Mazda Club Blog

After reading numerous road tests, and test driving a Mazdaspeed 3, I decided that this was the perfect vehicle for me. It took several weeks, to locate the right car. I purchased a GP 5-door w/o a navigation system. My Garmin Street Pilot 2830 works fine, and much easier to program.

The ‘cold air’ and ‘exhaust’ kits were ordered, but not installed when I took delivery. Both were installed later, and are well worth the money.

The car was driven home from the dealer, the tires were filled with Nitrogen, then off to Gingerman Raceway (South Haven, Michigan). the next day for it’s first ‘track day’. It had 330 miles on the odo when I arrived at Gingerman.

Needless to say, I did not ‘push’ the new car hard the first day. It was immediately apparent that this little beast was more than I expected.

Switch off the TSC, and it is a ‘hoot’. Press it hard into a turn and it will under steer , but a small lift-throttle and it rotates beautifully. Shift @ 6000 rpm, and it pulls like a train. The brakes worked great on short tracks. More on that later. I had the oil changed to Castrol synthetic by the dealer at 1000 miles. The cold air, exhaust, were also installed.

Since I am too old, tired, and lazy to carry ‘track tires’ , I expect to run my street tires on the track. The Bridgestone RE-050 tires do fine. They have adequate grip, and you can do 4 wheel drifts without fear of being launched into the Armco. Plus they have great road feel, and decent tread life.

Having done four track days (2 @ Gingerman, and 2 @ Autobahn Country Club), I was looking forward to the ACNA event at Road America in Sep. RA is a 4.2 mile track and has 3 long straight aways. The MS 3 had no problem hitting a buck 30 on each straight, and eating most all of the stock A-4’s through the twisties. However, after 15 minutes on the track the front brakes started to get spongy. I had to pace myself for at least one lap to let them cool. I have a Brembo Brake Kit on order from Street Unit Performance Inc (www.streetunit.com).

The Mazda Speed 3 is a bargain at $25K. Wicked fast, and very ‘stealth’ compared to the EVO or STI. Okay, it is not AWD, and the brakes are not the best, but it comes fully equipped, and with a Mazda warranty. There is over 5 feet of length In the back with the seats folded, and after market upgrades are available at a reasonable cost. If you can find one, buy it……….you won’t be disappointed.

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Launched in 2003, the Mazda RX-8 hit the global market with a serious
bang. The RX-8 has won more than 50 global awards since its release including 2003 RJC Car of the Year in Japan Australia’s Wheels magazine’s Car of the Year for 2003, 2003 International Engine of the Year, 2004 Singapore Car of the Year, the 2004 U.S. Best Sports Car and UK Car of the Year 2004. It was also named on Car and Driver magazine’s
Ten Best list for 2004, 2005, and 2006. All together, Mazda has sold nearly 167,000 RX-8s around the world.

For 2009, Mazda will further the evolution of the four-door, four-seater sports coupe, giving RX-8 a refreshed exterior and interior design, enhanced performance and a new R3 sport package for the ultimate driving enthusiast.

Unchanged is the core of the RX-8 a high-powered, lightweight and perfectly balanced machine powered by the world-renowned twin-rotor RENESIS rotary engine.

Dating back to the Cosmo Sport released in 1967, every sports car ever developed by Mazda has had the same fundamental mission to provide car lovers with a vehicle that’s fun-to-drive, exciting to look at and easy to own, said Tetsu Nakazawa, Mazda North American Operations RX-8 vehicle line manager. The 2009 RX-8 embodies that mission, conveying the unique and distinctive Mazda brand DNA to the fullest.

To enhance the highly successful RX-8, Mazda engineers focused on innovation in three key areas for the 2009 RX-8: styling, performance and packaging. The enhancements made to RX-8s exterior, interior, packaging and performance takes it to a whole new level of visual and driving excitement, remarked Nakazawa.

STYLING INNOVATION, REFRESHED DESIGN CUES PROVIDE HIGH-QUALITY DYNAMISM

RX-8 was designed with an athletically sculpted exterior that provides a sense of originality that’s unrivaled in the marketplace today. For 2009, RX-8 receives design enhancements that are meant to freshen the styling and give RX-8 a new look, without impairing the basic design theme. Refinements for the 2009 model year include restyled front and rear bumpers and front fascia; sporty, high quality finish front and rear headlamps; and larger exhaust pipes (now measuring 90 mm across). The 2009 RX-8 also offers a new five-spoke wheel design featuring a symbolic and sporty design reminiscent of the rotary engine, with different arrangements for each wheel size.

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The Mazda 5 is now the company’s third best-selling vehicle in Europe, with 297,500 units produced worldwide up to the end of last November, of which 110,000 were sold in Europe up to the end of last year.

With the C-MAV (lower medium, multi-activity vehicle) segment set to continue to remain strong in Europe in the next few years, Mazda is confident that the more family-friendly qualities of the Mazda 5 facelift will endear it to consumers across Europe.

The exterior has a refreshed, dynamic design, including new front and rear bumpers, lights and front grille. There is a new Sports Appearance Package on option, apart from new 16- and 17-inch alloy wheel designs, and seven new colours.

Inside, there are new materials, colours and trims, including titanium-look or black central panel and gear selector panel, and the choice of black leather interior. In terms of functionality, comfort and equipment, you can now opt for power sliding rear doors.

Within the Sports Appearance Package there are 12 LED rear lamps that are even brighter, come on quicker and use less energy. A new centre monitor, incorporating clock, audio and AC information, is now larger and placed more forward for easier reading. The CD player now has MP3 compatibility, including an auxiliary jack for access to the car’s audio system.

There is optimised NVH (noise, vibration and harshness), with a new multi-resonator system, new Thinsulate insulating sheets added to the roof liner and increased wheel rim rigidity for a quieter cabin while driving.

Buyers will still find two pop-up tables with cup holders for second row passengers, no fewer than 45 storage compartments and a dual-stage lift tailgate with two opening heights. One power plant is available for the Maltese market, the 1.8-litre petrol, which consumes 0.3 litres (four per cent) less fuel per 100 km and produces 8 g/km less CO2. It has a peak power of 115 PS (85 kW) at 5,300 rpm, and maximum torque (pulling power) of 165 Nm at 4,000 rpm.

Finally, there is improved rear end stability with a new rear suspension forward lateral link position and a brake booster optimised for improved brake pedal response and feedback.

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Photos from the 2008 Chicago Auto Show.

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Mazda Plans New Rear Drive Sports Car from Motor Trend, January 2008

While the Buzz at Tokyo was all about the Nissan GT-R, Mazda is apparently working on a sports car of its own that may eventually generate as much heat as the GT-R. Word from the show floor is that the automaker will unveil a “true sports car” concept at the next Tokyo motor show in 2009, followed by the production version in 2011. That’s only an eye-blink in the auto industry.

Details are scarce, but it’s confirmed that the car will be rear drive and true to Mazda’s history of sports cars. Does that mean rotary? It’s tempting to make that connection, given the larger-capacity rotary engine Mazda displayed in its booth this year. It now has been more than 40 years since the first rotary engine appeared in 1967 in Mazda’s Cosmo Sport.

Imagaine a production Mazda sports car going on sale in 2011 as a 2012 model tie-in to the 45th anniversary of the rotary. Perhaps the return of the Cosmo from the company that popularized rotaries? It could happen.

Meanwhile, the RX-8 should soon get Mazda’s new 16x Wankel rotary, introduced under the hood of the Taiki Tokyo concept. The 16X Renesis rotary is 1600 cubic centimeters (800 cc times two rotors) with a new trochoid chamber shape for a much needed torque boost and better thermal efficiency. Engineers reduced the rotor housing width and housing thickness and increased the trochoid outline and generally maintained the compact, lightweight size of the current 1308cc 13B. The 16X also is the first rotary to use direct fuel injection, adapted from the hydrogen 13B.

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