Wheel Noise / Steering Pop / Suspension

[JadedEvan]

Hey all, got some maintenance questions about my MX-3.

#1 - Wheel Noise
Over the past 2-3 months, I've noticed that my rear tires seem to be making more and more noise. The faster I go, the louder the noise becomes. Whatever the noise is, it is related directly to the speed. It has kind of a "phoomph-phoomph-phoomph" sound. Very dull sounding. It doesn't sound like anything serious. Not a screeching metal on metal kind sound. It sometimes gives a little feedback when driving. When decelerating off of the freeway with the brakes I get some feedback from the brake pedal. Any ideas on what this might be?

#2 - Steering Pop
Ocassionally, when I'm turning the steering wheel hard to the left or hard to the right, I get a kind of "pop" that I can hear and feel in the steering wheel. It has been increasing in frequency (maybe 2-6 times a day) for a little while. From having read some other forums, it seems that this might be the start of CV problem?

#3 - Suspension
It seems that my little Mazda is riding kind of rough. Is there any easy way to tell if the shocks are worn out? I have been in cars where they have gone bad, leads to kind of a bouncy hoopty ride. It just seems like when I hit a pothole or big bump that it impacts rather hard. I know little cars tend to ride a bit rougher than a fancy cadillac, I'm just wondering if I'm paranoid or justified in thinking something might be wrong.

I appreciate you guys reading this and giving it some thought. If you need me to provide any more information, just let me know!

[adecentguy]

my mx-3 has weird noises comin from the rear tires too..not really sure what the case is there, but as the steering pop, my guess is the struts. prob why ur cars riding a bit rough too. i jus dropped my car 3 inches this year and come to find out 3 of the 4 struts were garbage. im still using them for now but ya it makes some noise. when u accelerate and u feel it vibrate..thats most like the cv joints. i replaced one this year and the vibrating stopped. if ur gonna replace ur struts, go after-market. its a hell of a lot cheaper. kyb or tokico hp's are best reccomended for the mx-3s