A few questions

[enyaw]

Hi, I am the new guy with NC. I am still learning a few things about the the car. Went for a drive on Wednesday (250 kms). Do these NC's bounce a bit on uneven bitumen? At 110kms on rough road it didn't want to hold a consistent line. I have had the shocks and suspension checked out and all is OK. It has new boots (Sailun Atrezzo ZSR) asymmetrical tyres at 30 Psi.
The DSC switch? The manual doesn't mention anything about it. When the ignition is first turned on a DSC light illuminates OFF with a picture of a car with skid lines. Does this mean that the DSC is disengaged or engaged?
As this is my first convertible can one expect to hear the radio or a CD at 110 kph? (Hood down)
The Hard top when up, creaks more so at 40 kph. Any solutions, I have sprayed silicone on all the rubbers, hasn't helped much.
Any comments would be appreciated.
Responding to some comments from my first post, I will join the Mazda Club here in Perth.

Thanks for any help.
Cheers

[david_syd_au]

Hi, I am the new guy with NC. I am still learning a few things about the the car. Went for a drive on Wednesday (250 kms). Do these NC's bounce a bit on uneven bitumen? At 110kms on rough road it didn't want to hold a consistent line. I have had the shocks and suspension checked out and all is OK. It has new boots (Sailun Atrezzo ZSR) asymmetrical tyres at 30 Psi.

Did you get a wheel alignment? It could be a toe problem.

The DSC switch? The manual doesn't mention anything about it. When the ignition is first turned on a DSC light illuminates OFF with a picture of a car with skid lines. Does this mean that the DSC is disengaged or engaged?

Does the DSC light go off after a few seconds? If so, that is normal, just the "ignition on" warning lights test.
If you press the DSC button, it will turn off DSC and illuminate that warning light.
If you then press and hold the DSC button for about 10 seconds, that also turns of the traction control. Really only useful for some motorsport, like motorkhanas.

As this is my first convertible can one expect to hear the radio or a CD at 110 kph? (Hood down)

No. It's a convertible. It's noisy. Learn to whistle instead.

The Hard top when up, creaks more so at 40 kph. Any solutions, I have sprayed silicone on all the rubbers, hasn't helped much.

The latch may need adjustment to hold roof closed more tightly.

Any comments would be appreciated.
Responding to some comments from my first post, I will join the Mazda Club here in Perth.

Thanks for any help.
Cheers

[93_Clubman]

Budget tyres, so careful in low grip conditions, especially zs: https://www.productreview.com.au/p/sail ... zo-zs.html

[hks_kansei]

The DSC switch? The manual doesn't mention anything about it. When the ignition is first turned on a DSC light illuminates OFF with a picture of a car with skid lines. Does this mean that the DSC is disengaged or engaged?

When starting the car (most cars are the same) usually every warning light will illuminate for a few seconds, it's mainly a safety check so that you can spot if a bulb is blown (example: if the bulb for the low brake fluid light is blown it wont light, when driving how can you tell if it's all ok, or there's an issue and the light cant warn you? the lighting at first start is so yo can say "yep, it lit for a second or so, the bulb is ok)

From memory i believe the legally things like traction control and DSC must default to being on/active when the car starts.
the warning light, when lit, is telling you that you've turned it off (or, if the light is flashing it means the system is doing it's job at keeping you from crashing)

As this is my first convertible can one expect to hear the radio or a CD at 110 kph? (Hood down)

Yes, but you'll need to turn the volume up a fair way, and it wont sound great.
you'll hear it, but dont expect hifi sound, think more "talking on the phone on a windy day"

[enyaw]

Did you get a wheel alignment? It could be a toe problem.

Hi David, Yes I did get a wheel alignment with the new tyres. I imagine that the alignment specs would have been set to match my model.
It is fine on a smooth road, this was my first experience driving the NC over a fairly rough bitumen road. I did notice that it wandered a bit, more than I would have experienced in my other cars.
I will see if this is a once off or that it appears to happen again. I need more driving time.
Thanks for your response.
Cheers

[enyaw]

Budget tyres, so careful in low grip conditions, especially zs:

Hi, Thanks for your comment. I am aware that they are cheaper tyres, however they are still better than what was on the car when purchased.
I will bear your comments in mind especially if I encounter wet roads.
Cheers

[taminga16]

Glad to hear that you are enjoying your little car, they respond well to 'soft hands', a firm grip on the wheel my be contributing to the skittish feeling.
Greg.

[david_syd_au]

The Hard top when up, creaks more so at 40 kph. Any solutions, I have sprayed silicone on all the rubbers, hasn't helped much.

The latch may need adjustment to hold roof closed more tightly.

I have to backtrack on this comment, as I may have been confused between an NB, NC soft-top and current NC hard-top.
The latch adjustment may have been on the NB. I do remember adjusting the NC centre latch, but that was to get rid a rattle, not a squeak.
I did have squeaks coming from the latches of one of the NC's particularly at slow speed over uneven ground which would have put some twisting force on the chassis. I sprayed the latches with a silicone lubricant I had lying around which silenced them.

[Rocky]

I remember when I bought my NB8B and drove it home from Brisbane. I had taken 10CDs down with me to play on the long trip home but couldn't hear them with the soft-top up unless the player was turned up painfully loud. Same with the Hard-top. I don't bother trying to listen to music in the car as that level of volume is distracting.
My HT squeaks a bit too but I have long since ceased to hear it.