SPEED3 Owners thread - Page 8

Happy Holidays to everyone. Be careful out there.

come to florida nonstop racing. Happy Holidays Folkds

anybody hear clicking sounds around the passenger seat or center console? It's driving me nuts
 
 
mike

Hey eveyone. New to the site. I have owned the Speed 3 for about a month now. Love the car. I have always been a Mazda owner. First car 1997 Protege DX and Second car 2000 Protege ES. Now I own a 2006 Mazda6 Sport and the Speed3. I have not seen alot of them driving in the Tampa area where I live. I have had a few people who drive regular 3's ask me where I got the body kit from. Then I have to explain what the car is. I think it looks great, drives great, and handles great. I think Mazda really did it right this time. A friend of mine in Jacksonville has Mazdaspeed Protege with some upgrades and cannot compete with this car. Look forward to chating with you all.

Does anyone know if a Mountain Bike with only its front wheel off can fit in the back?

Hey TrueRED, that would be a yes, but I either have the radio up too loud or the engine is too loud or the road noise is too loud so that I rarely hear it.  I think it's a creaky drivers seat; sounds like it's near the floor or in the frame of the lower section. 
I used to hear soething that sounded like it was in the heater fan, but it went away after th few days.   Maybe I'll investigate the seat creak tomorrow if it's not raining tomorrow. 
 
VASpeed3

i am hoping when i pick my car up on friday that i can luck out and not have to deal with any of these small problems, purge valve, unwanted noises. but am glad i know some things to look out for.

i dont drive fast cars all that often, but i have test driven a lotus elise, SLK 55 AMG, and a STI and those were all small rocket ships. I am sure that it will be a lot of fun to have a car of this capability to drive every day.

Congrats! You will really enjoy this little car. After you get used to the shifter and clutch, it is actually quite easy to drive. I have the black also.

Well so far, the only real problem across the board, has been the purge valve. But that's not a big deal. They are replacing mine next week. But actually, since they cleared the code that 1 time, the CEL, has not come back on. For a brand new model, there are not many issues.

I liked the clutch right from the first time I drove it.  My shifter has smoothed out in quite a bit in the something like 5500 miles I have on it today, but I don't expect to be really smooth like a Honda.   No other problems at all.  I might notice the seat creak or whatever once every 2 weeks.
I have to remember to wipe the soot off the tailpipe at each fillup, though.  You'll probably want to use gas stations that can actually be bothered to keep paper towels stocked in the dispensers next to the pumps. 
 
VASpeed3

Is there anyone here that can confirm their area is'nt on winter fuel, and state the status of the soot.  

having had a 2006 mazda 3 4 door that was totalled in an accident, I am hoping that the cluth on the MS3 is sportier and a little bit more firm. i used to have an Audi A4 and one day i got to drive a friends S4 and you could tell a big difference in the clutch. you could feel a more precise area where it would release and that way it was easier to get big starts. sorry about my description, im not a professional driver or anything.

is the purge valve issue something I should discuss with the dealer tomorrow morning when i go to pick up my car?

also are all the mazdaspeed parts on their website different then the parts that are already in the MS3. I am interested in the CAI , catback exhaust and the short shifter. I was not sure if these are all upgrades from what is stock in the MS3 b/c the way it is explained is as if they are upgrades for the regular Mazda3 ???

I wouldn't worry about the purge valve issue. It may never happen. But if the CEL comes on, you can be reasonably sure that is what caused it. It won't hurt anything to drive the car.

the mazdaspeed stuff that is available for the mazda 3 is not for the mazdaspeed3. they have not be released yet.
 
 
 
mike

thanks for the answer, that will be very exciting when the mazdaspeed parts come out for the MS3. any idea of when?

quote:

having had a 2006 mazda 3 4 door that was totalled in an accident, I am hoping that the cluth on the MS3 is sportier and a little bit more firm.

 
I can't compare the clutch to a regular 3, as I have never driven one with manual trans.   My MS3's clutch is much more "on/off" than most anything else I've driven.   I think manufacturers do that in many high torque cars to make you go ahead and fully engage the clutch quickly rather than slipping it under a lot of power and baking it. 

got it today, and love it, i think the clutch is nice, and 3rd gear is amazing, i havent taken it much further then 4000rpms and it is still a blast. the seats are great, i love the interior, the bose system is a little weak on bass, but nothing that bad. the exhaust sounds great. havent even really listened to music yet. i can go on and on . . .

Can you imagine this car with another 50 or so HP?

yea it would be insane, thats why i am thinking about exhaust and CAI, but I am really cautious about making any changes to the car b/c of what i know that did to my old audi, Problems!

First thing I would like to do is put in a short shifter, i was showing my friend the car yesterday, he has a 2006 S2000, and the shifter on that car is amazing. I really think it makes the difference in sport cars. And I have heard alot about how good Mazda has been in the past with shifting, this one is a little bit to long of a throw though.

i'm going todo four thing for the time being. that's the CAI ,CBE,BOV and move to FMIC
 
 
mike

Congrats on the car i have the black mica also. 

just talked to james at custom performance, he  suggest that you run the BOV in recirculation mode for the time being, cause the computer accounts for that air coming back in. james said you will foul your spark plugs, also you will cause problems with the mass air sensor. he also said  that they are working on a computer program that will let you VTA without all the problems. that is why the kit comes with both options


mike

Thank you for that information.  It's valuable indeed.  Many of us see that kit and want to do it I for one would have tried it both ways and used recirculate.  But no won't even attempt atmos. dump.  Thanks again.

Taking mine back in tomorrow to get the purge valve replaced. Hopefully, that will be the end of if.

how many miles before you experienced the purge valve issue?