2010 MAZDA3 2.5L 6spd

Joined
Apr 11, 2011
Messages
701
Location
PA
Click below:
2010 MAZDA3 UOA

Been a LOOONNNNGGGG time since I have posted a UOA here! However, I am not seeing many from a 2.5L MZR L5, 6spd manual and with the use this car will see I will continue to post UOA’s from this vehicle here. Here is the deal: 2010 MAZDA3 6spd 2.5l S Grand Touring Edition sedan 145k mi

BACK STORY:

My career took me to a different industry within my career field which now results in traveling almost 150 miles a day. This commute is mostly from 75-90MPH with occasional slow days due to traffic or weather. I do not mind the drive at all because the M3 is a BLAST to drive!! I bought it specifically for this commute as to keep the miles off our family vehicle and to not go insane from driving a lifted JEEP that distance! I was honestly looking for a cheap beater ($3K ish), but I am glad I upped the budget and got something that is nice and fun to drive. All in I got a good deal @ $4500 with 143k mi on it.

HISTORY and FUTURE:

I am the third owner. Owner one bought it new and always had it maintained at the same dealership. The service tech that always worked on and maintained it, then bought it as a commuter vehicle. The Mazda technician retired shortly after and sold it to his best friend who continued its use as a commuter vehicle of roughly 50 miles a day. The retired tech still maintained the car for his friend until I bought it.

The vehicle has supposedly always had a fully synthetic Pennzoil, probably with the OE recommended 5w20 (the UOA did verify the viscosity) and a MAZDA filter. The UOA posted is what I took out of the car when I did my first OC at approximately 5k mi.

I have switched to the HM version of FS Pennzoil but in a 5w30. I drive the car in a very spirited way most of the time and am beyond anxious to see what the next UOA looks like with my driving habits and going to the 30wt.

The UOA looks great, I was actually impressed that the 20wt did not even shear or drop to half of the normal cSt or sUs rating. But again, I cannot specifically verify the mileage, only what the PO told me to be true.

Enjoy! I will post future UOA's in this thread as well.
 
Glad its doing well for you. I bought a fairly beat up 2007 Mazda 3 hatch with the 5spd and the 2.3 to commute with as well and I love that little car. Mine could definitely use the 6th gear on the highway, but it still gets 30mpg running 75-80. Mine had 127k on it and I had to put a clutch in it (throwout bearing failed) other than that its been rock solid, and was obviously teenager owned/abused before I got it. I'm running whatever I have laying around in mine (mostly cheap semi-synthetic 5w-30) and it doesn't consume any and seems happy.
 
I had a 2010 3 GT 2.5/6M back from 2009 to 2013, put about 85k miles on it and it was an incredible car. Ended up trading it because the stick started becoming an issue in Atlanta gridlock traffic on my commute. Wish I had just suffered through it as that by far has been my favorite car.

Only issues I had with it were a failing HVAC actuator for the recirculation flap that failed before warranty was up, never an issue past that.
 
My 2007 Ford Fusion 2.3 with the 5 speed auto now has 263K(miles) and still runs great. I change M1 20wt oil every 10K with 4-8oz of of loss.
 
Interesting that your oil spec is 5w20. I have the 2012 2.5l 6spd Touring edition which is the exact same engine/transmission and mine calls for 0w-20 right on the oil fill cap.
These are great engines, I just wish they did a little better with MPG. I've given it a steady diet of M1 0w-20 since I took ownership of it in October 2018. It's been a great car.
 
Last edited:
Interesting that your oil spec is 5w20. I have the 2012 2.5l 6spd Touring edition which is the exact same engine/transmission and mine calls for 0w-20 right on the oil fill cap.
These are great engines, I just wish they did a little better with MPG. I've given it a steady diet of M1 0w-20 since I took ownership of it in October 2018. It's been a great car.


Actually it’s not the same engine. The SkyActiv motors started going in the 3s in 2012. 2010 was before Skyactiv but still a decent motor.
 
So here is my 2nd UOA after going to the 30wt. Again its Pennzoil Platinum High Mileage 5/30 with Motorcraft filter.
The first run was a 20wt and mostly the previous owners driving style, which was still mostly highway (but at lower speeds than me I'm sure).
 

Attachments

  • BITOG_MZR_UOA_2.pdf
    136.1 KB · Views: 57
Interesting that your oil spec is 5w20. I have the 2012 2.5l 6spd Touring edition which is the exact same engine/transmission and mine calls for 0w-20 right on the oil fill cap.
These are great engines, I just wish they did a little better with MPG. I've given it a steady diet of M1 0w-20 since I took ownership of it in October 2018. It's been a great car.

For 2011+ MY Mazda across the board switched their requirement to synthetic 0W-20 even for the MZR. My 2010 GT 2.5 was 5W-20 and the dealer used a semi-syn (may even have been Motorcraft 5W20).

The severe service oil change interval was jokingly short @ 4 months or 5k miles. I would hit about 4k miles in 4 months so I would end up getting oil changed every 4 months - felt like I was forever at the Mazda dealership getting an oil change. After the switch to 0w20 synthetic they did not make any adjustments to the schedule, imagine dumping synthetic every 4 months or 5k miles.
 
Back
Top