Recent content by mazybright

I've got a terrible rattle coming from my engine. When I last did my oil change in November, I noticed a triangular metal cover under the engine had a big corrosion hole and I think that's what's rattling. According to the factory service manual, it's the Exhaust Manifold Bracket, number 8 in...

Thanks for your input, guys. I went with the OEM parts. Even if they last 25,000 miles, that's five years at the rate I'm driving. I'll be ready for a new car by then. Also, the front struts were re-designed in 2008, according the parts guy, so they may be better. Magicka, the prices in my OP...

Thanks for your reply, 5port. The Konis/Bilsteins are twice the cost of the OEM parts. Are they twice as good? For a seven-year-old daily driver? What, specifically, is so bad about the OEM parts? The sway bar links are just metal rods. How would they go bad, other than bending or breaking? I...

I have a 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 (first gen) with 43,500 miles (yeah, I hardly drive) which clunks, rattles, and squeaks a lot on rough pavement but is pretty smooth on highways. No noticeable nose dipping while braking, no steering vibrations, and no weird noises when turning the wheel. The clunking...

Brand new Mazdaspeed cold air intake for the MS3 (the revised version, with the airflow straightener). Brand new in box, never been installed. Includes all CAI components, two bottles of filter cleaner, and instructions. $300, shipped.

Hi, I'm looking to buy a set of 4 snow tires for my 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 (size 215/45R18), preferably Blizzaks, preferably unused (maybe you bought a set and never put them on). Please PM me. Thanks.

Um, did you read the part where I said I'm not into mods?

As an apology for problems I had with my car.

I was thinking of using them towards new tires or an extended warranty for my 2007 MS3. I'm not into mods of any kind, and I can only spend them at the local dealer. I have to spend them soon.

Again, faulty reasoning. The AP's cost relative to a cat-back exhaust is irrelevant. A $10 hot dog at the ball park is still overpriced even if the burger costs the same. In both cases (the hot dog and the AP), the price is not determined by intrinsic utility but by artificial barriers (the ball...

@Nliiitend1: One more thing, the ECU does get locked to the AP, as Cobb has confirmed, so I'm hardly being paranoid or uninformed.

@Nliiitend1: Like I said, if you've got money burning a hole in your pocket and can live with locking, rock on. I think it's foolish to spend that kind of money. You're displaying all the symptoms of owner's delusion: you've spent the money, so now you have to justify it somehow. Rather like my...

Wow. Reading some of the posts on this thread makes me think that car brains aren't the only brains enslaved by the AP... First, let me give you a real-life example that actually happened to me with my last car. I turned on the ignition and heard a loud pop: an ECU capacitor had exploded and...

@Nliiitend1: Learn the rules of logical reasoning before posting idiotic replies.