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Many thanks to kimbo305 for pointing me to the correct thread. To repeat what I said in my thread, Rhyno posted:So my Jeep's been less than reliable lately and the Escort I bought as a backup car just isn't going to last. So it's time to get a new car and for once I actually have a little money to throw at it (or I will). I'd had my heart set on a Dodge Magnum R/T AWD based on the looks, power and utility but I keep hearing about reliability problems and the horrible mileage they get so I'm trying to expand my horizons. Enter the Mazdaspeed 6. I just sat and read this entire thread so I'm pretty caught up on possible problems and modifications. Anything new I should be aware of with these cars?
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Jan 11, 2011 08:08
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They drive kinda like diesels (not much turbo lag, then HOLY poo poo POWER, then running out of breath around 5500-6000RPM) and should be putting a shiteating grin on your face the entire time. You probably saw it a few times, but there's the smoking turbo issue; it's rare but it does happen. Mazda was supposedly going to put out an updated PCV system but nobody has seen any updates on that in ages; the official TSB is to switch to 5w40 or 10w40, and only replace / rebuild the turbo if that doesn't solve the issue.
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Jan 11, 2011 19:54
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Does anyone know what the real market value is for 09 MS3 GTs? I've found one for sale locally with only ~12,000 miles, but the guy's asking $19.9k and I recall people were paying between $19-20k for a new model in 2008. NADA trade-in tells me it's worth $18.6k, and KBB says the private party value for excellent condition is $20k, but that doesn't mesh well with what I've read.
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Jan 12, 2011 00:58
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I don't know about anyone paying that little for a new one - in April '09, I bought my '07 with 24k miles for $18k out the door (including tax, tags, etc).
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Jan 12, 2011 01:28
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My Gen2 Snow Bitch General Altimax Arctics on Gen1 17" Snowflakes  Click here for the full 598x800 image.
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Jan 12, 2011 03:38
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Bovine Delight posted:If you have any questions on the insurance side let me know. Sorry to hear about it. So the only question I have is that GEICO (the insured's company) will take care of everything if I go to one of their shops (i.e. estimate, fix, give me a rental)--is there anything I should be wary of on that front? I can also get it fixed elsewhere but would have to let their adjuster estimate, go somewhere else for a rental, etc. Should I get an estimate from a 3rd party shop for any reason?
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Jan 12, 2011 14:16
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Okay, now I'm totally sold on it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v0qYy6CMlg
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Jan 13, 2011 00:35
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ChiliMac posted:So the only question I have is that GEICO (the insured's company) will take care of everything if I go to one of their shops (i.e. estimate, fix, give me a rental)--is there anything I should be wary of on that front? I can also get it fixed elsewhere but would have to let their adjuster estimate, go somewhere else for a rental, etc. Should I get an estimate from a 3rd party shop for any reason? You can take it to any shop, thats your legal right. I wouldn't worry about the rental, you can go through Enterprise and they can pick you up at whatever shop when you drop off the car. You wouldn't need to get an estimate from a third party shop because since they are paying the damage they'll work off their estimate. If you do go through one of their shops I'm sure they warranty the work they do for as long as you own the car. Make sure that if they are replacing the bumper cover (rather than repairing it) that you get an OEM part, be it used or new. Aftermarket stuff usually fits poorly.
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Jan 13, 2011 04:51
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Bovine Delight posted:You can take it to any shop, thats your legal right. Well no the real question was should I be concerned with just letting GEICO handle it (i.e. provide me with a rental, fix my car, etc.) even though they represent the insured. ChiliMac fucked around with this message at 04:33 on Jan 14, 2011 |
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Jan 14, 2011 04:29
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Well, it's the shop thats fixing it, so take it to a legit shop. Find the local shop that the BMW/Benz/etc dealers use.
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Jan 14, 2011 05:08
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ChiliMac posted:Well no the real question was should I be concerned with just letting GEICO handle it (i.e. provide me with a rental, fix my car, etc.) even though they represent the insured.
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Jan 14, 2011 19:18
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Has been rainy here in Austin for the last week or so. There is a nice big parking lot near work that is completely flat and without any concrete medians or anything. The Speed3 is great at reverse donuts. That is all.
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Jan 17, 2011 04:05
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I ran over a barely visible bollard today and busted my front left tyre and possibly my suspension. I could replace all the tyres but I am considering buying some new wheels and keeping the 18 inch stock ones aside for when I sell in the future. I was thinking about some nice sporty 17 inch wheels, are tyres harder to find for wheels this size? What looks good and is also light? I don't even know where to start...
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Jan 22, 2011 16:38
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It shouldn't be too hard. Go to an online tire site for your country and look up tires for a Touring or Grand Touring 3, or whichever trim came with 17" wheels in your country.
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Jan 22, 2011 19:01
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Well I can't speak for the results as I haven't seen them yet, but I was overly anal (i.e. car guy) when talking to the adjuster fixing my car and I found out [later] that they have to replace the bumper cover anyhow. I just hope they paint it well and matching 
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Jan 22, 2011 23:44
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Seriously giving thoughts to selling the Speed3 and getting a Golf TDI. My commute is just so long. 
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Jan 22, 2011 23:50
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Bovine Delight posted:Seriously giving thoughts to selling the Speed3 and getting a Golf TDI. My commute is just so long. Wherever he falls, there shall he be buried.
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Jan 23, 2011 01:53
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Thoughts on Superturismo GT 17" on the MPS3? Would it look silly being an inch smaller? I am torn. They don't seem to be available in 18" and 17" is probably better anyway from a performance perspective...
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Jan 24, 2011 12:01
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Well, I'm going to buy/pick up a black 2009 Speed3 GT from a local guy that I asked about several days ago. Do any of you guys have an oil catch can installed in your cars? I'm concerned about the accumulation of oil/carbon buildup in the intake that I've read about with the VW/Audi owners (and other people with DI engines). And if a catch can will extend the life and reduce maintenance on my car I'm all for installing one. After reading a few threads on the Mazda specific forums I'm having trouble deciding on if it solves a problem or somehow is actually creating a problem. That is, if you read these threads the people who install them will say that they have to empty the cans once a week or once a month. This is what they claim to have emptied from the cans:  Click here for the full 800x600 image. Mazda3forums.com install thread  Mazda247 forum install thread So, here's my question. Does the catch can somehow create an environment (more vacuum, something else), where more condensation and oil accumulate in the can than would normally recirculate through the PCV? Also, if you own one of these, how often would one expect to have to empty/drain one of these if the car is just being used as a primary vehicle? One week to a month seems pretty often to me. I don't see this happening very soon, but say you're on a long road trip. Am I going to have to stop at every other gas station to drain my catch can? Another note: the people on these forums claim that the yellow fluid that they drained is gasoline, but that's absurd. There's no reason fuel should be accumulating in the crank case, correct?
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Jan 26, 2011 06:33
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Can't believe I just now heard about this TSB. I never actually worried about it, but I'm close to 50k miles now and glad I heard about it before I hit 60! http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/forum/f11/smoke-idle-tsb-new-turbo-required-tsb-01-004-10-dated-08-18-2010-a-65810/
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Jan 27, 2011 15:18
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Boo to Mazda for taking so long to finally put a proper fix in place, but I think this is overblown like the #4 main bearing on '99 Miatas. Yes, it happens more than it should (ie ever), but not every car is a ticking timebomb. I've got 73k on my '07 and no sign of this at all. If it ever does happen, it will suck and I may see if the dealer is willing to reduce the cost at all, but if not...rebuilt turbos really aren't that expensive in the grand scheme of things.
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Jan 27, 2011 16:25
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MetaJew posted:Well, I'm going to buy/pick up a black 2009 Speed3 GT from a local guy that I asked about several days ago. It's something you may want to look out for if you regularly drive the car in very cold weather, though I've never seen it myself and think the problem may be overblown.
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Jan 27, 2011 17:08
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Oh god what have I done? 2009 Speed3 GT with 12k miles  Click here for the full 1024x768 image.
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Jan 30, 2011 08:44
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Put on Cobb's turbo inlet yesterday. Getting the stock piece off is a pain in the rear end. I'm overly careful though, so YMMV. Expect a few cuts though. One question though - after taking the stock inlet off, there was a silicone boot on the turbo where it was clamped. There were no instructions on leaving it on/off so I took it off for the Cobb piece. Please tell me that's right.
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Jan 30, 2011 16:41
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MetaJew posted:Oh god what have I done? YOU BOUGHT THE WRONG COLOR YOU FOOL Aside from that horrible mistake (the correct answer is red, though if they had made the MS3 in that yellow you rarely see on a standard 3, it would be acceptable as well), enjoy the torque steer. I'm closing in on two years in mine and loving every minute of it. It's not the light, tossable car the Miata is, but actually having power makes up for it. The fact that it's also so goddamn practical is icing on the cake for me.
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Jan 30, 2011 17:04
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Black and red are both acceptable you numpty. That hideous blue is not. (note: cannot see the pic due to waffleimages sucking)
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Jan 31, 2011 01:47
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The most acceptable colour is white - 
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Jan 31, 2011 02:40
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Bovine Delight posted:Black and red are both acceptable you numpty. That hideous blue is not. (note: cannot see the pic due to waffleimages sucking) Lilbeefer posted:The most acceptable colour is white - I wanted an 08.5-09 GT in Crystal White, but this was by far the best condition 09 I found. Not to mention the owner took excellent care of it. I'll take more photos in the day time when I can have better lighting. The pic I posted was grainy and not that great even with a tripod. At the time I was helping to install an oil temp and boost gauge in a 08 STi. In the light the black mica has a gold sparkle to it and looks amazing, and at a certain angle you might also think that it's the metro gray color.
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Jan 31, 2011 03:12
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MetaJew posted:and at a certain angle you might also think that it's the metro gray color. Honestly I thought it was metro gray.
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Feb 1, 2011 06:07
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Froze my rear end off replacing my passenger side headlight bulb today. I hate taking the bumper off but at least I'm getting good at it. Turns out now that my headlights are hilariously mismatched in color - the new one is practically warm compared to the original one on the driver's side at a very cool blue. Time to order another and replace that one when it warms up a bit.
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Feb 4, 2011 07:59
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IOwnCalculus posted:Froze my rear end off replacing my passenger side headlight bulb today. I hate taking the bumper off but at least I'm getting good at it. I meant to ask you how this went. I forgot to mention that HID bulbs change color over time and you might want to order both. My bad!
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Feb 4, 2011 14:32
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No worries, I'd been reading a bit on it myself but I didn't expect the difference to be that bad, and I didn't want to replace another $42 bulb if I didn't have to right away. I do think I finally managed to secure the upper bumper skin screws in such a way that they'll stop popping out (the tabs in the bumper were broken by the PO). I don't know how all of you people living in climates with snow and poo poo do it, it was maybe 33* and dry and I was hating life. My hands are still a bit sore from being so cold for so long. IOwnCalculus fucked around with this message at 18:45 on Feb 4, 2011 |
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Feb 4, 2011 17:15
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To add a datapoint to the discussion that popped up in the Stupid Questions thread here, I just got back from a trip between Los Angeles and Phoenix. On the way back, I had the info display on CONSUM CUR the whole time, and had cruise set almost the entire time. Best example I got was a long uphill climb on eastbound I10 immediately east of Indio, CA - over the course of 10 miles you climb from sea level to 1600'. Not the steepest grade in the world, but enough of a pull that Caltrans has a sign at the base saying "AVOID OVERHEATING TURN OFF A/C FOR NEXT 10 MILES". Of course, I never turn off the A/C, and I set cruise to 80 in sixth. Fuel economy never dropped below 14.0 while in cruise; when I dropped to fifth at one point and stood on it to get around a slow truck, it showed my typical WOT of somewhere between 4-8 MPG. Cruise simply will not hit WOT on this car. Any steeper of a grade than that, you'd probably want to be out of cruise and down a gear anyway just to maintain better control.
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Feb 7, 2011 06:47
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IOwnCalculus posted:To add a datapoint to the discussion that popped up in the Stupid Questions thread here, I just got back from a trip between Los Angeles and Phoenix. On the way back, I had the info display on CONSUM CUR the whole time, and had cruise set almost the entire time. I've seen people say a similar thing on NASIOC and IWSTI. They claim that accelerating in sixth gear will put you in full boost at a low engine speed and could lead to similarly awful results.
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Feb 7, 2011 11:38
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Bovine Delight posted:Black and red are both acceptable you numpty. That hideous blue is not. (note: cannot see the pic due to waffleimages sucking) Everyone knows metro gray is the best. I love how it changes color depending on the light.   
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Feb 7, 2011 21:50
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Cosmic Blue can sorta do that too. My car totally looks like Metro Gray if early morning daylight hits it.
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Feb 7, 2011 22:17
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New RE760s. Again. Maybe this time they'll last longer than 11,000 miles? Also, yay! Black smoke at WOT again, I'm going to get the oil changed this week. The PCV was replaced a few months ago, is my turbo eating itself or what?
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Feb 7, 2011 22:26
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Black is usually rich mixture, not oil. I'm really liking the Ecsta LE Sports. Not quite as grippy as the RS2s but soooo much quieter. Basically, like the RE050 at half price.
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Feb 7, 2011 23:09
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opengl128 posted:Everyone knows metro gray is the best. I love how it changes color depending on the light. Hey MGM buddy.   Don't have any pics of mine to share cause my drive crashed.. but its not like you don't know what the car looks like. Just add tint and *bam* - my car. Edit: I have Hankook Ventus V12s on after my RE050s made it 29k. Almost have 5k miles on them and they've been through rain, ice, snow and dry. Very stable and predictable in my eyes. I like 'em quite a bit.
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Feb 8, 2011 01:15
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I've got winter tires/wheels so I'm at 23K without around 25% left on my stock RE050's. Trying to decide what to replace them with when the times comes, probably sometime this summer or fall. You can go up in width one size on the stock wheels right? Seems like a much bigger selection than in the stock size.
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Feb 8, 2011 02:07
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