[NotAPreppie]

For me living in Chicago (not a huge amount of snow, mostly flat roads, decent plow service), AWD is nice to have but it's not important enough to pay more for. I mean, I ended up getting it anyway but that was more luck than anything else.

 

[NotAPreppie]

I bought separate rims, yes. Black steelies.

I was shocked to see that 16x6.5 steelies weigh 25 lbs each
That's crazy town!

When I get around to putting snows on my CX-3, I'm going to pay the extra US$20/corner and get something like the Sport Edition P4 (17 lbs each).

 

[NotAPreppie]

None of this fragile aluminium stuff ... steel = winter scars, paint 'em and you're good to go!

No need to be afraid of concrete kerbs ... attack! (Carefully, because we don't have much front clearance)

If you hit a curb with enough force to damage an Al alloy wheel, you're going to have bigger problems to deal with than a borked wheel (tie rods, ball joints, subframes, control arms, body, hubs...). Odds are the same impact with a steel wheel will be harder on the car because of all the energy that won't be dissipated in the destruction of the aluminum wheel will be transferred to the rest of the car.

People think that engineered failure points are awful but they really are the most awesome thing ever. Think of all of the times peoples' houses haven't burned down because a fuse blew or breaker tripped.

I'd rather have the better acceleration, braking, handling, comfort and fuel economy that come with eliminating 24 lbs of unsprung weight. Especially given that (IMO) Mazda didn't do a very good job with the high-speed damping in our struts.

 

[NotAPreppie]

Old and half blind? Give me a break! How about young, reckless and inexperienced? Which do you think is worse?

I'd rather die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather rather than screaming in terror like his passengers.

Joking aside, the state of California renewed my grandfather's license despite failing the on-site eye exam.