April 1st, 2009

It's been ages since I've updated this page and I apologize for that. As to the smoking MS3, the issue was leaky seals in the turbo allowing oil into the intake to then burn and create the plumes of smoke. At least that's how I understood the explanation they gave. The turbo was replaced under warranty and there's been no issue since. I still love the car and highly recommend it to anyone as a daily driver.

On the Sunfire side of things, I'm still not driving it but I'm slowly picking up parts to try my hand at twin charging it. I've got the turbo header now and a wideband O2 kit. Next will be the HP Tuners kit and the turbo itself. After that, the rest of the bits and pieces should fairly easily fall into place. There's no real reason for any of this other than the novelty of it all. Really, I'm sure everything would be easier if I just remove the supercharger and focus on the turbo, but that wouldn't be as much fun. As it is, my goal will be to get around 300 hp out of it, hopefully without blowing it up. And really... if it blows up... how much are LD9 engines going for these days? Can't be much. I don't imagine there will be much to add on this in the near future as it's really a long term project. There's just too many other priorities in life these days and since I already have a fun car to drive, I really have to think twice before buying each new part. It will happen eventually though. Maybe next year. Maybe later. But some day, and when it does I expect it to feel faster than the MS3. Certainly it will be a lot more dramatic.

July 16th, 2008

We have a problem! Over the weekend, it seems the new car has decided to take up smoking. I just dropped her off for rehab and hopefully the news won't be too bad.

July 8th, 2008

I just found out a few days ago that Weathertech now makes a floor liner kit for the Mazda3, so here they are. I was always happy with the mats I had in the Sunfire so I figure I can't go wrong here. So far so good!

June 1st, 2008

Michelle and I rode 25 km this morning for the Becel Ride for Heart. Here's a few pics of the car loaded up with the bikes.

November 3rd, 2007

It's been quite a while since I've updated here, but there really hasn't been much to say. The MS3 is loads of fun to drive, but with all sorts of other priorities in life these days, modifying it really isn't in the plans.

There's a few little changes though. I've removed the plastic strips from the doors and tinted the windows. I've also picked up some 05-06 Mazda3 GT wheels to use over the winter. I'll be putting my Blizzaks on them soon and getting ready for the cold. Finally, though I haven't got anything to put on it yet, I picked up the OEM roof rack so I'll have it when I need it. I did a test fitting today so there's pics of that here too.

May 22nd, 2007

As mentioned, here are the new pics from today and yesterday.

May 22nd, 2007

It's been nearly a month since the BubBQ and I still haven't posted pics from it. I've taken a few more in the meantime, and I'll try to post those later tonight but for now, here's a few that Xerox was kind enough to let me use, along with a link to my complete gallery of pics from the event. Another huge thanks to Bubba for making it all happen!

Here's my gallery from the event, which includes some more pics of my own car along with many others. http://www.wildweasel.ca/images/cars/wm4/BubbaQ2007/

April 28th, 2007

Bubba1983 has been nice enough to host a season opening BBQ for the Toronto Mazda 3 Club, so I'll be heading to that tomorrow. I'm looking forward to attending my first event with the new car, and will cross the 1000 km barrier while doing so. I'll try to post some pics from it sometime soon. In the meantime, here are some pics I took last Sunday after waxing the car for the first time.

April 19th, 2007

It's here! We picked it up this evening and so far so good. Not much to say just yet, other than that it feels curiously larger than the Sunfire, even though I think it's actually a bit smaller. It seems like Michelle and I are sitting further apart and with it being a wagon, there's definitely a much more roomy feel to it. I'm still getting used to the clutch and working out my seating position. There will be lots of time to make myself comfortable during the break-in period before I get to find out what it can really do, besides hauling groceries and trees and stuff.

March 19th, 2007

New car arrived today! It's not the full sized version though. Mazda sent me a pint-sized (1:43 scale) model to keep me excited until the real one gets here in another month or so. For all the years I've wished I could have a model of a Sunfire, it's pretty cool to have one right up front for the new car.

Good thing it's got warnings on it. I'll be careful not to hurt myself.

January 19th, 2007

Last week was a big week in the Weasel garage. My wife and I put down a deposit on a new daily driver so the Sunfire will be going into storage when spring comes. There won't be much happening for now, but sometime down the road I'll bring it back out again, hopefully with a vengence. For now, I'll just be fixing up some rust spots that have been peeking out around the bottom of the doors and stuff and then prepping her for storage. Some of the goodies that haven't yet been installed such as the crank and alternator pullies will go on, and then she'll be gone for a while. It's just not practical anymore to use this car as a daily driver so I'm going to put it away to be used as the toy it's been built to be.

So then, I won't actually get the new car until the end of April or so, so all I've got is a stock Mazda pic. We just can't wait to get the keys!

Without further ado, I give you the WM4.