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Comments
Each spoke on the 03 alloys has too many styling lines for my taste. I prefer smooth and clean with some curvaceous shape for excitement. All those lines just clutter-up the look.
I could care less about the new 15" ones, but I think the 16" ones are actually nice, very clean looking.
I saw a P5 on the showroom floor, and it had the same wheels as the "refresh" 2002 models had...
hence the 'refresh' ;-)
so we are just bashing the new 15" alloys, and leaving the 16s alone right? because the 16s are nice looking IMO ;-)
I tried looking for a pic, but all I find are pics of the 02 16" wheels which I like.
Dinu
That extra line in the refresh 16's is just another place to trap dirt and make it harder to clean.
To make matters even more of a challenge, the car's white -- REALLY white -- and when that Meguiar's Gold Class dries to a nice WHITE, you really have to squint your eyes and try and catch reflections to find where you haven't waxed and where you haven't buffed!
The P5 is definitely harder to wash than my Protege. More creases in the hood, the roof rack, that area under the top-of-the-window rear spoiler, the area under the hatch, the aforementioned rear bumper, and not to mention the seeming hours I have to spend getting into all the acute angles and niches around her headlights and (especially) those driving lights! Thank goodness for a paved driveway now -- that railroad-grade gravel was killing me!!!
There. 'Nuff complaining for now. I've been sick. Gimme a break. Now back to dreaming about what the Mazda3 will look like since Maltb's too chicken to post the pics.
Hey Malt, why don't you e-mail them to me, and then I'LL post them -- and since I used to be a newspaper reporter, I'll grant you "off-the-record," "deep background" status and never reveal my source?
Meade
I wonder why they change designs of wheels like that periodically? I guess they do so to be able to say that something's new for a new model year.
BTW, I saw the 6 with wheel covers. They look kinda like the Protege's (from the DX), but with a little different design.
notice how every year during the lifetime of the 3rd gen Protege, there's something different from one year to the next, even though they're 'technically' the same car...
Jim: The pic you sent me > Those wheels won;t win any beauty pageants, but they're still not as bad as what I've seen.
I'll confirm what's going on in 2 weeks when I'll go drive the 6.
Dinu
BTW I posted a Laser Blue Pro pic in my album showing those ugly wheels, with a Lapis Blue 6 behind it for comparison.
The spokes are too SKINNY, too many creases, they look like a PepBoys special buy on sale for $39.95 each.
fowler3
yes these are the new 15" rims, and I agree they look bad :-(
Took it in to the dealer today. Know what - the sensor is knocked out. Go it replaced under warranty. I did get a letter from Mazda way back in feb '02 informing me of this issue and asking me to go to the dealer ONLY if there was a problem.
I don't know if it is just my imagination, but I feel the pick-up is now smoother than before. I mean there was a smoother shift between the first and second gears. Let me confirm this after some more driving.
Coming to the rims, I saw the new 5 spoke Pro wheels with "pinstriping". Didn't like them. The old and plain ones were much better. Incidentally, I saw total 4 types of rims for the 6. One was the regular cap (bland). Alloys - One was the pinstriped ugly thing. One was plain & straight 5 spoke. but the best looking was the 5 (or 6?) curved spoke wheels.
-Hari
I've once drive 30km on a road trip with the light on before finding a gas station. I have also duplicated that feat within the city just for kicks (I've recently saw a re-run of that Seinfield epidsode if you are asking why). The light seems to come on near empty as a warning, but then goes away after driving about 8 km, then it comes back shortly after for good.
With the gas price rising, I'm just wondering how much we can literally squeeze out of a tank.
The Good: I can see in my mirrors - the car was so dirty I could barely see. Also, the salt is gone.
The Bad: Noticed 2 spots (as big as a dot made by a ball-point pen) of RUST! Well probably just a rock chip that needs to be "treated".
When I bought the PRO I got it rust-proofed (considering how much the City of Toronto likes salt on their roads), and the warranty covers me for 12 years of ANY rust ANYWHERE on the car. So when I'll do the next oil change and drive the 6, they'll get to do something about that those rust chips.
Another not so small problem: I have rubber floor mats, underneath the Mazda carpet mats and the car's carpet under that (obviously). Well when I washed the car, I took out the rubber mats and the driver's side carpet was stiff as a surfboard (hey, we gotta keep it PG-13 here). The carpet under all that mess is now wet. I'll use some paper towels and try absorbing that water - not for another reason but it must be a mixture of water and SALT!
Dinu
PS: All those "Dale at the car wash" jokes are coming back to haunt me
I make a habit of going at most 50kms before refuelling. If you're outside of the city, refuel at the 1st station you see - you never know where the next one will be.
Dinu
and why did you decide to use the Dale School of Carwashing to soak you carpet?
And the light goes off and on, depending on how the sensor "reads" the tank. I would assume accelerating and stopping would slosh the gas around and make the sensor go off sometimes.
Now the water is from the snow and the very cold weather - the driver carpet mat just froze; the passenger and rear ones are like new. Guess melted snow went out of the rubber mats and underneath on the carpet ones. The driver carpet mat looks ok too, but it's frozen.
I need to take the PRO down south so it can all melt
Dinu
We never had any problems with our Protege. To stay on topic ya know.
Are they the ones that are supposed to trap water or are they just rubber mats.
I've though about spending the money for some of the ones that supposedly trap the water but wondered if they really work that well.
Something like this is what I mean..
http://www.autosportcatalog.com/index.cfm?fa=p&pid=584&ad- dcar=1
Luckily for me, I was able to shift into N and coast backwards (nobody was behind me) into a fuel station and up to a fuel pump.
While driving though NJ on the NJ Turnpike, heading into NYC, the light also came on. I managed to move about 6 miles in rush-hour traffic to the first fuel station I could find. I think I would've been OK for a while yet as this terrain was flat.
Dinu
That experience scared me to death so I just don't push anymore.
My 2nd reason kind of goes back to the "be prepared" thing we debated about spare tires the other day. I have this fear that I'll get a call to the hospital in the middle of the night, go out and not have any gas, so I have to stop and get some and miss getting there by 1 minute.
So gas wimp I am........
I don't like having an empty tank, especially in the winter. If you happen to run out whilst in the middle of nowhere, you'd probably freeze to death!
And to be somewhat on topic, I FINALLY got to wash my Pro last night. I feel so bad...I hadn't washed my Pro in more than a month! Ah well...it's relatively nice weather out and I'd almost forgotten how great the black mica looks!
To those who have seen it, mainly maltb and groovy, can you confirm its authenticity?
That's the car boys and girls.
-Larry
2. Knocking when engine is cold (not a major problem - high test gas solves it): I ALWAYS use 87 regular. This is VERY common on most 2.0 Mazda engines and can easily be solved: drive the car 3 minutes and it all goes away. At least for me it does, so I take it easy. Let the car warm-up while driving (MUCH better than when idle) and when the temp needle is halfway (where it should be), it's time to zoom.
3. Flat spot in 2nd gear when RPM's are low - again premium gas helps: Have not experienced this. Mine is AT.
4 BIGGEST concern - engine vibration at all RPM's that I can feel in the steering wheel , the gearshift ( and interior trim vibrates): This is NOT normal by any means. My car does not shake or vibrate even when it was -20C outside 2 weeks ago. This is NOT what a new car does!
Worst when accelerating and in colder weather: That is fine. You just have to drie it a few minutes and it will let go. Now I know MT cars might also take a few minutes for the gears to go in properly if it's too cold.
Other comments:
My 01 PRO 2.0 ES with AT did the same thing for a few good months since I bought it (knocking noises). Now, 18 mths later and 51.251kms later, the noise has gone away (I did not have this issue since last spring - 2002). It does take a long time for the AT to switch gears when it's cold, but after 3 minutes of city traffic and a few shifts, the trany loosens up (when the temperature needle is at 1/2) and the car can be driven again. Friday and Saturday when we had above-freezing weather, the car started and acted like it does in the summer - no issues whatsoever.
In what city are you? What dealer did you take it to if in Toronto?
Dinu
I don't know if Mazda NA plans on bringing the Mazda2 here. Doubt it. Too bad. Interesting vehicle (though not for me...the rear is a bit too upright for my taste).
So far as the Mazda3, I like the front half. The rear half needs more work. It looks too much like a Focus ZX5, which I don't like, especially the humungous D pillar. If they make the P5 replacement look more like a mini Mazda6, I'd be all over it. I hope the pics are of a 5dr hatchback, but it looks destined to be a P5 replacement.
The curving top line of the doors doesn't bode well for fitting my bike rack on top. It prefers a straighter line.
At least it has adjustable headrests in the rear, folding mirrors (looks like them to me) and big brake rotors (discs all around). Nice high roof in the front seats, not sure about the back...the car has one of those sloping rooflines. I hate those. I think it looks wimpy, and it takes away rear headroom.
I'm ambivalent on the design. I kinda like the current P5 more. At least it looks better than the 2004 Focus. What I saw looks too sharp and chunky (like the new Cadillacs) and its front end closely resembles a Saturn L-Series (ugly IMO).
Dinu