Thank you for looking at my thread.
This mod is not really new. Decades ago, the quality of these adapters was much better. This also falls in line with many suppliers of AN fitting. If you go our side of Earls, Aeroquip, and Russel you will a poor-quality fitting. As for flowing this will make a small difference with a system that is more than 4 feet of hose. The flow and size charts we use are very accurate. Not to forget that the pressure drop calculation must also be added to the equation.

 

It is another 5K mile Health tune up.
I already installed the new tires so next week will be the next seasonal and mileage service.
There is a few parts I had to still order and I need to dig them out of my stock around the garage, i.e. oil filter washers, misc. hoses. grease cartridge with synthetic grease, etc.

 

So I did my average MPH since the change in the wider and taller profile tire. I lost on average 3.75 MPG comparing the same route I take every day. I also did a 250-mile trip to Napa and also saw a decline in highway MPG of about -2.50
I am wondering now if going for a look was worth it. Sure, I will get better traction for higher speeds on cornering, and they look great, but I don't do that engine that it may have warranted the loss in MPG.

Oh well they are on at least until next winter now.

 

The Contis you replaced were optimized with fuel economy in mind, and of course Continental is one of the premier brands in the business. The Raptor A/S is... how to put this... more of a budget-oriented tire with some mild performance aspirations. If on top of that you went wider and taller with the Raptors, that mpg drop isn't surprising IMO. And I suspect the performance improvements vs. the Conti are not as big as one would assume.

High-end tire brands typically do a far better job of balancing multiple characteristics. Like, if we were to make spider charts with all characteristics of a tire – dry grip, wet grip, longevity, mpg, NVH, etc. – tires from higher-end brands would tend to cover far more of the chart. I found this out the hard way, and re-learned the lesson several times.

FWIW!

 

Yup I actually choose the Contis for the quiet ride. As for the Raptor as with all tires I think it depends on the driver and the suspension. I have some of my best track times at Laguna Seca on 2 of my cars with them. I also run Goodyear eagle which has a very similar tread design on my highly modified MINI and always loved the feedback and traction. Honestly tire performance not the ride quality like noise is more directly related to what the vehicle is and driver abilities and skills. IMHO. As far as the Mazda I expected the loss of MPG and only posted it for sheets and giggles nothing more.

Well, I found my first oil leak today. LOL Not really a warranty issue and it is so minor I will just deal with wiping it every 5k miles. Unfortunately, it is on the case of the transmission and the only way to fix it is to pull the transmission. Not going to happen until I have my other transmission ready to install in its place. LOL
The leak took 5000 miles to accumulate that very small amount. Because I religiously change the engine oil and filter every 5k miles it will be easy to keep a watch and wiped own should it continue to leak.
Gave it a quick wipe down and retorque (found that they were surprisingly not within the specification from MAZDA (less then the minimum specification) because I reversed measured the torque on each and then re-torqued? all the case fasteners I could reach. I am getting ready to do my engine service which includes washing down the engine, front under engine, transmission and chassis.





Al clean around the case halves

 

Today was my 5,000-mile engine and transmission care day. Nothing to exciting. The next time I do this it will be much more involved. I will be at the 50k mark of the drivetrain life. So compression and other test will be done along with a sample of both engine and transmission will be sent to get analyzed. It still took me about 4 hours actual labor time to do al this. I could have gone another 5 k miles on the spark plugs but I can some interesting fuels and the plugs seem to take a toll because of that. Spark plugs are relatively inexpensive , and it is a simple and fast task to change them out.






Reset my service reminders

 

 

 

Depending on the weather I may wash the engine tomorrow? The I will work on cleaning and detailing the interior along with a HVAC service cleaning. Last will be washing the exterior. .

 

Although I was going to change the cabin filter when I did the HVAC vent cleaning, this morning we had a bit of smell when using the fresh air intake setting. The last time I changed the cabin filter was only 1,502 miles logged on 12/3/22 and the weather has been cold but not really dirty air quality. But as you can see the filter caught a couple of large debris as well just plain old fashion dust/dirt.

On the Mazda 3 it only takes less than a minute to remove and replace the Cabin filter.