spoke to assistant explained that I didn't think both would fit but they only had one of the ones I wanted left. They said "we'll keep it to one side for an hour so you can make two trips" so I decided to buy both. Bought them and previous assistant had disappeared in the time it to took to walk to the warehouse and back and the one that was there was no help at all.

At this point I discovered there is a benefit to this being about 20cm longer than the class average (it's nearly 4.5m long most are 4.3ish). Pushed the passenger seat right forward loaded the biggest box so it was sitting on the armrest between the front seats and wedged against the B pillar on the other which gave enough space to load the other one in behind.

Very lucky I didn't have any passengers though. Had been looking at getting a Mazda 6 to replace this but saloon only so nope! Also I was thinking if I had a new car would I be happily hammering stuff into it?
 
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Good to hear the Mazda is still serving you well with no problems.

The Mondeo is still going and ticked over to 44k miles now and will be 4 years old come December. I have no intention of getting rid any time soon as it’s a good car and no issues with it.

The Audi A3 cabriolet has gone and replaced by something a bit different.. a 61 Plate Citroen C3 Picasso 1.6hdi 110 Exclusive.
 
Broke it..



It's droplink number 4 of 4 other 3 have already been done will be about a 50-60 quid fix at local independent.

Our Second Citroen has been fine, C3 110 pure tech does the job while being a bit different if not hugely competitive in the driving department.
 
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Well given the rust I first noticed in 2016 is definitely showing up now I suppose it's a good a time as any to discuss the future of this.

With a set of Goodyear Vector 4seasons gen 2 on it it's an epic winter run about. Also with the rust starting to show a bit and some other issues I'm also not concerned about the looks of it..which helps with the next bit as it's crossing the household and going to my wife.

Got no issues with that, despite it's 9 years and 80k+ it should serve her well until she decides she wants a new car. Also have seen her nearly headbutt her car into a wall in the snow I'll be happy for her to be in a car on tyres that should give more margin for error.

Now ideologically I should go get myself a nice high powered petrol estate. Unfortunately for me they sell about 3 of these a year so they are either miles away or something like an Astra or 308sw which are dull to the point of tedium. Also the Footprint is larger than I would like for where I need to put it being around 20 cm longer than the Mazda.

To get a nice estate I'd need to throw money at it, which I could but with the uncertainty around electric cars and the future of I.c.e cars it feels like setting fire to some money. But because electric cars are so expensive..going that would be lease only which would also be setting fire to some money.

Having resigned myself to car that elicits a "meh" went looking for the cheapest car that wasn't catastrophically boring, was available with a decent engine, in reasonable colours with climate control and Android Auto.

I've ended up thinking Citroen C3 aircross, available for about 11.5k a year old in nice colours, all the space I need, decent economy, turbo torque to deal with loads and hills but 40+ mpg.

So winner then.. other than compared to the Mazda it'll be a crap steer. But all I do these days is commute and lug baby around neither of which require a race car.

I have until September to change my mind, but seems like best option atm and small enough my wife could use it.
 
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