Highly rigid body

The basic development concept for the body shell of the all-new Mazda 3 was to improve the overall balance of the body's rigidity and ensure it firmly absorbs the reaction force of the dampers. To this end, particular attention went to reinforcing the area around the front and rear suspension mounts and the joint sections in each corner, which are subject to greater stress. Structural adhesive was used to strengthen the joints for the front and rear suspension towers, and spot welding was added to reinforce the joints of the door openings. The result is a substantial improvement in rigidity and body hysteresis (the degree of car body deformation due to repeated applications of torsional load).

    See also:

    Manual Transaxle Operation
    Manual Transaxle Shift Pattern The vehicle is equipped with either a 5- speed or 6-speed manual transaxle. The shift pattern for each is shown above. Depress the clutch pedal all the way down w ...

    Owner Maintenance Precautions
    Improper or incomplete service may result in problems. This section gives instructions only for items that are easy to perform. As explained in the Introduction, several procedures can be done onl ...

    Safety
    In Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crash tests, the CX-9 earned the top score, Good, in frontal and side-impact tests. It hasn't been tested for rear impacts or for roof strength, an indica ...