Has anyone subjected an MS3 to very high mileage commutes?

Just kicking around ideas for myself to have something entertaining to drive. I've always liked the Mazdaseed3, and I guess I'm one of the rare ones that actually likes the 2010+ generation better than the first, including the looks. I test drove one several months ago and loved it. My commute is 55 miles each way, 90% of which is highway. That includes some very heavy rush hour traffic. Plus I do lots of back and forth to football/lacrosse/cheerleading/gymnastics duty. So I'll easily put 30k+ per year on my car.

Does anyone have experience subjecting the second gen MS3 to that kind of use? How does it hold up? For a multitude of reasons, I can't live with an automotive diva.

My 07 does 25 miles of freeway in daily commute with ease. With 80k on it I'm having the DI intake valve carbon build up causing misfires. Gonna have to pull the intake and clean them. I've tried BG intake cleaning, CRC intake valve cleaner and nothing has done much good. That's the only problem I've had with it so far.

90k on mine and it still runs amazing, other than the E36 M3ty blown k04. My im is ported and the vcts is removed, so I've never really had a misfire issue.

The answer here is really going to come down to tuning. The ECU itself should do the task just fine, but if you never get your cruising, hot start, cold start, and transient throttle tuning sorted out, then DD duties will always be something of a compromise. Tuning these items takes work, but it is very doable. This stuff is what makes the difference between a good tuner and a bad one, in my experience.

I am a little curious about the hardware handling the years of service. I suppose if it is properly wired and protected from the elements, it shouldn't be any different from a factory ECU.

I was just going to mention that one has to pause on this forum, as MS3 means two totally different things.

And I see that people have been posting both about the Mazda car and the DIY fuel injection. Nice.

The only MS3 I know of is the one sold by DIY auto tune.

I think I has had that acronym for quite some time. If there is a Mazda product that is being referenced here the op needs to be more specific

Once again the acro-speak in this place I actually detracting from the usefulness of this forum.

In reply to dean1484:

I think your the only one who doesnt know that ms3 means mazdaspeed3

chiodos wrote: In reply to dean1484: I think your the only one who doesnt know that ms3 means mazdaspeed3

There appears to be a couple people thinking this thread is about megasquirt and not a mazdaspeed3..

Did mega squirt come out with an ugly model in 2010?

At least nobody here is calling it a Speed3... a nomenclature that makes my bile itch. The model name is Mazdaspeed3, it's not a Mazda Speed3.

I drove my 2007 about 35 miles each direction to and from work. I never had problems with it except for the aforementioned carbon build up as I reached 90K (besides the engine valves the EGR valve tends to get clogged with soot. Not that hard to clean.) and some nasty heatsoak in the top mounted intercooler (TMIC). The 2nd. gen. Mazdaspeed3 has a hood scoop for the TMIC which makes it less prone to heatsoak at speed, but it will still suffer from it in traffic.

Sorry, I'll clarify. The only megasquirt I know is the one I need after having my protein shake and coffee in the morning. I'm referring to the Mazdaspeed3.

I have owned 2 Mazdaspeed 3s, a 2008.5 and a 2011. The 2008 I bought brand new and never had an issue. The 2011 I bought with a few thousand miles on it and kept it till about 60K. When I had that car I was commuting 80 miles per day. My only complaints about the car was that the tires seemed to be a magnet for nails, and the car is completely useless in the snow. Even if it just looks like it might snow, the car becomes useless.

Other than that they are great cars. My gf just bought a 2015 Mazda 3 and it is very nice. If/when they come out with a Mazdaspeed version of the new car, I will be interested.

The 2010+ MS3's have a lot more in common with the regular 3's than the previous generation. The interiors, aside from the colors, are identical to the regular cars. Expect the driver's seat to squeak and for it to possibly break. There's a push nut that gets loose, causing a weld to snap. Easy fix is to weld it back together and weld a washer on instead of a push nut. I'm not a huge fan of the steering wheel; the earlier cars had a nicer one, and I think it's too thin.

The styling is always a sticking point with these cars, but I like it. It's different and aggressive looking.

Only other issue I see, which is the same with pretty much all 1st and 2nd gen Mazda 3's, are the motor/transmission mounts. Expect to replace these before 100k.

One good thing about these is that they are easy to work on. Basic maintenance is very simple and easy to perform.

Just keep up with the maintenance, watch the carbon deposits, and you'll likely be fine. I wish I could go back in time and get the MS3 instead of the regular 3. They are great cars.

Devilsolsi wrote: I have owned 2 Mazdaspeed 3s, a 2008.5 and a 2011. The 2008 I bought brand new and never had an issue. The 2011 I bought with a few thousand miles on it and kept it till about 60K. When I had that car I was commuting 80 miles per day. My only complaints about the car was that the tires seemed to be a magnet for nails, and the car is completely useless in the snow. Even if it just looks like it might snow, the car becomes useless. Other than that they are great cars. My gf just bought a 2015 Mazda 3 and it is very nice. If/when they come out with a Mazdaspeed version of the new car, I will be interested.

I beg to differ on the snow thing. Mine is almost 3 inches shorter than stock, and with a good set of snow meats, not even raising it up, it was unstoppable. And I live in Minnesota, so its not like pretend winter.

Knurled wrote: At least nobody here is calling it a Speed3... a nomenclature that makes my bile itch. The model name is Mazdaspeed3, it's not a Mazda Speed3.

Wait sorry, are we talking about the Speed Triple? Shouldn't our Speed3 discussion go in sprockets?

mndsm wrote:

Devilsolsi wrote: I have owned 2 Mazdaspeed 3s, a 2008.5 and a 2011. The 2008 I bought brand new and never had an issue. The 2011 I bought with a few thousand miles on it and kept it till about 60K. When I had that car I was commuting 80 miles per day. My only complaints about the car was that the tires seemed to be a magnet for nails, and the car is completely useless in the snow. Even if it just looks like it might snow, the car becomes useless. Other than that they are great cars. My gf just bought a 2015 Mazda 3 and it is very nice. If/when they come out with a Mazdaspeed version of the new car, I will be interested.

I beg to differ on the snow thing. Mine is almost 3 inches shorter than stock, and with a good set of snow meats, not even raising it up, it was unstoppable. And I live in Minnesota, so its not like pretend winter.

Both of mine were completely stock, including the stock tires. It was useless. I suspect it was completely down to the tires though. I live in MD so putting on winter tires was never worth the effort. I just work from home if it is going to snow.

Agree with others that the interior of the 1st gen was a lot nicer. Especially the 2008.5 and up GT model. I loved the alcantara.

Mezzanine wrote: The answer here is really going to come down to tuning. The ECU itself should do the task just fine, but if you never get your cruising, hot start, cold start, and transient throttle tuning sorted out, then DD duties will always be something of a compromise. Tuning these items takes work, but it is very doable. This stuff is what makes the difference between a good tuner and a bad one, in my experience. I am a little curious about the hardware handling the years of service. I suppose if it is properly wired and protected from the elements, it shouldn't be any different from a factory ECU.

chiodos wrote: In reply to dean1484: I think your the only one who doesnt know that ms3 means mazdaspeed3

Hummmmmm. No I don't think so.

I live in Atlanta, so snow isn't an issue for me. When it flurries here, people break into panic, school gets cancelled, a state of emergency is declared and general chaos ensues. On those days, I'll just work from home.

Carbon deposits...one of the downsides to DI engines. Wish there were an easy way to avoid them.

I don't have any issues daily driving mine 80 miles a day when I'm home.

I threw a catch can in which supposedly minimizes the EGR buildup issue and swapped the rear motor mount which has a tendency to break. I also have a set of CDFP internals sitting on my bench.

The only issue I've had is that the stock toe setting destroys tires so that's been zeroed.

The aftermarket for MS3s is actually very robust. So if you need parts they're readily available which is a nice change for me.

chiodos wrote: In reply to dean1484: I think your the only one who doesnt know that ms3 means mazdaspeed3

nah. I had no clue either

Has anyone put a MS3 in a MS3 then?

In reply to Hungary Bill:

I recently replaced my MS2 3.0 with a MS2 3.57 in a 94NA with a B3. The MS2 3.0 had over 40K. While I cant speak for an MS3, the MS2 did well. My only complaint is the LC-2 needs to be calibrated more often than recommended IIRC.

In reply to fujioko:

What AFR's were you running?

A friend of mine has a 2008 mazdaspeed3 that he put 60k on in about 2.5 years. It needed dampers at 90k and swaybar end links shortly after that. He got high 20's for fuel economy during that time.

The only two real concerning issues he had were (1) for a time the car would suddnely turn off and back on on the freeway, and (2) carbon deposits caused a lot of misfire at times. I told him to stop driving like my grandma, and #2 wouldn't be an issue anymore. So far, so good on that.

Personally, I love these cars, but I don't know if I would want one to pile miles on. It seems like everything is just a bit more expensive than a regular car. 5.5qt oil pan, premium fuel, special parts that are rarely in stock, etc.

No doubt I miss my old 08.5, was consistently able to get in the low 30s on the highway, would definitely do it again.

Also to add further confusion Mazda calls their in house OBD system MS3.