Recent content by ruby.w

Long story short - I've upgraded my rear sway bar and a few other things, and think I could use a mild boost upwards on the front. So... It seems established that the swaybars for the first-gen 3/MS3/5 can be interchanged. What I've been unsuccessful at is finding information on the second...

Realigned and rebuilt my shifter assembly, and swapped the rubber shift mount bushings for a few washers epoxied together. This is no easy thing to get to on a 5 with a rear center console - some of those fasteners are in really awful places. Anyway, it's never been quite right. Tore it apart...

I'd like to bump this thread just because - it's that good. I did this swap this weekend. My old mount was a bit creaky but not visibly torn. The difference was still night and day. There is a tiny, tiny increase in NVH at low revs. Honestly, if I hadn't read about it before I don't know if...

Did the shims help the noise issues any? I'm looking to upgrade my front pads and would like to get more bite but without too much shrieking. Ruby

Hi all, I've noticed that there's a certain amount of "rubberiness" in the linkage of my 2013 MZ5 6MT, especially with vertical motion. Overall the gearbox is still easy to shift precisely, it just feels as though there's not as solid of a connection. What's the wisdom - bushings, cables? On...

Nice - I have mixed thoughts on the LED bulbs in the stock projectors, if you're unhappy at all with distance punch or excessive foreground light, I would seriously consider modded H9 bulbs instead. They're absolutely beautiful with the stock halogen optics. HIR1 9011 bulbs will fit in the...

Hi, I'm a happy Mazda owner - but I own a 2013 Mazda5, and I spend most of my time on this site over in that corner. Anyway, I've been investigating the possibility of putting in a European or Australian towbar, and find myself wondering how close the MZ5 and the CX-7 are in the rear...

Has anyone else run into a problem with drivers' side wiper chatter? It happens when the wipers reach the end of their stroke and the drivers' side wiper is basically vertical. When it pulls back, there's some grab and wobble and noise. I've cleaned the windshield thoroughly and have tried...

I guess so. I've always been very sensitive to glare, so I put a high priority on giving myself effective seeing while keeping oncoming traffic from getting too much glare. I've tended to run high output bulbs in my vehicles, scrupulously aimed, and there's already a mark on the (manual)...

I made my first drive in heavy snow in my MZ5 a couple of weeks ago. I have to say, I was prepared for it to be a little ugly (and, being the California Sierras, I was carrying chains in the event of total snow-carnage) and I was actually not that disappointed with it. The ground clearance was...

It's funny - those headlight adjusting dials are on every car I've ever driven in Europe, going back for decades...some expensive cars there have automated load-sensitive leveling, but most cheap ones don't. I've never understood why they aren't routinely common in the USA, Mazda is one of the...

Where low beams are concerned, I honestly think the best upgrade (for seeing ability) is to stick with the (very good) stock projectors, but to go to halogen H9 bulbs with a slight base modification in the lows. These offer much more light (2100 lumens vs 1200, going from H11 long-life bulbs in...

I'd like to urge again to avoid LEDs. Their lighting properties are fundamentally different than those of a halogen filament. Your projector cutoff shield will reduce glare, but there is no LED replacement that's street-legal for halogen headlamps for good reason. If you want to see well, the...

Does anyone have a good example of how the rear fog light is implemented in markets where it's routinely sold (Europe, UK, etc)? It's been surprisingly hard to find information! Thanks! Ruby 2013 Mazda 5 Sport 6mt

LEDs still don't have nearly the luminous point intensity of a filament, and that's what's going to contribute in large part to the "punch" of the beam. I very much doubt there's one out there that can outperform a 9011/HIR1 bulb placed in our stock main beam reflectors. It's very easy to...