[dragfree]

My wife has been hankering to replace her manual shift VW GTI with a new small hatchback equipped with an automatic transmission and self-regulating cruise control. She loves our younger boy's 3rd gen Mazda3 hatch, but wants more power (not that she ever uses it!). When we heard Mazda was finally offering the turbo in the 4th gen Mazda3, she was ready to buy ...until we visited the dealer and learned that the CX-30 was getting the turbo option, too.

We put a deposit down a few weeks ago on a Preferred Plus CX-30 Turbo in Polymetal Gray. Per the dealer it should be on their lot sometime this week. Yippee!

In addition to posting this introduction, I also posted a question about replacing the stock 215/55 R18 Bridgestones in a discussion thread on the subject. My question was whether 225/55 or 235/50 R18s will fit, as I would like to give Michelin's new CrossClimate 2 All Season tires a try. If anyone has relevant experience I would love to hear about it.

Cheers!

 

[Rdrokit]

Welcome to the forum from Thailand. Congratulations on your new ride. 225 will fit with no problems as I ran them on my Mazda 3 which had the same wheels. 235s would be pushing the limits of the wheels.

 

[dragfree]

Thanks, Red! Good to know you had no issues with 225/55 R18s on your Mazda 3. Was that a fourth generation 3 (current platform)? I know Mazda made a few suspension geometry changes from the 3 to the CX30, but if there's a difference in clearance I would expect the latter to have more clearance, not less.

 

[Rdrokit]

Yes my 3 was 4th gen. As soon as the current tires on my CX 30 get some wear I will replace them with 225s.

 

[dragfree]

Thanks again! I guess that means you felt the 225s were a worthwhile improvement. Granted, your needs in Thailand differ from mine (Sierra Nevada driving in winter requires tires that perform well in snow), but I'm still curious about the specific tires your chose to replace the OEM ones and what performance improvements you noted.

 

[Rdrokit]

One thing about the early gen 4 Mazda 3s were they had a lot of road noise so I went with Yokohama Advan db. They are probably the quietest tire available in Thailand. All the high end BMWs and Mercs come shoed with them. Great tire but pricey.

ยางรถยนต์โยโกฮามา YOKOHAMA Tires | ยางรถยนต์ ADVAN DB V552

yokohamathailand.com

 

[dragfree]

Cool. I will happily choose a slightly lower-performing tire that's quiet over a noisy one any day -- especially over rough pavement. Those particular tires don't seem to be available in the U.S. -- yet -- but since they're not all seasons they wouldn't meet my needs anyway.

 

[Dee1974]

Why dont you post a pic of it please

 

[dragfree]

Okay.

We picked it up last night. My wife drove it home and loved everything about it. She was especially surprised by how much she liked the heads-up display.

I took it out for a short spin around town during this morning's drizzle. It has very good steering and brake feel, seems reasonably sure-footed, and offers far more than adequate power. It might not be as much fun as the GTI, but it's much quieter and more civilized. I'm surprised by how big it looks next to the GTI -- about 6" taller and a foot longer. Except for the length behind the rear axle it looks almost as big as the Outback!

I look forward to getting it up in the mountains later this month to see how it handles on twisty blacktop and also whether the OEM Bridgestone Turanza EL440 215/55R18 tires handle snow well enough to get us through a season or two before replacing them. Reports -- both here and on Tire Rack's site -- are split between "awful" and "great" without much equivocation.

Finally, I'm of two minds about mud flaps/splash guards. I've always put them on SUVs and pickup trucks in the past, as much out of consideration for other drivers as for paint protection (I've had three windshields trashed by jerks without flaps), but this little CUV doesn't seem to need them even as much as the Outback did, and the Mazda parts look as if they wouldn't make much difference. What do y'all think? (There's probably a thread here I should search for!)

 

[ajvpb]

I'd like the same exact thing but my dealership said they couldn't find the car anywhere and it'd have to be ordered, months out. So congrats on gettting it! Would you be comfortable sharing what you paid?

 

[dragfree]

I'd like the same exact thing but my dealership said they couldn't find the car anywhere and it'd have to be ordered, months out. So congrats on gettting it! Would you be comfortable sharing what you paid?

They are in short supply. We agreed on a price and put our money down a month ago for one of two scheduled for delivery in December. The other was also sold a month before receipt. And they already sold four turbo Mazda 3s they received early in December. Yesterday they told us they can't get more turbo CX30s until summer.

As for price, I used to sell cars long ago and believe dealers are entitled to make a reasonable profit -- especially after investing so much in facilities and inventory that enable customers to see and drive the vehicles they're thinking of buying. We agreed on 6% off MSRP.

Where are you located? If you're sure that's what you want, you might consider working with a broker to find you one.

 

[tekz]

In addition to posting this introduction, I also posted a question about replacing the stock 215/55 R18 Bridgestones in a discussion thread on the subject. My question was whether 225/55 or 235/50 R18s will fit, as I would like to give Michelin's new CrossClimate 2 All Season tires a try. If anyone has relevant experience I would love to hear about it.

Cheers!

Congrats on the new ride!

I don’t have experience on the Michelin CC2 all weather tires however, I’ve had experience on the Nokian WRG4 all weather tires previously on a Mazda 6 and now on my Mazda 3 and they’re way better than the OEM Bridgestone Turanza EL440. What I noticed is that the all season tires manufacturers put on are not as good esp during winters on ice/slush/snow that’s why I’ve always upgraded to all-weather. Winter sets are still the best but didn’t want to deal with hassle of twice a year changeover. If you can get the Nokians these are good all weather tires (winter-rated). Going with 225s from 215s should still be within the 3% tolerance and you can use tire size calculators online to compare the diff but luckily the WRG4S have the 215 55 R18s. The WRG4s are also quiet, low rolling resistance and have stronger side walls (designed) vs regular all season tires.

 

[Benno93]

Re the tyres, do you have Pirelli scorpion verde all season in America? I had them on my previous cx5 and loved them. When we get to the end of summer here, I will replace the oem dunlop tyres that came with the car

 

[Benno93]

Finally, I'm of two minds about mud flaps/splash guards.

My pics of my mud guards

Splash Guards aka Mud Flaps