Just bought my first Mazda after an '89 Toyota Tercel and an '02 "Chevy" Prism. Love. It. It's an '05 Mazda 3i with a manual tranny, maual locks and manual windows. Way too many problems over the years with electronic locks and windows - my fingers rarely break and when they do it's Blue Cross that pays for it. Best part? Got it with 42,000 miles for $9675 out the door. That makes the payment for my sweet Esmerelda a full $50 less than my Prism payment: $207. Awesome.

Anyway, in keeping with her bare bones style, she came with a set of new but homely 16' tires and "undercover cop" steel wheels. Their high walls are great for the Michigan winter and I'll keep them for snow tires but I set aside some of what I saved on the price for something sexier. Any suggestions? Specifically, what kind of rubber can I put on her for the best warm weather handling? Ownership of two doggy commuter cars has not instructed me properly on performance-based selections. I can afford to spend around $1200.

Also, one of the front stock speakers is a bit distorted. It's only apparent at volume levels that are probably above what's healthy but still annoying. I drive 70 miles a day to and fro for work and music is a must. I'm content for now with the stock head unit but would appreciate direction on replacing the speakers. Anyone have good or bad experiences I can consider?

I'm glad there's a forum for me to revel in the Zoom Zoom. My girlfriend has a Jetta which she loves and she isn't interested in entertaining my Mazda passion. Thanks to anyone who takes time to respond.

 

Are you wanting to go aftermarket with the speakers or keep them stock? If you are wanting to go the aftermarket route, try Kenwood or Infinity. I have kenwood's in all four of my doors and it sounds great! Going the aftermarket route, you will lose your tweeters, but with the aftermarket speakers, you won't even notice a difference. To get to the speakers, there is 2 screws in the door you need to remove, one inside where the door handle latch is, and one behind the armrest. After you remove those, the rest of getting the door panel off is simply prying around it, freeing it from tension clips. Your going to hear loud snaps, and it sounds like your breaking stuff, but your fine. Speaker size, IIRC, is 5x8. Simply remove the screws holding the speaker in, unplug the wire harness, use your adapter to make the new speaker fit or drill new holes (i bought kenwoods specifically for ford/mazda) plug your new wire harness in for the aftermarkets to wire right to the stock wiring, and reassemble. Now just do everything in reverse and your good to go.

 

Thanks a lot for that. I think I would like to go aftermarket. Never had a car before that I cared to upgrade.

 

Do you know what the stock speaker size is? 6.5'?

 

No problem, sorry if it's a little confusing, I just woke up. I dedicate myself to this one forum in particular, so I barely get any sleep. As I was saying about the speakers, Kenwood makes a set of 5x8's specifically for Mazda/Ford, so I didn't have to drill holes or use an adapter to get the speakers to fit. Personally, if I could have afforded it, I would have bought Infinity's, I know how they sound, and they are 10x better than the kenwoods.

 

6x8's my friend.

 

Excellent. Are they 6*8's all around? I see a pretty good deal on a full 4 piece set of Infinitys for about $350 at a local car audio store.

 

Yes, they are 6x8's all around. I would honestly skip the local shops and look online. I'll do some research for you and I can guarantee I'll find you a cheaper price on 4 speakers.

 

Here is a set of Infinity Kappa Componet speakers for $148.15 a pair with free shipping, and these will sound better than just a regular set of infinity's:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-INFINITY-KAPPA-CAR-AUDIO-6x8-5x7-COMPONENT-SPEAKERS_W0QQitemZ270308663198QQcmdZViewItemQQptZC ar_Speakers?hash=item270308663198&_trksid=p328 6.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1234|66%3A2|65%3A12|39 %3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50

 

Wow, that was fast. I get paid on Friday and I think I'll follow through with those. Any other suggestions for upgrades? I've only had the car for a day now so I haven't noticed anything else that could be tweaked. Plus I'm coming from a Prism so really, every stock thing in the 3 is like an upgrade already.