flomulgator
Member
- :
- Mazdaspeed 3 Sport
The manual doesn't specify anything. I believe buried out around the 90k mark is a fluid "inspection". I guess they presume it's lifetime. I think built into that assumption is the fact that the standard Mazda 3 will be considered obsolete around 10 years out by most people, so Mazda doesn't bother with a change because they think it will last for the "lifetime" of around 10 years. Another factor going on here is that the Speed 3 specs/maintenance are poorly differentiated at best from the commuter car it was derived from.
Here's what I'll say: When I owned a RX-8 previously, Mazda recommended a transmission and rear differential fluid replacement at 30K. This is a performance car that they had to make a fresh set of schedules for, so they payed attention to it. 30K is common for a lot of other RWD sports cars too. I would recommend a fluid change at approximately that interval for this high-performance car then. The tranny and front limited slip all share a common fluid. Make ABSOLUTELY SURE you are using the right fluid for this reason; LSDs have different requirements than a transverse tranny and those two overlap in a Venn Diagram that has a narrow range.
Personally, I changed my oil at 3K because I (and many others) view a vast majority of the wear and contamination as occurring during the initial break-in. I then used Royal Purple (forgot which kind, so research) and as a result don't plan on ever changing it again (unless this car makes it noticeably into the 6 figures).
Here's what I'll say: When I owned a RX-8 previously, Mazda recommended a transmission and rear differential fluid replacement at 30K. This is a performance car that they had to make a fresh set of schedules for, so they payed attention to it. 30K is common for a lot of other RWD sports cars too. I would recommend a fluid change at approximately that interval for this high-performance car then. The tranny and front limited slip all share a common fluid. Make ABSOLUTELY SURE you are using the right fluid for this reason; LSDs have different requirements than a transverse tranny and those two overlap in a Venn Diagram that has a narrow range.
Personally, I changed my oil at 3K because I (and many others) view a vast majority of the wear and contamination as occurring during the initial break-in. I then used Royal Purple (forgot which kind, so research) and as a result don't plan on ever changing it again (unless this car makes it noticeably into the 6 figures).
