Just saying hi and new to this forum....I bought an 07 Mazda3 Sport 2 days ago for 18,500 and I have to say that I am impressed with this car in a big way! Very fun to drive and I am impressed with the options list and build quality (which is why I bought it. I currently own a 2002 Ford lightning (which I love and also carries mine and my son's dirt bikes....I am 42 btw) and my wife ha a ford escape with 130K. That is one of the reasons I bought this car as a family vehicle with decent mileage and to save some wear and tear on the wife's escape I have also owned and succesfully autox'd a 99 Civic Si in the Chicago region of the SCCA...that was a fun car but I have to say that this 3 has MUCH more to offer for (almost)the same dough!!

Has there been any reliability issues noted with these cars? I could not find much really and I was curious....Mazda transmissions tend to be iffy.....

Another question I have is...has anyone used a Male/Male 1/8" cable to hook up their iPod through the aux port? (i.e through the headphone jack) Is the sound quality ok? I have a nano and the battery lasts forever so i am not concerned with charging, etc. Can I control volume on the wheel still?

 

not too sure about the tranny, but yeah, i've used the cable to connect to aux port. The sound quality is great. I plan on getting the mazda ipod integration module. Yeah, you can control the volume with the wheel, as well as the volume on the ipod.

 

Excellent, thanks for the input....going to have to hit radio shack for a cable, hehe.

 

no problem... if you can't find one there, I've seen one at best buy for about 5 dollars. It was made by apple, i think.

 

Hello all.

I too am new to this forum and to the Mazda experience. Bought an 07 4 door sGT a few days ago. I have everything except the nav system and it rocks. I love it. have a few notes on changes I would make but man it is a nice ride.

 

I used the male/male connector in my MS3 and the faster speeds there is more and more annoying buzz/interference.

 

Welcome and congrats on your purchase.

I don't know that there have been a lot of problems with these tranny's. Well maybe some software problems with the auto's, but nothing that I can think of on the manuals. For the audio input, as long as you're not charging the ipod at the same time you're using the input you'll be fine. If you do decide you'd like to charge it then you'll need to invest in a ground loop isolator. You'll get better sound if you get a dock connector adapter that lets you access the line out vs. the headphone jack, but it will probably be a very minimal difference. As for sound quality it will basically sound as good as your Mp3s, so if you have crappy ones beware. :P You will be able to control the volume through the stereo, but you won't be able to control the ipod's functions unless you go with an integration method. (See below)

Also bear in mind that if you get the OEM sirius, phatbox, or ipod adapter that they use the same jack as the console input so it will not work unless you get the switchbox. (Again, see below)

Before you buy the OEM adapter you may want to look into some of the other options. From what I've heard from other people the audiolink is by far the best integration method as far as price/functionality/ease of use. Look HERE for more details on all the different methods.

 

Awesome info...thanks ICSPOTS. Well, I don't have any intention of charging so it should be good. I still do prefere the truer sound quality of a CD and still favor them but I like the idea of the iPod on trips. I think the quality should be tolerable at a minimum through the headphone jack but I will check it out.

Again, thanks for the useful information...i was not aware of the options.

 

Like I said you'll lose some quality through the headphone jack since it's basically double amping the signal, but whatever you lose won't be much. Realistically with road noise you probably won't notice what you're losing.

 

My iPod nano sounds great through the Aux. port, but I do get the buzz when it comes time to charge every couple of weeks. Just have to listen to a CD or the radio at that time. I recommend the iPod car charger that has the tight coiled cord (OIC is one Brand) and run the IPod audio cord through the middle of the coil to keep the wiring clean coming out of the arm rest.