The Mazda’s makeover
It was all going so well… By Ben Whitworth
Last week I booked in the MX-30 for a ‘service campaign’ – fancy marketing lingo for a recall – to have its software updated. No overthe-air updates from Mazda yet, so I made an appointment at Snows of Chichester. I was offered a courtesy car for the day but as the work would actually only take about 45 minutes, I instead took advantage of some rather good coffee and ensconced myself in the corner of the immaculate showroom.
The service campaign/recall was to reprogramme the Mazda’s ECU to ensure it remained fully dormant when the car was not in use, to avoid draining its 12-volt battery. I’ve not suffered this in the MX-30, but know from experience – try jump-starting a car in the twilight on the Zambesi escarpment while avoiding eye contact with a pride of alarmingly interested lions – the carnage a dead battery can cause.
An hour later, fully caffeinated and heading home, I noticed three things. One, the indicated range had jumped by 10 per cent, but that might have to do with my driving history being wiped by the update. Two, the MX-30 felt a touch nippier off the line. And three, the electric engine warble piped into the cabin – think autotuned RX-8 accelerating in third gear – had disappeared, making the squeaking from the front windows even more apparent.
So it’s back to Snows next week to relocate the AWOL soundtrack, see if the update has affected range and performance, and to have the windows sorted.
Oh, and one other exciting event this month – always make sure that when purchasing a tin of paint from B&Q the lid is correctly fitted after it has been mixed. Otherwise the following will occur: the lid will pop off halfway home and dump five litres of white shed paint in the passenger footwell; you’ll get thoroughly irritated with B&Q’s paltry £50 compensation offer; and you’ll spend that £50 and the rest of your Sunday on a valet as you frantically try to sort it out.