I was getting 11-12 mpg city. Had bad power, faint oil smell, would not start immediately a couple of times. So all the info on the L flash and heres what I did:
1) Called Nick(service manager) told him I had to bring it in for service.
2) Told him exactly this- a couple of times it wouldn't start then waited a short while, tried again and it started which freaked me out. Have a faint oil smell, power is bogging down and sluggish up to 4,000 rpm then ZOOM I'm gone, not making sense I did some investigating about the engine starting situation and found Mazda has released a new PCM calibration, is this something I can get.
*Nick replied "if it doesn't have it already". I said "well considering I bought it in Feb., the car was manufactured July'03 and the update was released 3/11/04- I doubt it:p
*Nick replied" well I'll check it out, if not I'll flash it for you.
Upon picking it up, he told me he looked it up top to bottom, checked for fuel leaks, etc. and everything is ok and I flashed it for you. I said"the L or M"- he said the "N" I believe it was just released last week.:D See my post below for my results....

 

Car has power from the start, it winds gears out better, dont have to wait to hit 4,000 rpms-steady throughout- it is awesome.

Every gear seems to be shifting when it needs to. I noticed that prior to this it seemed that the car would either shift too late 1st-2nd, or too early into 3rd or 4th(AT). I would drive 100 yds and I was already in 3rd?? Also with shifting- you do not have to tromp it to get it to downshift, pickup and go. It will downshift quick at about 1/4 pedal if it needs to- very responsive and where it needs to be. Great now!:D

Gas Mileage- reached dealership, had used 1/4 tank of fuel ,trip odometer was at 40 miles. After Flash drove it to 1/2 tank and got to 90 miles- all city miles. 10 more miles on the 2nd 1/4 of tank then the first. An added 2.5 miles per gallon to this point(calculating a 1/4 tank is 4 gallons, based on a 15.9 gallon tank rounded to 16)I cant wait to see overall(will compare miles to fill up gallons) and then a new full tank entirely I hope I can get to average 17-19 in the city, please let it happen......

*one more thing- I know people are bent on the gas mileage dispute and "they did not buy it for that-it is a sportscar." I bought it for the OVERALL package- the sportscar, the gas mileage, the practical car Mazda represents compared to my previous Honda Accord, I wasn't in the market for a VIPER here, nor could I afford it!. This was a tough decision for me to make and was looking for reasons NOT to buy it. One of the things considered WAS gas mileage. At an EPA of 18/25 it was pretty close to my Accord VTec 6(which is an awesome engine also). Another consideration was winter driving- I took it on a whim and figured it would be ok. After buying it I found that snow is a definite- NO-NO. I have purchased a $1,000 truck to deal with the snow situation. I have 18" wheels on mine and cannot downgrade to 16" (to get cheaper more available tires) it wont work-best would be 17" and that would cost roughly $1,000-$1200. So I got the best of both worlds now. Protected sportscar in the winter to drive in summer, a truck to drive anytime specifically winter. Will post mileage results at fill up. For those who aren't concerned with mileage, questions- why? Do you like buying things that are not what you thought? Real adventurers you must be......I gotta do some business with you!!! I'd make a fortune!!!!

 

is the N just for the Auto or what?

Didnt the M just come out like a week ago?

 

They're going to run out of letters soon... :D

 

Odd. I was at my dealer Tues and the newest flash was M. It is a decent size dealer (Jim Ellis Marietta).

 

I'm guessing that I got the N flash yesterday: N3H6-18851-M: file SW-N3H6EM000 (I have brought it in for seat belt replacement and airbag recall)

Seems to be running even smother in lower gears, but maybe just my imagination. The tech said only mileage would be improved, not performance, but at 18-22MPG, I'm not displeased at all.

 

OK, maybe 17-22

 

Maybe the service manager was wrong. Maybe he meant "M" not "N" how can I tell??

 

uh oh, not another letter! They should have used numbers for the versions instead of the letters. They can only go up to Z. After that, they'll have to start a new version convention.

 

Double letters - AA, AB, AC....then Triple, quadruple.... When will it stop!!! :D

 

I'm holding out for "Z".:p :p

 

I'm hoping for RX myself.

That's only 12 + 18*26 + 24 away!

Yeah ok, I already know I'm a dork, so no need pointing it out.

 

Can you plug in an OBDII reader or somthing like that and get the revision letter?

 

Dealers with the latest(30.7) will tell you the the latest is "M"

As of 23:20 butcher holler time.

There is no "n"

 

Is "M" you can tell by the last letter in the N3h6xxxxxx number.

 

But hpw do you find the N3h6xxxxxx number? Can you read it back from the car somehow? Or do youy have to watch the flash happen?

 

Open your bonnet/hood look at the front of it, there should be a number written on a grey sticker there.

Also to make sure they gave you "L" turn your key to the "on" position and pump your brake 20 times in 8 sec. (that’s fairly fast btw)

 

Nope they didnt put a sticker, they wrote on my reciept they used 'L', I did confirm L or newer with the pedal test.

I was just wondering if any of the OBD/CAN scan tools would read the Revision.

 

All the OBD does is scan link to the internet and tell the operator if there is a newer flash available i don't believe i can tell you curret frimware.

 

Ok, and then what?

 

whoops, your oil pressure gauge should sweep from 0 to halfway bk to 0.

 

bummer, looked for the sticker under the hood, could not find it. Looked on the drivers door panel -found it! PCM Reflash -L, so I actually got the L. Service manager was probably trying to make me happy telling me I got the "N" even though it did not exist yet. I love its performance now though

 

i couldnt find the reflash sticker under the hood either. only the recall stickers. i just checked the drivers side door and there it is a clear sticker with black magic marker and the "L" part number. i already knew i had "L" with the needle sweep test but this confirms it good job.

 

I just looked at the door, and I don't have a sticker, good think I could check with the brake pedal test.

I only have 1 data point, but I went up about 10% in milage, even with a 1 hour traffic jam on the beltway.

 

I dont have any recall stickers under my hood-where would they be??