Drove my 2004 Mazda3 SP23 for the first time in a couple of months today. It now feels something like a friendly bus with its light steering, overall seating position and even less torque-to-weight (despite being a little lighter and having half a litre more displacement). I still think she rocks, though!
A few 86 updates...
- I can happily report back that you can change gears on the 86 without cancelling the cruise control. This should help overspeed on descents but I haven't had opportunity to explore the perfect technique yet.
- I have given up trying to reliably get iPhone audio via the iPod audio source. Resorting to using bluetooth for now. Just a case of hopeless head unit is hopeless I expect.
- Reverse parking (parallel or bay) when using the SAE side mirror technique isn't the easiest thing in the world. I'm frustrated we're in limbo re car head unit devices at the moment because I can't wait to integrate a rear vision camera.