February 19, 2010 at 4:45 pm by David Gluckman I personally collected the above frozen fascia when I and our two video guys headed to Chicago last week during the intense snowstorm that blanketed much of the country. We went there to cover the auto show, the three of us and all of our associated gear fitting easily in the hatch with a clear view out the back preserved. The snowy journey—my first road trip in our long-term 2010 Mazda 3, but certainly not my last—was drama-free. Thank you, winter tires! Assorted persons in the office have been complaining about the nav system’s small display and the fact that it can only be controlled by the driver. To the first point, I don’t mind the smaller screen area, especially because it allows the display to be placed up high and closer to my line of sight. As for the controls, it’s a moot point, because the car only allows you to program a destination when you’re stopped. (We do prefer having full on-the-go access to nav systems, of course, but acknowledge that in some fights the lawyers have to win.
This is especially true when the nav buttons are located on the steering wheel, as as in the 3. Don’t drive distracted, and all that.) I also like the ability to flip back and forth between the map and the Sirius display—gotta know what’s playing on channel 26—and my right thumb found the buttons easily without my having to look away from the road. That said, the one thing the nav system is missing is traffic awareness. I usually don’t find this feature useful, since it’s often inaccurate. But this time, I needed it. During our drive, the serious snowfall closed a part of I-94 in western Michigan, and it’s the main route to Chicago from Ann Arbor. Luckily, I had been informed of the closure beforehand and did a self-reroute that the car eventually caught on to, but having a system onboard to automatically do the same would make me a little less hesitant to rely on GPS alone. Still, I have no other qualms with the nav system and would consider buying the $1195 Technology package that it’s a part of.
(Incidentally, how about that snowy ice mask? It improves the 3’s look, in my opinion, bringing out the RX-8 design cues in the front end. And that snow really hung on there—this photo was taken three days after we arrived in Chi-town.) For more on the Mazda, see the following resources: Other long-term logbook entries Our long-term update story Mazda 3 Buyer’s GuideUsed 2005 Mazda RX-8 Sport|$4,990135,014 milesSilver13 miles from 77002Sterling McCall HyundaiText Anonymously or Call1-888-840-9652 post #1 of 15 Picked up the Traklites Went to Buffalo after work yesterday and picked up the wheels. I did a quickie check at the place where they were before bringing them home. Today at home I did a more in depth check of the wheels and I did notice 1 issue.Once again these are 17x8" +40 Matt Bronze and will work on the CX-3 or my SX4. They feel pretty light........I'll do a weigh in later an post up the #, suppose to be like 17lbs. according to Motegi.
The issue(s): 1 wheel on the drop center it looks like someone at the plant tried to put a quality sticker there before the paint has cured then removed it and it took off a chunk of the paint finish. The rest of the wheels look fine. I did contact the vendor where I bought the wheels and obviously because it's in an area where you can't see it once the tire is mounted it doesn't look like anything will be done. I'm sorta ok with it but still you pay decent money for something it shouldn't have any imperfections whether you see it or not. 2.) There are two allen head bolts that hold the center cap on each wheel. On 2 wheels someone at the plant tighten the crap out of those little bolts and it was a pain to remove them to check the area behind the center caps. Even when I screwed the bolts back in by hand they don't turn easily so I think the threads there are slightly mucked. I can fix that with a tap but again why do I have to mess with it? They really shouldn't even be on the wheel from the factory.
3.) This pretty well answers why I have the above happen...................wheels are made in China I don't need to say anything else about that (a wheel line named for a Japanese racetrack should be made in Japan), RPF's are looking pretty good now at least they are made in Japan (only if I wanted to spend an extra US$100 more a wheel). Overall, I'm happy with them they look pretty good now they go in the basement and wait until I get a set of my other wheels sold on either car then I can use these bad boys. post #2 of 15 post #3 of 15 post #4 of 15 post #5 of 15 Originally Posted by Cman I really liked the Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position tires I had on my Infiniti. They're on my short list for my '3. You might have to go with a weird size but IIRC you know how to figure that out. post #6 of 15 I had B/stone S02's on my new at the time 96 Pontiac Formula. That was the OE tire on Porsche Turbo of the time. If it was good enough on the Turbo it was good enough for me.
I'm currently using B/stone RE050's on the Z06, very good tire in the rain and dry. I'll consider the S04 when the time comes. I like using this site to figure out wheel/tire sizes: Online Wheel and Tyre Fitment Calculator. Offset, Tyre Stretch and Speedo Error | This is what it shows for the CX-3: and for the SX4 post #7 of 15 I used this site when comparing Tyre sizes on my CX3 when purchasing the 19" Simmons Wheels, its very handy as you can just input the Car details in the search bars and it does all the work, then it has a option to put in other sizes to compare also. I found it very helpful, as you can also see what Speedo differences between the sizes will do prior to buying. I hope this is of some help for all. post #8 of 15 Well, since we're sharing tire size calculator links... My favorite is this one because there's no extraneous graphics and limited ads. Also I used to own an NA Miata. That said, I like all the extra info from Tony's (Cman's) link.
Something I noticed when swapping my wheels yesterday: the OEM 18x7 wheels are freaking heavy. My snow wheels are 18x8 ASA JH-3 (a.k.a. Sport Edition A7) and I know those are ~25 lbs without tires. Lifting the two back to back (with tires), they were easily within 10% of each other. Mazda put so much effort into fuel economy and handling with these cars it really makes me wonder why they didn't do a little extra work to shave 5 lbs of unsprung weight at each corner. post #9 of 15 As Apple always says, "There is an app for that!" He who works with his hands is a Labourer. He who works with his hands and his head is a Craftsman. He who works with his hands, his head and his heart is an Artist. -St. Francis of Assisi 2016 Mazda CX3 GT Tech pkg. Soul Red. post #10 of 15 I had mentioned in another thread that I run 2 RPF1's 18x10 +38 on my Shelby when I drag race. Just for shits and giggles since those wheels have the same bolt pattern (5x114.3mm) as the CX-3 if the wheel were to fit on this car it also would have almost pretty well the same tire height as OE.