We cleared 20,000 miles in the Mazdaspeed 3 last week. Today it was time to take care of the 20,000-mile service interval. This required an oil change and tire rotation. I had a scheduled appointment at Lithia Mazda/Suzuki of Fresno, Calif.; service was prompt and courteous, and I was back in the car in about an hour. Total cost: 75.72.
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Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor
yellowbal says:
01:14 PM, 10/15/10
Did that include synthetic oil?
ptcdawg says:
01:26 PM, 10/15/10
Sounds like a fair price to me at the dealership.
bromans says:
03:31 PM, 10/15/10
Yes, synthetic 5W20. -- Brent
liquoredonlife says:
03:40 PM, 10/15/10
Brent, are you sure 5W20? The car uses 5W30. Says right on the anodized red oil cap.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/liquoredonlife/4317143182/
ms3fun says:
08:23 PM, 10/15/10
Brent, you might wanna give the dealership a call and verify what grade they used. If they really put in 5W-20 (recommended for the regular 3) it would be a good idea to have it changed to at least a 5W-30.
In Europe Mazda has actually changed their recommendation to a 40 oil (5W-40 or 0W-40) because of the increased temperatures and stress from the turbo.
ms3fun says:
03:04 AM, 10/16/10
Brent, you might wanna give the dealership a call and verify what grade they used. If they really put in 5W-20 (recommended for the regular 3) it would be a good idea to have it changed to at least a 5W-30.
In Europe Mazda has actually changed their recommendation to a 40 oil (5W-40 or 0W-40) because of the increased temperatures and stress from the turbo.
roadburner says:
11:26 PM, 10/16/10
The early 2007 MS3 owners manuals called for the incorrect 5W-20 viscosity; 5W-30 is the proper oil. Any halfway competent dealer service department would know that by now. Of course, I still hear of dealers who say that you shouldn't run synthetic oil in a MS3- I guess those idiots think that the MS3 is rotary powered...
blkspeed3 says:
02:10 PM, 10/17/10
What happen to the chrome tips? Got to keep those clean too!
captainvw says:
05:29 AM, 10/18/10
I have a story I would like to share regarding everyones favorite little hot hatch...
I was at an autocross event yesterday, and there were porsche monsters and BMWs from hell and all other sorts of cool rides. It was a great day. In heat 3 of 3 I was on the course working the cones, and there was a MS3 identical to the one y'all editors have in your fleet, might have had a little extra hardware under the hood, I cant say for sure. It ran pretty well through the course, but whenever the car upshifted or the driver let off the throttle, i shit you not, the turbo shutoff made the car sound like it was SNEEZING, literally making a "ka-choo!" sound with every upshift or otherwise.
This happened quite alot as the car ran through the course; and by the time the MS3 was on its 3rd run I could see other people at other stations laughing along with me as the poor hyperallergic little thing (which also sports quite a dumb little grin, I might add) motored around. I heard one of my friends who was working the same station as me comment "It's not a very intimidating little car, someone should get it some benadryl"
That, my fellow gearheads, is why GTI > MS3
blkprl says:
06:06 AM, 10/18/10
Probably a bov or sf intake. Surprised somebody with a gti has never heard one before. Guess the measly power output from the gti mill renders aftermarket parts silent. And cars that cost double the ms3 SHOULD perform better. I'm sure that particular ms3 driver was out there to show up cars outside of its comparable range. Why weren't you showing off the gti and all its glory? Oh wait you were working the cones...
captainvw says:
07:29 AM, 10/18/10
^^ I actually was in heat 2...and i beat his time by a second and change
:P
milt721 says:
07:38 AM, 10/18/10
captainvw - I find it hard to believe that you or any of those other "professionals" have never heard a blow-off valve before. Are you being serious?
captainvw says:
07:44 AM, 10/18/10
Honestly? Not really...I just have a rather strong dislike of the MS3 and felt like sharing my latest reason why...shut off valve that doubles the output, larger turbo spool, whatever hardware a car has. It. Should. Not. Sneeze