Calling out....

[Darth Vader]

Oh, I just know you guys are gonna LOVE this. I mocked up a CAI arrangement to relocate the filter to the fenderwell and success, the car drives smoother down low/light throttle and doesn't seem to have lost anything up high either, despite the jackleg dust collection bendy-piping. 10 bucks to try.

 

[MS3_KIDD]

(hand)
you really are from the stone age

 

[08cosmic3]

Ghetto. Buy a CAI and be done. I have a Cobb sri and must say that after the install it became too easy to break the tires loose in 2nd gear. I have always believed you get more power with a CAI vs SRI, however I chose the sri due to ease of install/uninstall, cleaning and fear of hydro lock. I will eventually get a CAI when the warranty is gone and the car is expendable.

 

[Darth Vader]

Man, I do some testing and I get grief, lol

Of course it's ghetto but, it's what engineers used to do when there were engineers, try stuff, find results, test again, compare results, repeat until problem solved.

Now I know I should save up for a good CAI.

 

[PureDrive]

^Thumbs up from me around a DIY/trying to figure things out - that is never "ghetto" in my eyes..........

 

[MSMS3]

You can trap 107 on a stock MS3?

Well, if having a 3 inch catless DP/RP and what I consider to be a good CAI are stock, I guess so.

Those runs were in 60 degree air at sea level under virtually ideal track conditions. Most of the runs were trapping 106, one was at 107.

 

[Darth Vader]

Excellent. That's a heck of a good mph. Assuming your car is full weight you need around 300 horse for that job, which is a good jump for a downpipe, CAI and plugs.

 

[MSMS3]

There are several time slips posted in the 1/4 mile thread here showing very lightly modded cars, even without a dp trapping at 106-107 on good nights, in good weather, on a fast track (and without being held up in line and getting heat sink - lol).

For what it's worth, flat shifting made a huge difference for me. I think I can attribute a half second and 3-4 mph trap speed to that. Keeping rpm's up (the limiter will hold at the limit rather than cut) and staying on boost made quite a difference. The clutch does not seem to mind, either.

 

[Darth Vader]

you still running street tires or drag rubber?

I believe this car has a 13 in it on stock oem rubber. That's based on what I've done so far and my drag racing experience. You can just tell what a car has in it after a while.

The trick is trying to 60 foot with slippery street tires on any 2WD car, particularly FWD. I don't find this car particularly hard to launch, as, on street rubber it's pretty much wind about 2000 rpm on and, drop the clutch as you're easing into WFO. Anything more than that and it blows first and second off in wheelspin and axle tramp.

 

[Mid_Life_Crisis]

^Thumbs up from me around a DIY/trying to figure things out - that is never "ghetto" in my eyes..........

Unless, of course, it gets left that way and he has made it clear that is not the case.

 

[derspi]

I can only assume you are referring to the last sentence in the quote, not the one preceeding it.

I just didn't see alot more "reason", in many of the contentions posed, than I was giving in mine. There were other opinions, yes but, the idea that I could be a ton more scientific than I was by doing things differently, given the other uncontrolled variables involved, was somewhat wanting, in my view. That's all, nothing personal, no offense to anyone intended.

You tried out your 'speed at Mission? You're from the same town as me, surprise! (thumb)

It's a public forum and I would never take offense to another member's opinion so don't sweat it. I do like that ghetto Home Depot CAI you rigged up for fun. I do wonder how the ECU will adjust to that over time. That and the fact that if you ever bring it in for warranty or service what the techs will say seeing some dryer ducting and plumbing pipe under your hood!

I think it's cool you're from the Lower Mainland as well. I have never been to Mission although I hear a lot of chatter about it from my Honda days before this car. You go to Mission quite often?

 

[MSMS3]

you still running street tires or drag rubber?

I believe this car has a 13 in it on stock oem rubber. That's based on what I've done so far and my drag racing experience. You can just tell what a car has in it after a while.

The trick is trying to 60 foot with slippery street tires on any 2WD car, particularly FWD. I don't find this car particularly hard to launch, as, on street rubber it's pretty much wind about 2000 rpm on and, drop the clutch as you're easing into WFO. Anything more than that and it blows first and second off in wheelspin and axle tramp.

Yep. Street tires at this point. Stock OEM tires and rims right now. It is hard to launch for me because while controlling throttle in first and second, I still want to try to push it too soon. Mid to high 2.1 60ft's are about the best I can coax out of her, then she bites and flies. Staging as absolutely shallow as possible makes the numbers look a little better too. lol.

 

[Darth Vader]

It's a public forum and I would never take offense to another member's opinion so don't sweat it. I do like that ghetto Home Depot CAI you rigged up for fun. I do wonder how the ECU will adjust to that over time. That and the fact that if you ever bring it in for warranty or service what the techs will say seeing some dryer ducting and plumbing pipe under your hood!

I think it's cool you're from the Lower Mainland as well. I have never been to Mission although I hear a lot of chatter about it from my Honda days before this car. You go to Mission quite often?

The ECU seems to like the dust collection piping and pvc just fine, so far.

The "techs" at Mazda will never see my car for service, that's for damn sure. I'm been doing this long enough to figure out how to work on this car. It's pretty well-designed that way, as far as I can tell so far.

I have been racing at Mission since 1996 or so. I have hundreds of passes down that strip, mainly on my blower 5.0 but also bikes and now this thing. I don't in tend to drag race this car alot, as it's my dd but, I'll probably try it a bit more in the summer.


"Mid to high 2.1 60ft's are about the best I can coax out of her, then she bites and flies. Staging as absolutely shallow as possible makes the numbers look a little better too. lol."

Yeah, I think it hits low 2s 60 foot with a soft launch pretty easy. Shooting for ET on street rubber is a bit frustrating so you might as well shallow-stage the hell out of it.

 

[Darth Vader]

Alert! New data point!

The driveability glitch I thought may have been related to the Cobb SRI (light throttle flatness at 3K) Turns out to have been the stock spring clamp at the blowoff valve failing to seal and the hose leaking slightly.

I hooked up my Snap-On boost/vac gauge and teed it into that line, just to ensure all was well. When I was done, I said to myself, "I hate those douchey little spring clamps, I'll leave the little EFI worm clamp on the blowoff." I take the car out and the flatness is gone.

So now, all my data points are potentially messed up. I'm going to reinstall the Cobb as an SRI and, in the interests of honest reporting, will let all know here if the car runs better SRI or CAI, now that the teeny leak has been rectified.

PS speaking of "techs" at service departments...I just came back from picking my wife up and getting her '05 MZ3 GT out of the dealer where it was in for service. She says when we get back, "It's running weird, can you check it out?" I do and what do I find but all 10 lug nuts on the back wheels are barely f&*$ing finger tight!. I'm going to have someone's job for this. Another couple kms and the wheels would have fallen off the car. Unbelievable!

 

[Darth Vader]

Ok, I have retested the two intake options, now that I've fixed the leaking bov hose. The SRI loses a little down low and makes the car less easy to drive but, is definitely stronger at the top end than my homemade CAI.

Homemade CAI is smoother, easier to drive and stronger down low.

I think a decent non-homemade CAI is the ultimate answer for me, even if there is a little trade in top end.