Road & Track Long Term Test

[oldnotdead]

R&T magazine has just published the final installment of their long term test of an '07 Mazdaspeed3. They put 50,000 miles on the car and this article tells of the mechanical problems they had and gives their final judgement of whether it's any good. Of course, we already know they loved it. The article is here: http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=4&article_id=7360

 

[oaklandopen]

So it said mazda is "hard at work" on a new intake? Probably means they're hard at work on getting the same one to not throw codes. And that guy should have raced the mini haha

 

[Young Roids]

In stock form it is a great car.

 

[240ka]

So it said mazda is "hard at work" on a new intake? Probably means they're hard at work on getting the same one to not throw codes. And that guy should have raced the mini haha

mine hasnt thrown one code. get the AFS and its all good

 

[79_Limited]

Thanks for sharing. I still think it great performance for not a lot of $$$. I have had mine almost two years and no regrets at all.

 

[CWPspeed3]

If these parts are going to fail I sure hope they fail under warranty for me, i dont think i will get to 30k miles in 3 years though... I like those wheels tho, why do they have to be so damn expensive!

 

[Antonio DiMarco]

Remember that was a 2007...

If these parts are going to fail I sure hope they fail under warranty for me, i dont think i will get to 30k miles in 3 years though... I like those wheels tho, why do they have to be so damn expensive!

...and as they stated in the review one of the first off the boat. So all the issues they raised were fixed by 2008.

Mazda has historically delivered cars with some bugs. I had a 2004 with it's share of littel gremlins over the fist 20,000 miles. None affected reliability like the engine mount issue but I had gas cap issues, ratlles and suspension issues. All were remedied and never returned.

Now the Mz3 is one of the most reliable and trouble-free cars on the road.

I feel the MS3 will follow the same pattern. My 2008 has had zero issues over 13,000 miles. It does rattle and squeak on occasion when the weather turns cold or dry but those issues go away. About hte only thing I don't liek about the car is the paint. Honestly though for the money this car is fantastic and drives as perfect as you can expect a car and it's price and performance can.

On more than one occasion, while I'm driving, I'll sit and reflect on how nice the MS3 is. It's one of the reasons I'll probably never buy something German. As long as Mazda keeps building such well-rounded and high performing cars, I'll continue to buy them.

 

[Young Roids]

... So all the issues they raised were fixed by 2008.

The motor mount that is causing engines to fall has not been fixed. They put in a stornger bolt but now the aluminum base is stripping

 

[///M Compact]

The motor mount that is causing engines to fall has not been fixed. They put in a stornger bolt but now the aluminum base is stripping

And the jury is still out as to whether the smoking turbo problem is fixed. Here's one '07 MS3 owner who will never buy a Mazda again- no matter how much "Owner Loyalty" money Mazda USA throws at me...

 

[Young Roids]

Just now my brother was saying how there is a funny smell coming from the car and I suspect it's the turbo starting to smoke.

A few companies are making an aftermarket mount for the one that is failing for under $100 so that should fix that problem for cheap.

I am still very happy with mine despite some problems.

 

[Zimmer]

Thanks. I could not agree more with your comments.

...and as they stated in the review one of the first off the boat. So all the issues they raised were fixed by 2008.

Mazda has historically delivered cars with some bugs. I had a 2004 with it's share of littel gremlins over the fist 20,000 miles. None affected reliability like the engine mount issue but I had gas cap issues, ratlles and suspension issues. All were remedied and never returned.

Now the Mz3 is one of the most reliable and trouble-free cars on the road.

I feel the MS3 will follow the same pattern. My 2008 has had zero issues over 13,000 miles. It does rattle and squeak on occasion when the weather turns cold or dry but those issues go away. About hte only thing I don't liek about the car is the paint. Honestly though for the money this car is fantastic and drives as perfect as you can expect a car and it's price and performance can.

On more than one occasion, while I'm driving, I'll sit and reflect on how nice the MS3 is. It's one of the reasons I'll probably never buy something German. As long as Mazda keeps building such well-rounded and high performing cars, I'll continue to buy them.

 

[Betelgeuse]

Anybody willing to guess who posted that one negative post on the road and track site? LOL. (hint - he's a member of this very forum).


Road and track always had a hard-on for this car. It's good to see their test vehicle treated them well.

 

[Circle9]

Wasn't it them who had all that Mazdaspeed performance crap put on it? Then only knocked 1/10 off their 1/4 mile?

 

[eg6motion]

thought that was edmunds that did that review? Either way though, the only power-increase would be from the Intake...so 1/10 isn't a shocker. The exhaust does hardly nothing other than change the tone.

 

[boostdog]

glad they liked it! in the future i forsee this being a 2nd vehicle for me. i have always liked it! now if they offered it in awd i'd be all over it like a 14 yr old at the playboy mansion!

 

[Circle9]

Maybe it was Edmunds, they put in a MS CAI, Mazdaspeed exhaust, coilovers, and rims.

 

[leadf00t]

If these parts are going to fail I sure hope they fail under warranty for me, i dont think i will get to 30k miles in 3 years though... I like those wheels tho, why do they have to be so damn expensive!

I'm with you on the rims. Expensive as hell, but I will have a set next year.

 

[///M Compact]

Edmunds tested a Mazda press car that already had all the Mazdaspeed parts installed. R&T actually fitted the parts to their own long term test car. Edmunds was comparing the times of two different cars- a stock press car and the MS press car.

 

[robin2660]

R&T magazine has just published the final installment of their long term test of an '07 Mazdaspeed3. They put 50,000 miles on the car and this article tells of the mechanical problems they had and gives their final judgement of whether it's any good. Of course, we already know they loved it. The article is here: http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=4&article_id=7360

Statistic that I took note of: Total resale value $13,650

 

[Betelgeuse]

This isn't a car to buy for the resale value. Plus the market is getting saturated with turboed 4 bangers so it's not something that unique anymore.