hi there
just found this forum after researching these cars prior to putting a deposit on a mazda 3 mps
im now hoping ive not made a mistake ???

dont know if anyone knows of the car reg plate is EY09LHF
it seems that the previous owner decided to drop on a set of koni rear dampers and has lowered the car spring colours are red all round so im under the assumption its a full set of konis all round
one part i hadnt considered was its on 17" rims this was something that escaped my research as i was very focused on potential issues but have since realised they came on 18's which has confused me a bit now as ive never known someone to modify to go down a rim size tyres were 205/55/17 and tbh didnt look out of place on the car or make it feel unruly on the road

the car has got 95,000 on the clock which ok seemed high ish but it didnt feel like it on the test drive smooth pull lots of torque and considering ive been used to a celica gt4 running 300bhp it felt quicker and a lot more refined with its power delivery
no smoke before or after the test drive, couple of slight knocks on the test drive coming from the suspension but the dealer has said they will sort out the issue
i did give the engine bay a thorough going over checking vac lines and the wiring to see if plugs sockets were damaged or any original pipes were missing or cut as im used to seeing things like this when boost controllers are fitted found nothing major untoward other than a T piece that had been fitted to a vac line at the front of the engine which seems to of been disconnected from the gauge that was inside the car (without someones going to tell me different and i need to worry)
no nasty noises in the engine bay just sounded like my modified gt4 did with a ticking coming from the injectors
just hoping ive not mistaken this for the timing chain rattle

anyway hi i look forward to reading up on these cars and hope i dont live to regret my potential purchase

There could be a few reasons the car has 17s.

The previous owner had a set of 17s lying about and fitted when he traded in the car because:

A. The 18s were bald a few months ago, and fitted the 17s to keep legal, and just left them on.
B. He fucked at least two of the 18s and it was easier to fit the 17s, than replace two 18s.
C. He just fitted new tyres to the 18s and didn't want to sell the car with them on.

Or maybe he just preferred the look of the 17s

_________________
These Are Not the Doors of a Billionaire

ah ok
il not worry to much about it being on the 17's then
its just with doing the research car checks and specs i saw that they came with 18's but also found 17's as well
ive checked rolling radius and rim for rim tyre for tyre theyre within 1mm of identical rolling radius

i have been using the facebook page as well which has resulted in finding the previous owner so plenty of info received on the car and so far via facebook finding that folk seem to be friendly and helpful

many thanks
otis