More details after driving it tonight through the beat up streets of downtown.
First, it is transformed. It feels more like my mom's Odyssey than a Mazda 3 now. I don't really notice choppy road and already find myself not obsessed with avoiding bumps. I can hear joints in the road, but they are barely noticeable even through the steering wheel. I also notice that I don't hear the rear sway bar bushings hardly at all.
I do notice that certain types of bumps seem to cause a little sideways bump in the steering. Maybe it did that before and I just don't notice the vertical bump now. In general, the ride is just uneventful. I'm really pleased. These Konis have proven just how cheap the suspension really was from the factory. Count me in on the group that says the car should have driven like this from the factory.
I've read where some have said the bushings didn't fill the "ears" on the rear shock mounts and that washers were required. The bushings on my set were tight and no extra work was required to keep them tight at the mount. I think I read about this issue on 3's, but not sure.
Oh, and guess what, the rear seats don't shimmy on the highway now.
