Ask the Best & Brightest: Squeak, Rattle & Roll Edition

by Jeff Puthuff

Published: April 8th, 2009

ask the best brightest squeak rattle roll edition

My friend, DrDeco, just got rid of traded his ’06 300C SRT8 for an ’08 Mazdaspeed3. (Who says we have no influence?) He loves it for the most part but is being

driven batty by numerous squeaks that seem to come from the dash down near the pedals and up around the defrost vent. Do any of you who have a Speed3 suffer from this problem or have suggestions as to what he can do to lessen the noise? Perhaps there is a TSB out that you know of that addresses this?

Also, he notes that the rear-door BOSE speakers leave a lot to be desired. My friend is an audiophile who replies when I asked if he sings in the car, “Yes and I like a good stereo as I play it a lot and loud since our roads are noisy here.” Sure, he can peruse Crutchfield but someone must have a personal recommendation to share.

DrDeco lives near Seattle where all-season tires are a must. But we’re talking about a 263 hp, turbo hot hatch with front wheel drive. He needs tire suggestions since, as he puts it, “The tires on it only work well on dry pavement which we don’t have much of up here. They slip a lot when I push the rpm’s.”

DrDeco’s going to write up a review for us, so look forward to a new MazdaSpeed3 take in the near future.

Jeff Puthuff

Early 30s California guy driving a 97 Infiniti I30. Past cars: 90 Cavalier, 82 Skylark, 78 Courier, 61 Beetle.

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2 of 56 comments

Ddr7 on Apr 09, 2009

To SV: I also have the 3 hatch 2006, I don't have anything coming from the dash but the seat or seat belt drives me nuts, I know it can be solved with WD40 but until then it keeps me moving the seat belt every now and then. About the tires, I live in NYC and I also need tires that will be good on wet, the originals, Good Year RS-A went dead at 30K, they were good in anything dry, wet or snow spelled disaster for them, it has nothing to do with 160 HP or so at the front wheels, I know because I replaced them with tires that cost half the price, Dunlop SP sport signature and they are 1000% better! specially in wet and snow, in heavy rain it's very hard to spin them from start and they are extremely stable in highway speeds.

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Ktm on Apr 09, 2009
It’s often the case that fast FWD cars are more oversteer-prone than fast RWD cars, just because understeer on corner exit has to be dialed out with suspension tuning rather than with the throttle. FWD cars _can_ be very quick, but in the end, it’s the latitude to set a car up for generally neutral handling that makes RWD better for a performance car. All of what you said is true, but remember the context - OEM, not aftermarket tuning. Modern, mainstream cars are designed to understeer at the limit. Yes, you can tune the suspension to produce a more neutral car, but they do not come like that from the factory.

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