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3 litres? Thats a lot of coolant. Not sure what the NA8 total coolant requirement is, but would have to be at least 50% of the total. When did you last check your coolant. I would be checking all hoses. I'm thinking that if the distance between work and home is 18km then unless you have a major leak it should not have all disappeared in one trip to or from work.

Oh, another thought. How many Km has she done, and has the water pump been replaced. The Mazda recommended change is at 200,000Km, but most people do it at 100,000km when the timing belt is changed

J

Check the hose that goes from the back of the engine into the heater-core.
A notorious flaw in design is that the CAS on NA8's sit above the heater-hose and if the CAS o-ring develops a leak, then oil drips down onto the rubber hose and it starts to perish, then bye-bye coolant.

Check it VERY carefully cause it's best you ensure everything is A-OK. You don't want this hose bursting on you at any time.... least of all when driving through the fastest, and most dangerous, corner on a racetrack

I would replace that heater hose regardless if it's leaking or not. Cheap and easy to do.

Mine did exactly this today.

Was driving to Tanunda to have lunch with my mother so I checked and topped up the radiator and expansion tank this morning. Got most of the way there (~60km I guess) when the temperature suddenly went from sitting at 3/8 to JESUS CHRIST BATTLESTATIONS AROOOOGAAAA

Pulled over, put the bonnet up, it was dribbling heaps out of the overflow hose while gurgling. Let it cool down for half an hour, refilled the core, then drove with the heater on full and the air-con on to get the second fan going back to Gawler (5km max), let it sit for an hour (ie went to the pub).

No sign of coolant puddle under the car but it took another litre and a half in the radiator after lunch, refilled the expansion tank to the full line again. Also noticed at this point that the top hose was sitting further back than it should so loosened the clamp, moved the hose and then made sure the clamp was sitting nicely. I also went across the road to a servo and filled a 20 litre container with water just in case.

I then drove back to Adelaide trying to use as few revs as possible, heater on full and aircon on, temperature guage didnt budge from 3/8 position. It gurgled when I got to my cousin's house (since I knew his mechanic mate would be there working on another friend's S14) and when I checked the expansion tank that was empty, but the radiator was completely full. I pulled the plugs, they looked like it had been running a bit lean but no sign of moisture.

Where in the **** is the water going?

Heater hoses are new, did them a couple of months ago. Thermostat is new.

I have a Cooling Pro radiator and new rad hoses ready to go in, but I dont know if the head might be a bit warped and letting it seep somewhere or not?

should get a leakdown & compression test done before you start on the turbo kit..

milky oil under the oil cap?

Nah the oil was fine

Might change the radiator and hoses next week and use nice new clamps on them. Then if it does it again its the engine

Look for leaky rad especially if the top and end tanks are plastic???

Is there a lot of moisture coming out your exhaust? If it's losing that much coolant via the motor, it should be coming out back.