Just bought my '14 Mazda s GT with Tech Package

[rmix]

Woohoo! Thanks to this forum for having a lot of '14 Mazda threads that helped me out a lot. Thought I'd return the favor by creating an account and posting.

Mine came with the newest 3TE tech package with everything including Radar Cruise Control.

Black/Black from Capitol Mazda in San Jose! Highly recommend them. (The whole block is all types of car dealerships owned by DGDG)
Arrived from Japan to San Diego about a week and a half ago...finally made its way up North.
2014 Mazda s Grand Touring Sedan with 3TE Technology Package:

Initial thoughts:
Pros:
-Radar Cruise Control is Amazing, you can set 4 different distances on how far you want to be before it kicks in and it worked flawlessly
-I set the car to lock automatically when I walk way (with key fob), nice touch
-The interior was very Audi-ish for me which I liked, especially the rotary dial
-Infotainment is awesome! My commute is now a party inside my car

Cons:
-Wish it had homelink for my garage door opener and an extra slot to put stuff in on the lower left console
-The sunglass holder at the top is small, wont fit my Oakley flak jackets!
-I try to avoid touching the screen to avoid fingerprints, but some options cannot be reached without touching it

TLDR: New 3TE tech package is out!

 

[nitsuj]

Just curious, what infotainment version did your car come with?

Congrats BTW.

 

[ceric]

rmix,
Welcome. From which dealer did you buy yours?
One of my friends is going for an iGT soon.

 

[KuroHouou]

Glad to see the 3TE's arriving.. guess it makes sense they arrive on the west coast first. Will probably not get over here (east coast) for a few more weeks.

 

[lowincash]

Congrats on the car and getting the 3TE package I'm curious to see how the radar cruise control works even though I never use cruise control haha

 

[Park2670]

That is fantastic. Post pictures soon!

What does the radar sensor look like on the front end?

 

[KuroHouou]

Congrats on the car and getting the 3TE package I'm curious to see how the radar cruise control works even though I never use cruise control haha

I never used Cruise control either, that was until I bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee that had the Radar Cruise Control, that changed everything. It was probably one of my favorite features on the car, so when I saw the Mazda 3 could get it I ordered one with the 3TE package, mainly just for that. It's such an amazing feature when driving to and from work with traffic speeding up and slowing down all the time, also on long trips its so nice to have! I haven't tried the Mazda 3's version of it yet, but I assume it will act the same. Sure every now and then it throws a false positive when turning or something. Not an issue imo.

 

[fb88]

Is this RCC the same one as in Mazda 6?
Does this one brake completely to a stop?
Do you hear any sound when shutter opens/closes? Is there any indicator on screen that tells you its open or closed?

Active Grille Shutters: Mounted in front of the radiator, this feature automatically opens and closes in accordance with driving conditions to improve aerodynamic performance, achieve best-in-class coefficient of drag (Cd) and increase fuel economy.

 

[KuroHouou]

Is this RCC the same one as in Mazda 6?
Does this one brake completely to a stop?
Do you hear any sound when shutter opens/closes? Is there any indicator on screen that tells you its open or closed?

Active Grille Shutters: Mounted in front of the radiator, this feature automatically opens and closes in accordance with driving conditions to improve aerodynamic performance, achieve best-in-class coefficient of drag (Cd) and increase fuel economy.

I don't think the car does anything or displays anything when the shutters open and close, actually this feature is pretty old and has been on some cars for years. It all happens without any interaction from the driver so I don't think it should/would display anything.

 

[TerryFrench]

I don't think the car does anything or displays anything when the shutters open and close, actually this feature is pretty old and has been on some cars for years. It all happens without any interaction from the driver so I don't think it should/would display anything.

No display, I confirm.

 

[rmix]

OS Version is 20.00.007 on mine for Infotainment

Added some pictures, will probably tint rear windows only.

To the person who asked about the radar cruise control sensor...not sure which one it is, but heres how it looks:

 

[Reacher]

Very cool! Great looking car!

 

[rwburnett]

the radar cruise is behind the front hood logo - see how it's flat?

 

[smartgroup]

Congratulations. I think you're the first one in the forum with 3TE tech package. How do you like the other tech features?

 

[rmix]

Congratulations. I think you're the first one in the forum with 3TE tech package. How do you like the other tech features?

High Beam Control - Activates if you push the high beam lever forward - did a good job identifying oncoming cars and switching
I-Eloop and Active Grille Shutters aren't noticeable but I assume they work.
Lane Departure - I have to manually turn it on so far if I want it, tried to let the steering wheel veer off the lane and only got the alert half the time. Not sure if it will work in a real situation or not.
Mazda Radar Cruise control - flawless, can't wait to try this on a long road trip, even on the lowest of the 4 distance settings, it doesn't get too close where you get even remotely worried about rear ending the car in front
Forward Obstruction Warning - haven't been able to try yet
Smart City Brake Support - haven't been able to try

As far as other tech features not in the tech package:
Blind Spot monitor - I like this, it has even detected motorcycles for me which is appreciated
Rear backup camera - spoiled by the ease of backing into a spot and knowing how much room you have left
TXT MSG - got a text while my iPhone was connected and screen asked if I wanted to read. When the vehicle is moving, the text does not display for safety reasons but gives you the option to have the car read the text out loud which is pretty cool, didnt see any option to reply though
Auto windshield wipers - Yesterday there was a light drizzle, but not enough where I would manually activate my wipers, the auto windshield wipers did their job, but not sure I want to put too much wear and tear on my wipers just for small drops of rain
HD Radio - Sometimes it takes awhile before it catches the HD frequency or whatever, so it sounds muffled before it goes HD. I'd almost compare it to a television that starts off in standard definition for a second before going into HD. Kind of wish there was a way to have it permanently be in HD w/o any lag. Also anyone know why there is HD1 which is the regular channel and HD2 which produces some random frequency but on the same "channel"?

Some of my two cents for whatever its worth (YMMV)

 

[nitsuj]

High Beam Control - Activates if you push the high beam lever forward - did a good job identifying oncoming cars and switching
I-Eloop and Active Grille Shutters aren't noticeable but I assume they work.
Lane Departure - I have to manually turn it on so far if I want it, tried to let the steering wheel veer off the lane and only got the alert half the time. Not sure if it will work in a real situation or not.
Mazda Radar Cruise control - flawless, can't wait to try this on a long road trip, even on the lowest of the 4 distance settings, it doesn't get too close where you get even remotely worried about rear ending the car in front
Forward Obstruction Warning - haven't been able to try yet
Smart City Brake Support - haven't been able to try

As far as other tech features not in the tech package:
Blind Spot monitor - I like this, it has even detected motorcycles for me which is appreciated
Rear backup camera - spoiled by the ease of backing into a spot and knowing how much room you have left
TXT MSG - got a text while my iPhone was connected and screen asked if I wanted to read. When the vehicle is moving, the text does not display for safety reasons but gives you the option to have the car read the text out loud which is pretty cool, didnt see any option to reply though
Auto windshield wipers - Yesterday there was a light drizzle, but not enough where I would manually activate my wipers, the auto windshield wipers did their job, but not sure I want to put too much wear and tear on my wipers just for small drops of rain
HD Radio - Sometimes it takes awhile before it catches the HD frequency or whatever, so it sounds muffled before it goes HD. I'd almost compare it to a television that starts off in standard definition for a second before going into HD. Kind of wish there was a way to have it permanently be in HD w/o any lag. Also anyone know why there is HD1 which is the regular channel and HD2 which produces some random frequency but on the same "channel"?

Some of my two cents for whatever its worth (YMMV)

Some stations have 3 HD channels, at least the stations I get have unique content on each, no static.
I would guess the delay is due to the buffering of digital content to be able to decode the data steam.
From Wikipedia

Although the signals may be synchronized at the transmitter and reach your equipment simultaneously, what you hear through an HD unit and an analog radio played together will be distinctly unsynchronized. This is because all analog receivers process analog signals faster than HD radios can process digital signals. The resulting unmistakable "reverb" or echo effect from playing HD and analog in the same room or house can be annoying. It's more noticeable with simple voice transmission than with complex musical signals. (Multiple HD receivers or multiple analog receivers in the same room or house will not cause noticeable echo.) The only way to truly "synchronize" HD with analog radio would be to delay the analog transmission by a few hundred milliseconds, but this is normally not done.

 

[Reacher]

My HD radio takes a few seconds to sync up, but nothing that bothers me. (maybe I don't know the difference if it's supposed to sync faster since I've never had HD radio before) I also like the BSM system including the motion sensor while backing up. That along with the back up camera is great.

To test the smart city breaking, what my dealer did was get a large TV box and have a couple of guys hold it at the edge and I drove a car at it going about 15mph and never hit the brakes. The car saw the box and stopped me about 2 feet away. I suggest this because it's hard to have enough faith to run your car towards something solid hope it will stop. With the box, there is no harm if it gets bumped.