New Shocks
 

Hey guys dealer told me at my last oil change my right front shock has started to leake a little.

Can anyone recommend a front shock for a 2007 mazda 3s?

I was going to go with dealer and oem shock since I sort of like to keep my cars original but if anybody has any suggestions that would be better than the oem shocks I would give them a try. I got 90,000 miles out of the original oem shocks so I can't really complain about them and they seem to a great job with handling and dampening.

I have the touring package by the way with the 17 inch snowflake wheels. If remember the suspension suppose to be lower and stiffer than a normal mazda 3s for that year.

I have KYB struts on my front. Cheaper than OEM, give it basically the same ride as new.

Going to cut and paste from another post elsewhere on the web, basically asking the same thing:

Do some research on the KYB's. Lots of mixed reviews out there, with some owners complaining about how they're worn out or blown, which doesn't really make them much better than the OEM Sachs/Boge units that also blow/leak. They might be okay if you plan on selling your car or something.

I suggest the Koni FSD self adjusting units:

http://thmotorsports.com/koni/koni_f.../i-104508.aspx

Wished these were included on the car as OEM; they're great. They're not cheap, but they ride just like OEM but with way more control, and last a long time. With my stock brakes my 3 would nose dive noticeably with the OEM struts. As soon as I installed the Koni FSD, the dive was gone. Also there's less body roll which means your 3 will handle better and be more fun to drive. I've had my set for at least 133k miles (~58k miles on my '07, then swapped them into my '08 and are currently in for 75k miles), and they still ride and handle like the day I bought them. My car isn't lowered. I'm using smaller but lighter OEM alloy wheels with pretty good summer tires and ironically, the car both handles and rides better than factory which is quite rare when you deviate from OEM.

(moved to Mazda3 section)

You've got a ton of options. Most aftermarket struts are typically more stiff than stock and will also lower the vehicle so keep that in mind.