Mazda 3 MPS owners here?

The general advice when driving the MPS that my mate gave me is to only go WOT after going past 3k rpm to keep the longevity of the rods which i'm sure you're aware of their weak rods owning a mk1 before.
The interior rattle hasn't started yet but being a japanese car it will start somewhere eventually lol, when I bought mine with 78k, after 82k the whole dashboard has now started rattling somewhere.
Congrats on the purchase, it looks tidy.
 
kurosagi01 said:
The general advice when driving the MPS that my mate gave me is to only go WOT after going past 3k rpm to keep the longevity of the rods which i'm sure you're aware of their weak rods owning a mk1 before.
The interior rattle hasn't started yet but being a japanese car it will start somewhere eventually lol, when I bought mine with 78k, after 82k the whole dashboard has now started rattling somewhere.
Congrats on the purchase, it looks tidy.
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Not sure what WOT means? ;)

However, i've read that not to go over 2.5k revs until the cold engine light goes off and when accelerating at speed, as you say, wait until the revs are over 3k before really giving it any significant power.

I've had a few renaults and fords so i'm used to rattles, i'm sure they'll appear here too and my ocd will kick in to eliminate at all costs.
 
SixTwoSix said:
Not sure what WOT means? ;)

However, i've read that not to go over 2.5k revs until the cold engine light goes off and when accelerating at speed, as you say, wait until the revs are over 3k before really giving it any significant power.

I've had a few renaults and fords so i'm used to rattles, i'm sure they'll appear here too and my ocd will kick in to eliminate at all costs.
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Wide Open Throttle or heavy right foot or full throttle..whichever term haha.
With cobb Accessport installed, I tend to wait until the coolant temp reaches above 75C before going crazy now. The temp will generally hover around 75-85C on a good cruise with no stop/start traffic and even going wooo psssh.
 
SixTwoSix said:
Heart over head, picked up a 2009 plate mk2 at the weekend, 36k miles on it, fairly well looked after, FMSH and all the gubbins.

Elephant in the room...chain sounds normal, no excessive rattle but considering getting it done as a precaution regardless.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4Gr94j11wWKev7ni8
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Grats on the purchase, looks lovely from the photo with arctic grey alloys :cool:

With such low mileage and serviced on the button I wouldn't worry too much regarding the chain.
 
kurosagi01 said:
Wide Open Throttle or heavy right foot or full throttle..whichever term haha.
With cobb Accessport installed, I tend to wait until the coolant temp reaches above 75C before going crazy now. The temp will generally hover around 75-85C on a good cruise with no stop/start traffic and even going wooo psssh.
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Ah ok, cheers.

This is totally standard and don't have plans to change it, more than enough power for the driving I do. Have to rely on the cold engine light for now :D

SC0TTRS said:
Grats on the purchase, looks lovely from the photo with arctic grey alloys :cool:

With such low mileage and serviced on the button I wouldn't worry too much regarding the chain.
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First i've seen with these alloys in person, one needs a slight refurb but the other 3 are mint.

From what i've read the last few weeks and it's been a lot, there were a few ECU changes to make this model less prone to chain issues, although they may occur.

Looking at the mazda service history, this was serviced up to 3 times a year in some cases. :o
 
The ECU logic on the MK2 is different yea. But it's the actual hardware that fails.
But, 36k miles is no where near the 60k odd that most start to rattle. So I wouldn't worry.

Really nice colour. Just needs a jetex exhaust... £650 from VIP Motorsport! There is a corksport one I think on eBay for £450 which if I was after one would be my go to.

The MPS screams out for bigger exhaust tips!
 
SixTwoSix said:
Can anyone tell me what colour these alloys are, kwik fit damaged it during repair and their approved repairer is having a problem confirming the colour.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mF5ADCfApfRth2kW9

I'm not sure if they're from a later model gen 2 or a previous owner had them recoated.

Guessing either anthracite or gun metal grey?
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They look recoated.
 
Diagro said:
They don't look standard.
Probably anthracite.

I would get them all redone haha
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Not an option as kwik fit will only pay for repairs on the alloy that was damaged but now chips away (their approved repairer) is saying unless I can provide the original paint code or colour, they won't do the repair.

Also if I give them a colour and they come out and it's wrong, I will need to pay £40 +VAT for the missed appointment.
 
SixTwoSix said:
Not an option as kwik fit will only pay for repairs on the alloy that was damaged but now chips away (their approved repairer) is saying unless I can provide the original paint code or colour, they won't do the repair.

Also if I give them a colour and they come out and it's wrong, I will need to pay £40 +VAT for the missed appointment.
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You asked on the Facebook group
 
Mariusz said:
@SixTwoSix How are you getting on with your MPS? I'm looking at trading in my Clio 182 and a Mazda 3 mps is only my list of possible replacements.
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I actually went from a clio 172 to a 3MPS mk1 a few years back.

As a previous mk1 aero owner my first and strongest piece of advice is get a mk2.

It's great tbh, ticks all the boxes I wanted and has a great blend of comfort and performance. It's hard to expand on that without knowing specifics of what you'd like to know as I could ramble on for ages without actually telling you much. :D
 
kurosagi01 said:
You looking for mk1 or mk2 MPS?
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I'm looking for a Mk2. Got a budget of around £11k.

SixTwoSix said:
I actually went from a clio 172 to a 3MPS mk1 a few years back.

As a previous mk1 aero owner my first and strongest piece of advice is get a mk2.

It's great tbh, ticks all the boxes I wanted and has a great blend of comfort and performance. It's hard to expand on that without knowing specifics of what you'd like to know as I could ramble on for ages without actually telling you much. :D
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Haha, please ramble away :D

When I've been researching somebody described the MPS as fast, practical and reliable. Exactly what I'm after plus all the toys will be nice :)
It's actually my second 182, 1st one I traded in for a Meg R26, then I had a 370Z, then when I got the commitment speach from the boss I sold the Nissan and bought another 182. Had it nearly 3 years and it's time for a change, only do around 6-7k miles a year so no need for a diesel, want something with a decent amount of poke.
 
Mariusz said:
Haha, please ramble away :D

When I've been researching somebody described the MPS as fast, practical and reliable. Exactly what I'm after plus all the toys will be nice :)
It's actually my second 182, 1st one I traded in for a Meg R26, then I had a 370Z, then when I got the commitment speach from the boss I sold the Nissan and bought another 182. Had it nearly 3 years and it's time for a change, only do around 6-7k miles a year so no need for a diesel, want something with a decent amount of poke.
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Ok, a few parallels here in that as I mentioned, I went from a Cliosport 172 to a 3MPS mk1. My recent change to the mk2 was from a Megane R26.

I'm going to do my 3 main comparisons with the R26 as that's the most recent car I had.

Handling - R26 wins out in corners and twisties but the MPS puts down the power a lot better as you come out and on the straights. Not to say the MPS is bad in corners, just after the R26 it feels a lot heavier. Also the torque is higher in the MPS so while heavier, the acceleration just feels better.

Looks - I know the MPS mk2 is a bit marmite with the smiley face front but overall for me, it's just a better looking car and still looks quite modern. The R26 while distinctive is not holding it's looks well. They also both have a big ass :)

Cabin & Toys - R26 is like a soviet era lada in the cabin compared to the MPS. You get heated seats, heated windscreen, BOSE stereo system with cracking audio quality (with bluetooth interface, priceless for me with spotify), reverse parking sensors, blind spot overtake warning, auto dim interior mirror, adaptive headlights...all of which are absent on the R26 which is only a year or two older.

There is a lot of noise online about chains in the MPS being a problem. While the mk1 and mk2 have the same engines, the chain problems are almost exclusive to the mk1 as ECU changes and restrictions in the mk2 have pretty much sorted them. You'll struggle to find people who've had chain issues with the mk2. However that might be due to increased visibility and people pre-emptively changing the chains. It's generally regarded as something you should do around 70k.

I've had it about 6 weeks now and have zero regrets, it's ticking all my boxes and can't find anything to complain about. Normally after a month of ownership with any car i've had, i'm finding things I want to change or annoy me, this hasn't happened yet.

If you've got any more questions, just ask away.
 
On top of what SixTwoSix has mentioned and if you haven't read the whole thread yet, there are few things to keep in mind if you do get one and few things i've learnt after owning mine for 3 months and reading up things.

1 - 1st and 2nd gear are torque limited to reduce torque steer, this can't be changed even with a tune
2 - Only go full boost after going past 3k rpm as on top of the torque steer, the car engine bottom end isn't the strongest when coping with high boost pressure
3 - Peak power is around 5.5k rpm, beyond that there really isn't any point pushing for more
4 - The VVT actuator which people are scared about, as long as the car been looked after you should be able to keep it going for longer than the estimated 50k range of getting it replaced
5 - If you do go modding the car, the car could only cope around 350bhp before you will need to go forged and the max limit of the KO4. First mod to get is a high pressure fuel pump upgrade internal.
6 - The K04 turbo seal can go bad which causes the car to go smokey which potentially mean it may need replacing, however keep in mind it be bit smokey now we are in cold season but it should go away once the car is at operating temperature

Other than that the car is great.
 
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