Sweet Sixteen

[RicerX]

Loving my MS3. What a fun car. My woman has been stealing it lately as her Reno's AC is being flaky.

The only thing that has been weird for me is tire wear. I have some cupping on the inside that is generated in the front. Noticed after getting the tires rotated (I am at 17k miles right now). I have heard that it is because of the extra toe in the alignment to help with steering response, but unsure. Want to look into this - it is my daily and I'd rather not shred tires faster than I have to.

If anyone has any insight into this, shout.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I'm in the process of changing my fleet to zero toe. So far I've done the Miata and the 240 hatch, with no regrets. Toe-in is supposed to help the vehicle track straight, but it also causes tire wear. I haven't noticed any downsides to zero toe. It tracks just as straight as it used to, but turns in slightly better. Kick in the reduced tire wear, and it seems like a no brainer to me. Not sure how it would do in the snow though.

[RicerX]

luckily i would rarely have to worry about snow, so i suppose I'll take my chances. At the rate things are wearing on the dunlops on the MS3, I will be lucky to get 25k out of them. I don't rag on this car at all. Not to say I haven't investigated its power curve, I just go back and forth to work on the interstate with it. That would be the only gripe I have about it - the cheap motor/transmission mounts and the tire wear with the factory alignment.

[krimsonviper]

After my accident I had to get an alignment, and the place I got it done at told me that it's set that way from the factory settings. I wanted them to make it 0, but they took way too long and I needed to get to work.

[krimsonviper]

I DROVE IT YESTERDAY. IT IS SUPERB.


I put hundreds of miles on a rental Mazda 3 5-door hatchback in New England last month and thought, "This car would be perfect if I could row my own gears and had another 75hp or more."

The MS3 is direct the answer to those requests. The base hatchback was already comfy, roomy, efficient (32mpg combined), and quiet (except for some tire noise, easy to remedy). The MS3 is frosty icing on an excellent cake. The clutch is light, the shifter is precise, and I could imagine soaking up thousands of miles with zero fatigue.

Bonus: The factory audio is pretty good with an iPod connected and Bluetooth phone calls sound impressively clear. I also like how both the climate and audio displays are up high in driver's line of sight.

You heard it here folks, get an MS3 if you need a new car.

[nissangirl74]

Just wanted to give you guys a monthly update. Wednesday, we will have owned the 3 for three months and she currently has 6,600+ mile on her. Yes, I know, I'm ridiculous. Now that it's go back to school time, I'm guessing the numbers will ease off a bit. I still haven't taken her on a road trip yet (going to Tucson doesn't count).

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about something cool one of our advertisers hooked me up with. Andrew at Auto Anything sent me a custom sunshade!! They take the exact dimensions of your windshield and custom cut one to fit. It makes a tremendous amount of difference in the amount of heat you are able to keep out of your car. They also made one for the Frontier and the Miata. If you have a birthday coming up or if you're starting that letter to Santa early, you might want to hit them up and get your order in. They're a bit more expensive than traditional shades but they are well worth the extra money, especially if you live out here in the desert.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Got a link to this auto anything place? I've always disliked d!ck around with the universal shades. They seem to leave a film on my windshield too.

[nissangirl74]

Sorry, thought I included it.

http://www.autoanything.com/shop/sunshades

[nissangirl74]

Does it have that same super-duper tint that the insight has? How's cabin temps so far?

Well, we made it through the Summer. The hottest summer on record, in fact. Average temps from the first day of summer to now was 95* (day and night combined). We only had 4 days in that time frame with daytime temps under 100*.

I am happy to say that the 3 never flinched. The tint really did save me. With a black interior here in the Valley, it absorbs a LOT of heat, even with a sunshade. I kept the A/C on med-low most of the summer. otherwise, it would freeze you out.

Just to give you an update, she has been in the driveway 138 days and she just rolled over 9,500 miles. It's an average of 68.8 miles per day but it's often times a lot more than that. She's been out of the Valley twice. Once to Tucson, once to Prescott. I'd like to take a road trip with her and really stretch her legs.

[float_6969]

Sounds like an awesome car!

[nissangirl74]

Update!!! The 3 is 8 months and two weeks old today and the odometer just turned over 17,089 miles!! The mileage pile-on slowed significantly when I went back to school in September. A friend suggested that I'd be out of warranty by year one but I don't think it's going to be quite that bad.

For Christmas, she got the Corksport Stage III CAI and the Turbo Inlet Pipe. It added somewhere between 35 and 40 hp and holy s***, can you feel it! First gear is damn near useless. She also got the upgraded LED lighting inside and out. (I have a feeling I know what I'm getting for my birthday, anniversary, and Christmas for the next few years....speaking of which, she's gonna need brakes soon. And tires. ) I'll post an updated pic this weekend. She's pretty filthy right now and needs a bath in the worst way.

[dre1507]

Glad you're enjoying the car, Bex. If only more women would understand that cars are not just for getting from A to B.

[BusyBadger]

...And tires.

Michelin AS3's have a 500 treadwear and are plenty grippy. I need to do a review on them now that they've had a few snow runs on them.

[AZhitman]

Should be an interesting shopping experience. I think I want to find something 10mm wider, even with the 3mm height penalty.