[steverife]

I'm considering picking on a Mazda3 sedan as a daily driver/stock class autocrosser. I've already received some advice in the autocross forum, but I'm hoping someone here can give me some more info....

Looking at the options sheet for the '07's on the Mazda website, I see no mention of wheel sizes. I assume that the 15" wheels are standard for the 3i Sport, there are no options to get the 16's on a Sport, and I would have to buy a Touring to get the 16's from the factory. Is this true? If so, has this been the case with each model year?

Also, I was wondering if anyone has any real life weight figures. Are the '07's really heavier? What is the weight difference between the 3i Sport and the 3i Touring package? What is the weight difference between an i and an s?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[theabsrd]

I'm assuming you're in the US and are looking at a manual tran.

3i sport has 15" steel wheels. 3i touring and 3s sport have 16" alloys. 3s touring and gt have 17" alloys snowflakes. You cannot get 16" alloys on a 3i sport from the factory, but the dealer will put the 16s on for you if you're willing to pay for it. This has always been the case. The 3i sport is stripped to the bone. 15" wheels, no air, power nothing. It is intended to let the 3 compete at price with the crappier low end subcompacts. IMHO, unless money is a serious issue or its exclusively for autocross, the cheapest you should go is a 3i touring with the ABS/SAB/SAC package. It's a much nicer car all around, and the safety package pays for itself via lower insurance rates, even if you aren't going to autocross.

The 07's are only slightly heavier, probably around 20lbs. I don't know the weight difference between the 3i sport and touring, but it's probably about the weight of the air conditioning. The i touring is 100 pounds lighter than the s sport (2.3l engine) and 125 lighter than the s touring (17" wheels and side sills).

 

[kendalf]

If you are asking about the weight of just the wheels, the stock '07 17" wheels are 22 lbs, same as the 5 spoke 17" wheels from previous years (http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=63234.msg1160918#msg1160918).