New shocks before 50 K miles. :(

[Peter B]

OK,
First off when did the website change, this is freaking me out.

Had to bring my car in for service. Needed the 50K factory service plus the rear end suspension was giving me problems. Every time I went over a bump or took a left turn, the back right tire would fishtail a bit. Plus the ride in the back had gotten a bit clunky.
SO I brought it to Sentry West, they found the following issues.
New steering fluid was needed. The last two service factory services I had complained about the steering making a funny noise during sharp turns at low (parking lot) speeds. They didnt seem to think anything was wrong. Now they want $119 to change the fluid.
Intake needs to be cleaned. They noticed a lot of crap built up in the inlet. Another $100 or so to clean it.
Tires are almost gone. They want $1050 for OEM tires mounted / balanced and aligned.
And finally the right rear shock is blown out. At the 35K factory service I told them it was a bit clunky. They said the shocks are one of the parts of the car that have given people problems. At the time they didnt see anything wrong with it. Now its totally blown out.
They want $460-$470 to replace the rear shocks. The shocks are $125 EACH! That seems like a lot to me.
My car has 52K miles on it. Including the cost of the 50K service, this is $1835.00 it s*** to fix. Im kinda feeling like that is a lot to spend on a car with only 52,000 miles on it.
At the moment Im going to wait on the tires and will probably get them someplace else.

Also going to hold off on the shocks for until I can do a little research. I feel like $125 for a shock that craps out at around 40K miles is a lot.
My question to you guys is there an aftermarket shock that will offer equal or better performance to the ones I have now, but maybe last longer than a lousy 40K miles. One of the high points for me about the MS3 it the suspension. I think mazda did a really good job and the performance is great. So anything non OEM that goes in there I want to be something that will maintain or improve upon that performance.

A friend and fellow Mazda guy recommended Bilsteins. I looked them up on shockwarehouse and they wanted $121 for a rear and $263 for a single front shot! WTF?
Alternately is there a site I can purchase the OEM shocks for less than $125?

Recommendations on make/model and where to buy them would be highly appreciated.

Thanks
-Pete

 

[spdjnke]

You can get stock suspension bits here on the For Sale section, then do it yourself for cheap,especially the rear is super easy just follow the how to section for struts/shocks. The only thing I would personally let them do is the power steering, just incase it fails later they can be held liable. As for tires best place is craigslist or tire rack, as long as your go with 225/40's otherwise the 45 series are pricey and not very many choices.

 

[ohioan]

Yeah, do the rears yourself. Super easy... Tirerack had a sale on the koni yellow (sport). Not sure if they have the sale anymore or not though. Also, good luck finding anywhere that is going to have them in stock. Seems to be a shortage or something for our needs.

I went with the koni's and I'm pleased. I think they are the same price as the bilsteins... Not sure how long either will last, but i'm sure both are going to be better then stock.

 

[kvndoom]

If you stick with the Impotenza's, even Tire Rack sells them for over 200 apiece, so you're not gonna get those replaced cheap under any circumstance. Most places I called charge 20 bucks per wheel to mount and balance tires, so you will have to add 80 to whatever you pay for the rubbers.

The fact that you got 50K out of them is WAY above par. I'm getting mine replaced tomorrow at 25K. But I'm not putting Impotenza's back on my car. I want all-season, and I want QUIET.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...oYear=2009&autoModel=MazdaSpeed3&autoModClar=

 

[BigDaddyMS3]

Suspension bits

Man, where have you been?

Our OEM struts/shocks are not worth much. I just changed my OEM dampers at 25,000 miles due to a leaky front strut. I went with Koni FSD 4040s. The FSD 4045s supercede this part and offer a 20% increase in compression/rebound. They are on back order due to limited supply and with a leaky strut I could not wait any longer.

The Koni dampers were on sale for $500 for both front and rear from January 2010 till June 2010. You may still be able to get a good price through one of our site sponsors. I did the rears myself, easy. I took the fronts in to my local mechanic and also had the alignment done. You will need new front bump stops at the very least. You get them from FCM, (Fat Cat Motorsports). They are about $90 plus tax and shipping. I got the rears and spacers because I wanted to replace everything at the same time. The total cost for both front and rear bump stops was about $135.

Please noite that if you are planning on lowering your car now or in the future you will need to get the Koni Sport shocks, (aka Yellows).

I don't have much experience with Bilstein dampers, however they are slightly more expensive and I'm sure would be another OEM replacement alternative. Maybe some of the other forum members can chime in here about the Bilsteins.

Good Luck! Please whatever you do, don't use the dealer and the OEM dampers for replacement. The aftermarket has far superior shock/strut/tire products.

I am very pleased with my Koni 4040s. The suspension is compliant without being harsh. Road surfaces, (especially dips and choppy pavement) are smoother and the overall handling performs better. I have a track day scheduled for late next month and will post a new thread after that.

I noticed that the car was slightly higher in the front after the damper install, ( about a quarter inch), but sag sets in about a month later and looks normal again.

I went with Hankook Ventus Evo tires in the original size and feel that the new tire and damper replacement makes a significant difference in handling and performance.

 

[opt_ms3]

haha youre lucky you got 50k out of the struts. replace them now with koni's or bilsteins and you will be happy. There are also many better alternatives to the stock tires. check reviews on tirerack.

changing the power steering fluid is not hard either, and cheap if you do it yourself.

 

[Peter B]

I should clarify,
I didn't get 50K out of the OEM tires. I run snows in the winter. The potenzas probably have ~30K on em.

I actually really liked the potenzas. I thought they performed well. I throw that car into some pretty hard turns for s**** and giggles here and there and they grip pretty well. Nice and stable at high speed (100 mph+) and good in wet weather.

That said they are mighty pricey. Some quick poking around has suggested I could get the same performance for less, or for the same price better performance from another brand.


As for the shocks. Well the bilsteins come very highly recommended from two fellow car guys at work. I can't however find a model for the MS3, only the regular 3. The konis have adjustable struts that would be good if I ever lower the car. Im not quite sure what the best option is.

I also am debating weather I should get a whole set, or just do the rear for now. If I do the whole set I willl probably have to learn to install the rear ones myself and mechanic do the front. There is a shop down the street that is run by a father and son race team. The run the shop to pay for their race cars which the build. They got a pretty good reputation and im thinking of bringing it there.

I also am thinking of adding the cobb spring and swaybar kit. That looks like it would be a nice addition to the car for daily and performance driving. So whatever I do I will have to keep futures changes in mind.

I thought about doing coilovers too.... but those seem complicated and I don't really want to lower the car much because that would not be practical for where i live.

I am leaning towards the bilsteins, but it all depends on price and performance.

Didn't want to spend money right now. But if I have to do it I want to do it right.....******* cars... sometimes i hate them.

 

[oaklandopen]

Yea I'm not liking the short suspension life either, mine is starting to sound terrible. Wonder if I can convince my wife to let me get the mazdaspeed full coilover upgrade

 

[khoney]

If you don't want to spend too much, just go KYB G2's on the rear shocks. I just replaced my son's OEM rears with those on his 3s. I also replaced his springs with my OEM MS3 springs He'll be happy to be a little lower now...

I have the Koni Yellows on my Speed, and like them fine. They're a pain to adjust (so I just set them once). Fronts are easily adjustable.

 

[Peter B]

Does anyone know the part number for the billsteins? I have yet to hear anything bad about them? I have learned that the ones for the regular 3 are not correct for the MS3.

Also what are bump stops? Do I need them?

I was looking at the cob sport springs. I figured I might as well do springs now if im gonna do shocks. I want better performance and handling but don't want to lower the car much as I already bottom out and drag the nose/tail on the ground frequently where I live.

I was doign some reading here and someone recomended keeping the stock springs as they are pretty decent and instead going with better struts and anti sway bars.

I also read that the Mazdaspeed springs are stiffer but won't lower the car at all.

Thoughts?

 

[oaklandopen]

bump stops are gonna help in case you bottom out the car and actually overcome the spring tension enough for suspension component to bang into your body

 

[opt_ms3]

bilsteins have internal bumpstops on the fronts, so you don't reuse them. You do reuse the rear bumpstops though, I trimmed mine a little.

I love the bilsetins, they are so worth it.

 

[Russm]

You can call Chris at Russ Darrow Mazda and he can sell the Stock rear shocks for about $90, I went ahead and got the Koni sport, took a month and a half for the rears to show up, the fronts are still on backorder till end of Oct. supposedly. Rears are very simple, fronts can be done but might take an inexperienced mech 2-4 Hrs. The sale is of but Chris got my rears from Tire Rack, $268(Tx & shipping).
Blisteins are as good or maybe a little better, just more expensive.
Tire Rack is the Place to get tires and they will have someone in your area that won't gouge you to mount and balance.
Changing the Power steering fluid is not a problem, but there is probably a reason for it being low that you need to find. PS fluid only goes bad in the sense that it picks up moisture as it gets older just like BF.

 

[Peter B]

Opt_ms3,
Do you know the part numbers for the bilsteins? I have been told they are same as for the regular 3, and someone else i think said they are the same as the ones for the volvo C30

 

[Stamperman]

"The fact that you got 50K out of them is WAY above par. I'm getting mine replaced tomorrow at 25K. But I'm not putting Impotenza's back on my car. I want all-season, and I want QUIET.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....3&autoModClar= "


I hope these work better than my Yoko W4 all seasons do. All seasons until it snows, then they suck the mighty death. So badly I bought real snows for last winter.

 

[Stamperman]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...oYear=2009&autoModel=MazdaSpeed3&autoModClar=

New forum controls are weird...

My original reply to this:
I hope thesework better than my Yoko W4 all seasons do. All seasons until it snows, then they suck the mighty death. So badly I bought real snows for last winter.

 

[RichB]

Are you sure the low speed steering noise you are hearing isn't the LSD?

 

[kvndoom]

New forum controls are weird...

My original reply to this:
I hope thesework better than my Yoko W4 all seasons do. All seasons until it snows, then they suck the mighty death. So badly I bought real snows for last winter.

This part of VA gets really bad snow maybe every 3-5 years, so I'm not gonna sweat it.

I've got just over 1000 miles on them now, and really love these rubbers. Much quieter and more comfy than the Impotenzas. Long term, we'll just have to see...

 

[Peter B]

Here is where I stand on this.
I was all set to get the Bilsteins sports. Except no one has them and they are out of stock until november or later. Currently I have 2 days left on my inspection.
Looked around for Koni FSDs and the same problem.

So now I need a quick temporary fix that won't hurt the car and can get me by for a few months.

-Pete